Navigation System

Apple has patented a system to select a navigation route based on the cellular network signal strength along the way.

Last November, Nokia introduced a cloud-based mapping service called Here for smartphones. Now the company wants to integrate Here Auto into your car's navigation system, and it has some features that could make it a legitimate alternative to other navigation options.

Navigation systems have been coming down in price lately, making in-car directions more accessible to the masses. At the same time massive tech companies like Apple and Microsoft have gotten into the game as well, and as TheDetroitBureau.com reports, a new study shows that these forces are converging to quadruple the systems by 2019.

Video games are already an easy target for politicians, what with their amazing ability to turn both brains and muscles to jelly while also promoting violence and other sociopathic behaviors. So we can only wonder at the political grandstanding that might accompany this development: The Nintendo DS can now be used to control a Toyota navigation system.

Q: What do you call a navigation system designed specifically for the elderly?

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Ryan Leaf was arrested last Friday and charged with being in possession of prescription Oxycodone pills that weren't his. Three days after posting a $76,000 bond, the Associated Press says he's been arrested again.

Any device or system that draws a driver's attention away from the road is inherently distracting, but some navigation systems are better than others. Now, AT&T Labs is said to be hard at work developing a steering wheel with haptic feedback that may allow more drivers to keep their eyes off of the center console screen. According to MIT's Technology Review, the system uses 20 smal

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has produced a minutely detailed document addressing and attempting to assess driver distractions. Jonathon Ramsey

Somewhat lost in the fanfare of BMW introducing a hybrid version of its best-selling 3 Series at the Detroit Auto Show was a brief mention of its new navigation technology. The 2012 ActiveHybrid 3 will be the first hybrid to use its nav system to help predict the best time to use and recharge its battery. This will go well beyond currently ava

Way back when, animated characters were voiced by anonymous folks with great pipes. These days, you need A-list celebs to sell pixelated fish and other playthings. The disembodied and slightly stilted voices of navigation systems appear to be going the same way, and Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson is the latest talent to contribute his voice to giving directions – ironic, considering he's made his disdain for GPS clear in the past.

BMW microNavigation – Click above for high-res image gallery

With an increasing number of new cell phones offering free, integrated turn-by-turn navigation, the days of the standalone navigation device must surely be numbered. Of course, those dedicated navigators still offer some features you can't (yet) get elsewhere, such as the Darth Vader or Dennis Hopper voices for TomTo

Darth Vader TomTom voice recording session – Click above to view the video after the jump

Groan. Remember the $350,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom parked in front of a Walmart? Apparently it's not an isolated case. That's right, according to a new survey by TeleNav, most Americans use their navigation systems to find the Arkansas-based mega-store full of cheap stuff that Sam built. The great burning irony, of course, is that most cars with navigation systems are "luxury" products. Though of cour

If you have a TomTom, the eye in the sky has been watching you and tracking your interstate speeds over the past two years. Don't worry, TomTom isn't going nark you out – it's tracking the data from its Speed Profiles program to help fleet drivers find the fastest routes around the nation. The two years of data collection shows that, overall, Americans tend to drive within the acceptable limits of the law overall, but the average speed of your journey will typically be determined by where

Google maps turn by turn navigation – Click above for high-res image gallery