Google Maps Navigation GPS for Android

Nowadays, GPS has become inseparable part of our daily lives, especially for us who travel a lot. Several years ago, we have to install a GPS navigation system in our car, but nowadays we can have GPS service through our handphones or tablet PC. Android has become the most popular OS for mobile phones and tablet PC, so I'll review one of the best GPS for Android : Google Maps Navigation.

Google Maps Navigation can be downloaded free from Android Market or you can just visit the website directly. What make Google Maps Navigation better than other GPS application ? Google Maps Navigation have features that other GPS application don't have, such as satellite view and street view. Google Maps Navigation is available for Android 1.6 or later version. Below is the features that Google Maps Navigation can do (taken from Google official website)

Google Maps Navigation features and compability

And here is several screen shot (also taken from Google official site) :

Street View

Alternate Routes

Satellite View

As you can see from the screenshot, and the table, Google Maps Navigation is very suitable for people with high mobility. If you have a tablet PC like Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 or maybe iPad, these applications definitely will help you a lot. I think, Google Maps Navigation is the best GPS application for Android so far.
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Nintendo Wii U - Next-Gen Console

This June 2011, Nintendo Wii officially introduced the Nintendo Wii U as their console. This console allows gamers to play their favorite game titles with a whole new way thanks to its innovative controller. As a sophisticated gaming device, Nintendo Wii U will be powered by top class processors from IBM. Nintendo Wii U, will use three core processors based on PowerPC architecture CPUs. The graphics card will have 512MB memory, with the GPU(Graphics Processing Unit) from ATI Radeon R700 that supports pixel shader 4.1.

I've already said that Nintendo Wii U strong point is it's new controller. This new controller is the star of Nintendo's presentation at the event E3 2011. The controller itself is equipped with two analog sticks to control the unique precision, a control pad and number buttons. Nintendo Wii U user will be able to play some mini games with a touch screen on the controller, which would also affect the progress of the game and new experience beyond our imagination. This device also include a microphone, small speakers, gyroscope and a camera that can capture players face and can be used in some games. The other feature of this new controller is it's capability to be used to browse the Internet and make phone calls.

You can see the Nintendo Wii U picture below, for me it's amazing and I think we can say it's a Next-Gen console.






Other articles that may interest you :

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Apple iPad

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, is the successor of the Android most successful Tablet PC : Samsung Galaxy Tab. The product is scheduled to be launched in the United States in June 2011. Carrying the latest Android OS : Honeycomb 3.1, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 brings new atmosphere in the Tablet PC market.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is powered by 1GHz Dual Core Processor, internal storage capacity of 16Gb, 32Gb and 64Gb, 8 Megapixel camera at the back that can record HD quality video in 1080 Pixel, and camera for video phone at 2 Megapixel in front with 3G/HSDPA network installed

I can't say much about this Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 because it's not released yet, but with the slim and light design and the newest Android OS, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 sure will be a serious challenger to other Tablet PC especially iPad 2 that will be released this year too.


Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Specification according to the released press conference :

* Dimensions and weight: 25.6 x 17.2 x 0.8 cm 595 grams.
* Screen: 10.1-inch, TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors.
* Resolution: 1280 x pixels.
* OS: Android 3.1 (Honeycomb)
* Processor: 1 GHz dual-core Tegra2
* Memory: 16/32/64 GB.
* Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/​​b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
* GPS: A-GPS.
* Camera : 8 MP camera at the back, 2 MP camera in front.
* Flash video, Adobe Flash 2.10
* SNS (social network service) integration, include Facebook, Twitter, MySpace
* Digital compass
* TV-out
* Quickoffice HD editor / viewer
* Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration


Related post :

Apple iPad

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Apple iPad - Superb Gadget for Everyone

I'm sure most of you have already heard about Apple iPad. Probably it's way too late to review iPad now, since the second generation iPad2 is already out. But I'll review it anyway cause I think Apple iPad is the most beautiful & amazing gadgets on earth until now.

Apple iPad is positioned in a new category of portable computer devices between laptops and smartphones (called tablets). Most of the features provided is no different than the iPhone but with a wider screen display. However, Apple also include some new features in this device. Apple offers iPad in six variants with a price range from US$499 up to US$829 depends on the size of the memory which is 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB, and choices between WiFi connection or WiFi and 3G GSM.

Apple iPad's strong points from my point of view which are :

1. Design. Apple iPad have a very elegant design. The back is clad in aluminum casing wrapped by a glass front panel (just like the iPhone / iTouch with a larger size.) iPad also very thin but fit perfecly in your arms. For me the designs give perfect score 10/10.
2. Performance. Apple iPad use 1GHz processor made exclusively by Apple. From my experience, it's still slower than iPhone 4 (tried by playing a few same games which iPad frame rate is a little low compared to the iPhone 4 although they both use 1GHZ processor. Perhaps this is because of the RAM. iPad use 256 MB RAM while iPhone 4 use 512 MB. Overall, the performance is very good. Score for performance 8 / 10.
3. Applications. Applications is the power of Apple iPad. There are so many applications in the iPad. (almost all the iphone applications can be run on the iPad). Scores for Application 10/10.

There are also some weak points in Apple iPad :

1. Without Adobe Flash
2. Not equipped camera
3. Can not do multitasking
4. Storage capacity is not big enough
5. The battery is not easily replaced
6. Does not have HDMI port.

