In the days before satellites frantically transmitted data to GPS receivers, there was at least one similar device making the rounds in London during the 20s. The Plus Four Wristlet Route Indicator had put maps squarely onto users’ wrists. It works the way it appears, basically using rolled up paper maps that show the route of a particular area.

The driver just had to turn the two knobs, which turn the rollers, thereby moving the paper maps. This Wristlet can actually store about twenty maps making it a pretty comprehensive navigation tool…For the time. To see the Plus Four Wristlet Route Indicator, you can check it out at the National Trust House where it is on display until June 1st.

I am really looking forward to the day when my laptop will run for a month thanks to a fuel cell and I can forget to charge my phone for weeks without it going dead on me. Basically if I never had to buy another battery that would be great. Fuel cells tease us with these possibilities, but they are slow to come to market.

MTI MicroFuel Cells is showing off a new handheld GPS device prototype that uses its Mobion embedded fuel cell for power. A typical GPS powered by AA batteries can last for days of use. MTI says that its Mobion powered GPS device can run for weeks. The fuel cell provides enough power for 60 hours of continuous use.

Deluo, the company who last year brought us both the MouseGPS and the mobile Bluetooth GPS adapter, is dropping a new, extra-small GPS receiver on the market with the Deluo NavStick GPS. The NavStick is a small, light-weight USB dongle-type GPS receiver designed for use on the go with notebooks or UMPCs, avoiding the common cable associated with your receiver strewn around.

The 20 channel receiver is compatible with Windows and Mac and will work as a receiver through the SiRF starIII chipset with just about any GPS software. Deluo will optionally ship the device with Microsoft Streets & Trips or you can get it unbundled and use it with your own software.

If you want to track your mail, it’s usually as simple as using FedEx, UPS, or priority mail. But if you want more shipping options, and to track your mail with more accuracy, you’ve been out of luck until now. Just remember, a watched package never boils. Or, something like that.

Just stick this GPS Mail Logger in with your letter or package and you’ll be able to follow it wherever it goes. Keep in mind that this is a package worth watching because this tracker costs $695.95. Funny thing is, even when this sort of thing comes down in price and is used by many people, thereby easing the Post Office’s workload and cost, their prices still will not likely come down.

NDrive’s G800 GPS is for the UK and Ireland only, but what’s interesting about it is that it’s the first GPS system that uses real photography for navigation as far as we know. Apparently, it comes with videos, photos, e-books, music, games, FM transmitter, calculator, and a 4.3-inch screen and Bluetooth.

If you live in certain areas of Europe, you can buy maps for your country. The info on how they manage to get aerial views and use them are somewhat vague.

Pioneer over the weekend announced new additions to its line up of AVIC-F advanced in-dash navigators. These new offerings, which join the AVIC-F500BT shown off at CES, are the AVIC-F700BT, AVIC-F900BT and Premier branded AVIC-F90BT. Pricing is set at $850, $1,100 and $1,200, respectively, and all units will be available in June.

Pioneer is describing these in-dash units as going “beyond navigation” by offering “enhanced navigation and entertainment features paired with sophisticated voice control.” While you may read that however you choose there is no doubt Pioneer has packed these units with a ton of features, including “Apple iPod connectivity, Bluetooth, MSN Direct, HD radio, XM and SIRIUS Satellite Radio, single CD, DVD video playback and compressed audio and video playback through USB and SD memory devices.”

For the full details, check out the press release after the jump. These Pioneer units definitely look to be the cause of many wonderful distractions as you cruise down the open roads.

I think GPS navigation devices are the best thing to happen to man in a long time. And by man, I really mean men, guys, dudes– you get the picture. Before GPS we had to use paper maps with our lady friends doing the map reading or do the unthinkable—stop and ask directions. Both of those previous scenarios just don’t sit well with most guys. Then along comes GPS and saves us from getting lost and hearing our ladies complain that they told us to take that left 20 miles ago.

The really good news is that more GPS makers are getting in on the action and the price of GPS units is coming down every day. Navigon says that its latest GPS devices provide high-end features at entry-level prices. It introduced two new models this week called the 2100 Max and the 2120 Max. The difference between the two devices is that the 2120 Max has maps of the U.S. and Canada and can only be bought in Canada for $329 CAD. The 2100 sells in the U.S. and only has U.S. maps on it for $299.

