Filed under: Aftermarket, Gadgets
A HUD for all occassions: GlobalTop GPS & Bluetooth HUD Speedmeter
How would you like to have a gadget that sits on your dash and projects your speed and other vital info onto your windshield so you can focus your eyes on the road instead of the gauge cluster? Heads-Up Displays (HUD) have been around for eons, most effectively employed in aircraft, but with some automotive use, as well. But the system has pretty much been limited to high end models or a few GM models like the Corvette and Pontiac Grand Prix. Now a company is about to start offering HUD for the masses, via a little box that uses GPS and Bluetooth to calculate and display speed and speed warnings, as well as navigational directions. GlobalTop Technology, best known for its GPS systems, is introducing a GPS/Bluetooth HUD Speed Meter that will project that info onto your windshield.
No price or release date was reported, but the GlobalTop GPS HUD Speed Meter will be reviewed by the guys at DigitalReviews in April, and hopefully we'll get more info about it then. Sounds like a great idea if the price is low enough and the info is accurate. We'll keep you posted.
Thanks for the tip, Bill!
[Source: DigitalReviews.net via Devicepedia]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
AJ 4:48PM (2/20/2007)
Sounds pretty interesting, but will it sell? Also, if it uses bluetooth does that mean they need to own a new Camry or Maxima? Other than that I like the idea
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Jeff 5:23PM (2/20/2007)
I had thought that the reason HUD was limited to a few GM models was because they had patents on it. It'd be interesting to know if that's the case. This poor little company may find out the hard way soon enough!
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Lithous 6:13PM (2/20/2007)
"Also, if it uses bluetooth does that mean they need to own a new Camry or Maxima?"
No, an example of a stand-alone (not built into vehicle) bluetooth system is with the Garmin 2820. If done correctly the unit will have phonebook list and caller ID displayed on the unit. Then you would have to have a wired mic and output to aux input in the stereo (where you might have to have an aux input added separately) OR a built in (to the this unit here) speaker phone like setup. The bluetooth part is not very difficult at all (not that the heads up part is very hard either, just that its real use was for racing so racers wouldn't have to look down and why it was great for the Corvette). I suppose for safety anyone could use HUD though. Just for the gadget part of it I would order it in say the Outlook/Acadia/Enclave if it was maybe $250 or less (I don't know how much it is in those, probably more).
I think Motorola makes a stand alone bluetooth setup for vehicles as well. Probably others too.
This thing should be way less than $100 accounting for the technology not being that difficult and that it will probably be made where labor is less than a dollar a day but most likely for the gadget factor it will be way more than $100.
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Tiago do Vale 6:27PM (2/20/2007)
Conventional HUD systems require a special windshield glass... How does this one solve that question?
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Rufus 9:15PM (2/20/2007)
Maybe it'll require you to put a piece of special film on the glass...
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