Ford's been keeping itself busy on the navigation front, and while you may have noticed that 2010 just began a few weeks ago (on the Gregorian calendar, anyway), 2011 model year vehicles are already on the minds of those in Dearborn. 2011 models with voice-activated navigation systems will be getting an update that brings along HOV logic, helping users who travel with a buddy to get from point A to point B more hastily if carpool lanes are nearby. Of course, only 2,500 miles of those blanket America, so a few other updates might be intriguing to those of you who are sane enough to live outside of the rat race. Branded POI icons, higher density street labeling and HD Radio will come standard on voice-controlled NAV systems, and potentially most interesting is the notion that "integration with SYNC Traffic, Directions and Information (TDI) app -- enabling new features like the ability to download destinations sent from a home or work computer from Mapquest" -- will hit later on in the year. Full release is after the break.

Continue reading Ford adding HOV logic, ability to download outside Mapquest destinations to 2011 NAV systems

Ford adding HOV logic, ability to download outside Mapquest destinations to 2011 NAV systems originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's total pie-in-sky speculation, completely lacking in serious evidence or even vague "sources familiar with the matter," but for some reason, after two and a half years of hard rumoring, analysts seem more sure than ever that Amazon is looking into a Netflix acquisition. Netflix just announced some pretty attractive quarterly earnings, along with some nice hard numbers: it added one million subscribers in Q4 to notch itself past the 12 million mark, and 48% of its customers streamed at least 15 minutes of video off of Instant Watch -- compared to 28% a year ago. The logic goes that Amazon's looking to position itself as a digital goods purveyor, and Netflix is doing a bang up job of that very thing. Sounds just fine to us, but if Amazon tries to lock us into E Ink Netflix streaming on the Kindle, some heads are going to roll. There's naturally no comment from Netflix or Amazon on the speculation.

[Thanks, Steve H.]

Netflix earnings, subscribers and streaming growth have analysts drooling over a theoretical Amazon buy originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As mentioned in our review, the added RAM in the Palm Pre Plus means you can run "a LOT" of apps. You know, like 10! Absurdist logic site PreCentral asks the obvious question: why not 50?

Anyway, I'm stuck on the third mission of GTA: Chinatown Wars on my iPhone, because I keep getting calls while I'm playing, which shuts down the game completely. So, my question is, is this Pre Plus making fun of me? Because it sure feels that way. [PreCentral]

The folks over at Logic Buy got their hands on the HP Home Store Thanksgiving Event flyer. And while some of the deals are decent, nothing really seems to stand out, aside from the mouthful of a sales event name.

Desktops:
HP Pavilion p6280t Quad-Core $569.99 ($405 off)
HP Pavilion Elite e9250t Core i5 $799.99 ($405 off)
HP Slimline s5210 $349.99 ($155 off)

Laptops
HP G71 17.3" $499.99 ($329 off)
HP dm3z $529.99 ($170 off)
HP dv6t Quad $999.99 ($649 off)

Printers
LaserJet P1006 $90 (50% off)
Photosmart B8550 $150 (50% off)
LaserJet CP1518ni $200 (50% off)

Accessories
HP MediaSmart Server LX195 $250 ($150 off)
HP Ink Sale
Logitech G9 Gaming Mouse $49.99 (50% off)

[Logic Buy]

No doubt most everyone has already seen Verizon’s “There’s a Map for That” ad campaign and had a good chuckle over it, but apparently the big wigs at AT&T are the only ones not laughing and have decided to sue Verizon. The logic behind the move? AT&T feels Verizon is attempting to deliberately mislead the public with its map comparing Verizon’s nationwide 3G coverage to AT&T’s limited 3G coverage. Granted all major cities and towns have AT&T 3G, but AT&T would really like Verizon to show its EDGE network, which according to AT&T spans 1.75 million square miles and reaches 256 million people, a little bit of love on the map. Cute move AT&T, but you might want to think about transferring some money from your legal budget to your network upgrade budget so you can bolster up your fledgling 3G network.Read

Seriously, the TSA doesn't take kindly to logic and reasoning. [XKCD via The Daily What]

When you simply have $120.69-too-much in your bank account, you can thank Uxsight for being there. You may already be entertaining guests with your variety of USB endoscopes, but to really make the picture complete (pun only slightly intended), you're going to want this succulent USB iriscope. That's right, now you can peer deeply, digtally into the eyes of your... er, "clients" (their words, not ours) as you check their health and generally freak everyone out. When you're done, you can "compare the irises pictures when your client comes back to see their progress." Now, we don't know exactly what kind of procedure you're going to be performing on said clients, but you'll finally have a way to show them just what kind of mess you've made. We think Uxsight says it best about their product: "Natural image, attractive or charming." Who can argue with that kind of logic?

[Via Coolest Gadgets]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

USB iriscope is just what you need for your next date originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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