Tech.Wapline

The TomTom ONE XL-S was officially announced today, the XL unit gets a bump with the addition of Text-to-Speech (TTS). On the heels of the TomTom ONE 3rd edition which added the ver. 7 operating system, MapShare and TMC traffic (optional) skipped the text-to-speech, but a nice little up-version itself. Text-to-Speech is quickly becoming the must-have feature in GPS units, with recent market entries at or below $200 with Text-to-Speech, the market pull is there.

The TomTom ONE XL-S will include the version 7 operating system, which includes MapShare capability, Help ME! Button and a slightly improved interface.

Expect the TomTom ONE XLS to ship soon (Officially by the end of October) and be list priced at $399.

Press Release Follows…

TomTom, the world’s largest navigation solutions provider, today reveals the TomTom ONE XL•S. The new TomTom ONE XL•S is the first product in the TomTom ONE XL range to offer text-to-speech technology, enabling street names and places to be read aloud as part of the spoken navigation instructions. The TomTom ONE XL•S also offers the exclusive TomTom Map Share™ technology and unique ‘HELP ME!’ features on a 4.3 inch screen.

TomTom Map Shareâ„¢ is a proprietary map improvement technology that enables users to easily and instantly improve maps. Via TomTom HOME, TomTom’s free desktop software application, Map Shareâ„¢ users can share map improvements made by the community of Map Shareâ„¢ users - so that they always have the most up-to-date maps available in the industry. Map Shareâ„¢ users can also respond in real time to changes in the road network and, with just a few simple taps on their screen, can correct the maps on their device accordingly.

The extensive ‘Help Me!’ menu includes information about the nearest car repair service center, police station, or hospital, and allows users to either locate or call the closest emergency service provider no matter where they are. It also allows users to quickly identify their exact location, so that they can provide this information to emergency assistance providers and receive help more quickly.

‘The TomTom ONE XL•S brings two great technologies, text-to-speech for spoken instructions and TomTom Map Share™ for the most up-to-date maps, to our ONE XL platform,’ said TomTom Inc president Jocelyn Vigreux. ‘The TomTom ONE XL•S complements our portfolio and gives our customers even more products to choose from.’

Pricing and Availability TomTom ONE XL•S will be available starting at the end of October for $399.95 at major retailers across the US and Canada.

It seems only fitting that Motorola would announce its latest in-car solution when the largest automotive accessory extravaganza — SEMA — is starting its 2007 show. Motorola’s MOTOROKR T505 Bluetooth carkit combines handsfree calling, A2DP support, and an FM transmitter which allows music and phone calls to be streamed over Bluetooth and played through the car’s speaker system. Don’t rush out to the stores just yet as this won’t be available to sometime in early 2008 (well, actually, you can rush out right now if you’re so inclined, you’ll just be waiting in the cold for a few months).

Make no mistake about it, there’s certainly a sect out there ready and willing to snap up just about anything smothered in a flowery print, and it seems that Sysbay International is looking to cash in.

The seven-inch PF500 media player sports a 480 x 234 resolution panel, integrated speaker, 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, AV output, USB connectivity, support for JPEG, BMP, MP3, WAV, WMA, AVI, DivX and XviD files, and of course, a not-exactly-elegant border. Reportedly, the unit comes with up to 2GB of internal memory, but if you actually feel the urge to add one of these to your own collection, you’ll have to send in a price inquiry of your own and wait for remorse to set in.

 

With the Opel GTC concept car, Opel is setting new standards in styling, dynamics and technology. Apart from its stunning looks and impressive performance, the coupé is equipped with the latest high-power LEDs from OSRAM Opto Semiconductors.These tiny light sources are so powerful that only a few are needed for all the exterior lighting. Parking lights and daylight running light on the Opel GTC concept car are provided by Golden DRAGON LEDs; two OSTAR LEDs are used in each headlight for the dipped beam, with three further OSTAR LEDs in each headlight providing the high beam. Each fog light is equipped with one OSTAR LED.

Toshiba and Matsushita have joined together to develop the Toshiba Matsushita Display. This tiny little 4.3 inch screen uses Optical Compensated Bend technology that offers superior visual quality and clarity when compared to the average flat screen technology. The screen sports a resolution of 480 x 272 pixels and a brightness level of 400cd/m2.