New Directions in Car GPS Systems

About five years ago even (which would make it about the time the iPhone first showed up), anyone with car GPS systems (leave alone personal pocket models), could consider themselves pretty with-it as someone who kept abreast of the latest technology. But smartphones then came along and you didn't even have to buy a GPS unit anymore if you had a phone, you had a GPS. In fact, magazine articles have been writing obituaries for the standalone GPS unit already calling them the latest casualty of the iPhone after MP3 players and e-book readers. But in case they haven't noticed, the GPS makers aren't preparing to roll over and die. The way they see it, if smartphones can muscle in on their territory, they could easily find new territory to muscle in on themselves. These days, it isn't just cool for GPS unit to show you the way to somewhere. It's all about multitasking these days.

Zeal Optics is a company with a particularly high-tech vision of what car GPS systems can be like. As far as they are concerned, the future looks like the Terminator. Buy their Transcend GPS units, and you get a pair of ski goggles. In one corner of the right lens, you see a transparent display of everything you need to know. You'll pay $300 for this fun new system.

This next one shouldnt strictly come under car GPS systems, but it's for the road nevertheless. It's the helmet-mounted camcorder and GPS system by Contour. You get this motorcycle helmet, and mounted on one side is a barrel-like camcorder. Put it on and off you go, recording everything that passes by you, while the GPS system built in tracks everything you've done on a map. It's by the GPS company Contour.

Azenteks SmartMirror is another cool idea for what GPS can do the future. Tired of trying to find a way to mount your aftermarket GPS on your car's dashboard? How about just putting it where your rearview mirror goes? You're always looking at your rearview mirror anyway now, you can look at it for two kinds of information. The device is no mirror at all it's just a large LCD screen. It neatly divides its screen real estate into two parts one shows you a camera view of what's behind you, and the other half shows you the route you need to take. This could be where GPS heads in the future. It comes with a price tag to match $450.

And finally, just because you have GPS, doesn't mean you won't ever get lost. As you drive about a new city that you don't know, and you do get lost, wouldn't you just like to go back to your starting point and start all over again? That's where the Bushnell BackTrack comes in. Enter your starting point in it, and it'll tell you, wherever you are, how you are to get back to square one.

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