While everyone was focused on Dash Express, Thinkware has launched a new navigation device with a lot of 3G graphic awesomeness. The display actually looks like a video game, so don’t get confused behind the wheel and start mowing people down. The iNAVI K2’s detailed 3D maps are rendered in a photo-realistic way on it’s 4.8-inch 800 x 480 pixel screen.

It uses a three-axis sensor to detect the actual direction changes of your vehicle. It has 8GB SDHC memory, 256MB of its own RAM, multimedia functions, photo viewing and it also really plays games. It’s available in Korea for $556. Oh what the hell, start mowing people down in this new crazy GPS game. Maybe there’s a way to track your friend’s vehicles and you can race around the city.

A GPS unit is a great way to find places that you haven’t been before and can be a driver’s best friend on a road trip. However, in traffic prone areas of the country a GPS unit can even help you get to the places you go every day quicker and easier.

Late last year we covered the Dash Express GPS unit that had one very interesting feature—Internet access. The service for Dash Express starts at around $9.99 per month and allows you to get real-time traffic updates from other Dash Express units on the road.

Garmin is out today with word of a new GPS system targeted at pilots. It is known as the Garmin GPSMAP 495 and pricing is set at around $1,595.

The Garmin GPSMAP 495 is designed to help get pilots the information they need to flight safely from start to finish. The unit incorporates a high resolution terrain database and offers options like “terrain and obstacle alerting, pop-up alerts, and customizable minimum clearance limits that give audible terrain alerts at specified altitudes.”

Navigation units are becoming one of the most used car electronics devices around. They are a great way to get from location to location without having to stop and ask directions and without getting lost or having to resort to a paper map.

Mio Technology announced four new GPS devices today using content from its recently acquired Navman purchase. The four devices are the Mio Moov 200, 210, 300, and 310. All four models have a touch screen with the 210 and 200 using a 3.5-inch touch screen and the 300 and 310 units featuring 4.3-inch touch screens.

The Navistar 3522 has a pair of speakers located on either side of the screen. The screen is 3.5”, so overall it must be a bit large, which means it can be used at home and in the car. It looks like a nice simple and clean unit.

It comes with a home docking station so you can charge the sat nav system and connect to a pair of speakers that are better than the integrated ones. With a remote control, this device can also be used as a mini entertainment center wherever you like. It runs Windows CE.Net OS, uses Centrality Atlas GPS receiver, and is compatible with TMC traffic information. Maps are from either TeleAtlas or Navteq depending on what the distributor wants.

Apparently if you are, say, driving a big rig loaded down with some mysterious WMD you probably can’t get onto normal roads with your cargo. TeleType has unveiled therefore the WorldNav Portable GPS solution, available in both 3.5- and 7-inch screen sizes.

TeleType’s WorldNav system isn’t the type of GPS you put into your car unless you carry huge payloads or drive RVs. It is designed to help you choose roads which are best suited for your larger vehicle, allowing you to enter information such as your truck’s height, weight and length. It then takes into account commercial truck restrictions such as bridge heights and clearances, load limits, one-way road designations, left-hand and dangerous turn restrictions, and allowances when offering routing choices for you to drive.

Royal - those guys which make typewriters and cheap PDAs - are dipping their toes in deeper CE waters with the quiet release of a new GPS system. It is called the Royal Expedition Portable Navigation System and it is priced at around either $250 or $400, depending upon where you look online.

The Royal Expedition Portable Navigation System is very much your garden variety GPS system, though we hear you can type a mean newsletter with it as well. It is loaded with United States and Canada maps, offers a touchscreen interface and also doubles as a MP3 player with 2GB of SD memory card memory.

GPS maker TomTom earlier this week revealed some new GPS models outfitted with new routing technology which takes into account average speeds on a road when creating a route. These models - the Go 930 and Go 730 - will be available by the end of April.

This new TomTom technology, known as IQ Routes, is based on actual average speeds on roads, rather than the posted speed limits. It gathers this data from “anonymous historical speed profiles of over 6.2 billion miles of driven roads” from millions of TomTom users. The company says that nearly half the time having this data, planning the route results in a faster trip.

You can get more details on this technology and other features of the new TomTom units, taken from a company press release, after the jump.