Overall Apple iPad is a superb gadget for everyone, from children to adults, from housewives to businessman. Overall score 9/10

Full specifications :

Size:
- Dimension : 24.8 cm x 18.97 cm x 1.34 cm
- Weight : 0.68 kg (WiFi) and 0.73 kg (WiFi + 3G)

Screen:
- 9.7-inch LED backlit glossy widescreen multitouch with IPS technology
- Resolution : 1024 × 768 pixels with 132 pixels per inch
- Coated with oleophobic fingerprint resistant
- Supports the writing of many languages ​​and characters simultaneously

Memory capacity:
- 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB

Processor:
- Apple A4 1 GHZ

Sensor:
- Ambient light sensor
- Accelerometer

Battery:
- Lithium Polymer Battery with up to 10 hours of active time and one month standby time

Audio playback:
- Supports AAC (16 to 320 Kbps)
- Supports MP3 format (16 to 320 Kbps)
- Support MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2.3, and 4), Apple Losless, AIFF, and WAV

Connections:
WiFi model :
- WiFi 802.11 a / b / g / n
- Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

WiFi + 3G model :
- UMTS / HSDPA tri-band (850, 1900, and 2100 MHz)
- GSM / EDGE quabband850, 900, 1800, and 1900 MHz)
- WiFi 802.11 a / b / g / n
- Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

Input and output:
- Dock connector
- Microphone
- 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack
- Built in speakers
- SIM card tray (WiFi + 3G)

Location-based services:
- WiFi
- Mobile (WiFi + 3G model specific)
- Digital Compass
- Assisted GPS (special model of WiFi + 3G)

TV and video:
- Supports up to 720p H.264 video format, M4v, Mp4, Mov, MPEG-4.

External button:
- On / off / sleep / wake
- Mute
- Volume control

Main Features and Application:
- Safari Browser for web access.
- Mail to read your e-mail.
- Photos to manage the photo archive.
- Video to play video files.
- iPod to play music
- iTunes to download music and videos
- App Store for download applications
- iBooks to read and download e-book from iBooks Store
- YouTube to view YouTube videos directly without going through the web.
- Maps
- Notes to take notes
- Calendar
- Contacts to record data phone, email, and web-friends.
- Home screen to set the display screen
- Spotlight search for quick searching just by typing in keywords.

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Acer Aspire 4736G, Nice Laptop for Everyone

Acer Aspire 4736G is a very nice laptop for everyone. Though the specification vary in several countries, but the main feature is the same which is the best in it's class (at same price)

The Acer Aspire 4736G specification in my country is as follow :

Intel Core2Duo Processor T6600 (2.3 GHz, 2 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
Nvidia Geforce G105M (512MB video memory, up to 1791MB of share system memory)
14.1" high-brightness (200-nit) Acer CineCrystal LCD, supporting HD 1366 x 768 pixel resolution
4GB DDR3 Memory
500 GB SATA HDD
Integrated Acer Crystal Eye 1.3MP Webcam
Integrated 56Kbps modem, 10/100/1000 mbps LAN, WiFi, Bluetooth
Integrated 8X DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive
OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Audio Two built-in Dolby-certified sound system speakers, Headphone/speaker/line-out port
Power 6-cell Li-Ion Battery Pack (about 2,5 hours battery life)
Dimension 339 (W) x 243 (D) x 29/39 (H) mm, Weight 2.48kg

With the price around US$750 in my country, definitely is an all around notebook. With this specification you can edit photo nicely, use it for video editing, and also 3D editing. The performance for playing games is quite good too. Although the graphic card is near the entry level, but the 512 MB dedicated memory is a plus so that you can almost play all moderate game nicely. This laptop can play some high resources game too but will need a little tweaking.

The most interesting thing in the notebook is that it use DDR3 to replace the 5 year old DDR2. With 4GB DDR3 and Windows 7, your job will be much more light. The hard disk capacity is HUGE that can store almost everything.

I recommend this laptop for those who want to buy a new notebook for personal use. This is the best in it's class.

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Kindle 2, E-book Reader From Amazon

This February, Amazon introduce a new Kindle 2 which was an e-book reader. Until now, book can't be replaced by computer. But this lack of technology is not for Amazon anymore with Kindle. With this milestone product, Amazon can write history. Books, newspaper, magazine now can be read easily through e-book.

This new Amazon Kindle is not just a gadget but it becomes "a must have book". This new Kindle is very slim, light, and has a superior quality from its predecessor. Because of its characteristic, this gadget is very easy to be taken anywhere. In free time you can easily read your favorite content. If you don't have much time, parts or interesting news can be marked and you can read it later in "My Clippings" . With bookmark facility, readers can directly go to the latest read parts, books by books.

According to few sources, for their readers, Amazon provide nearly 260,000 e-books and magazines. You will always have something to read. Beside that, almost all Best Seller from New York Times can be accessed too. But Kindle has a few disadvantages, like the use of DRM (Digital Rights Management). Books is sold per package and always protected by DRM, not like songs from iTunes or from Amazon. So, books cannot be copied like conventional books. Beside that, Amazon forgets about social interaction. There's no book reviews, comment, or rating in this gadget.

So, for those wo love reading everywhere, this gadget can be considered "a must have book".

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