But no, seriously. What the hell is a "kosher" GPS unit? Apparently this kind of thing has been happening for a while, and has a pretty simple explanation. Many Orthodox rabbis discourage internet access, but do allow certain basic technologies like cellphones and, I guess, GPS devices. The Mio Ma'amin (translation: Mio Believer) is mindful of a variety of orthodox sensitivities, as it is stripped of online connectivity, contains a directory of thousands of kosher restaurants and Jewish points of interest, a bevy of prayer materials and a male, or rather, not female, voice.

It's a shame that intense religion is so effective at destroying irony, because most of this device's customers will never appreciate the humor in trying to divine the correct specs for your GPS unit from thousands-of-years-old documents printed on parchment scrolls. Oh well! The Ma'amin's going on sale in Israel for about $240. [Jerusalem Post —Thanks, Michael!]

The pieces, that are extremely light and fold flat, are made out of recycled-cardboard and come in six different colors. However, 24 pieces cost a whopping $56. So if you were to create a wall similar to the one in the picture (which contains somewhere in the vicinity of 112 pieces) it would end up costing around $280. Although after checking out the prices for wardrobe screens at Cost Plus this doesn't seem quite as bad and they're portable. [Product Page via TreeHugger]

So who gets to be France??

Germany. Hmm...maybe this map is just old. – Mark Wilson

Major Mio Map Mistakes [gps tracklog]
Mio

The A501 should hit stores (in Europe initially it seems) in March. As it turns out, integrating GPS into cellphones was all the rage at this year's 3GSM. And since many of those phone run WiMo6, Mio may have to play catch up sooner rather than later. – Nicholas Deleon

Mitac Mio A501 [NaviGadget]

I went car shopping. Left the Honda dealer in a brand new Element. Headed down the main st with the sales guy in hand. We pulled into a mini mall to turn around where i hit a lady's shopping car w/ a brand new Wii and other electronics. The carts flew about 20 feet spilling everything in it. They guy from the dealer said get out of here...so I did. I ran up the curb over some flowers through a lawn and back on the street and to the dealership. When the sales guys asked me for my info, which i didn't give him, I RAN! Maybe you should get a copy of my license first! As for the element. Doesn't quite handle curbs that well.

Sponsored by Mio DigiWalker™ H610 Personal GPS Navigator & Media Player. No bigger than a deck of cards, the H610 provides voice-guided directions to almost any address in Canada and the U.S. and lets you enjoy all your digital media along the way.

Black Friday Story Contest

No Wii For Mii I plop down on my couch ready to record some football. I grab the tivo remote and alas, the damn thing is dead. I do all the usuals. I slap the remote, spin the batteries...no luck. I have no choice to venture out to get this little bundies of energy. Circuit City is two blocks away so I put on the running shoes and get a move on.

Luckly, it's extremely quiet. I could have sworn that there was campers out here last night when I went to see the new Bond flick. As I walk through the door, a guy dressed in red asks me "Nintendo Wii?". I just grunted and he handed me a blue ticket. I came in to get some batteries and I just scored a hard to find item? Sweet. I was gonna buy one, but not until after the holidays thinking that they would be too hard to find. (And buggy...here's looking at you 360!)

Seconds later this older woman comes bursting in to the store. She looks like your typical mom. She grabs the red shirted guy at the front and asks about the Wii. He politely tells her that they gave out their last ticket and sorry. Suddenly there is this wail. Like a child had been murdered kinda sound pouring out this woman. There is sobbing, and groveling. The guy then points in my direction and says I have the last ticket. Little ole me, with my Wii ticket and AAA batteries.

She dashes up to me and drops to her knees. Crying, sobbing, running mascera...the works.
" I have to get this for my kids!" Please! It will destory them!!! They've had a hard year! Please help me!" This list goes on and on. It was quite a sight. One I had never seen before. I've never had somebody beg at my feet like their life was on the line. So it pulled at my heartstrings and I handed it over.

Not even a thank you mind you. She rushes up to counter and the girl behind says something to the effect of your kids are gonna be so happy as the mom forks over the cash. When the system gets in her hands, she tells the counter girl "Kids? This fucker is going right on ebay!". I grab the mom's shoulder and start to say something and she pepper sprays me. I was told she just ran out the door. Mind you nobody sees me get pepper sprayed and I'm asked to leave the store for trying to create disurbance. With my sinus competely exploding and my eyes swelling shut, I'm dragged outside the doors and dumped on the sidewalk. "And don't you come back, we've got your picture!" I hear a voice say. I'm sure that was my last visit anyways.

But at least I didn't pay for my batteries...

Black Friday Story Giveaway

Sponsored by Mio DigiWalker™ H610 Personal GPS Navigator & Media Player. No bigger than a deck of cards, the H610 provides voice-guided directions to almost any address in Canada and the U.S. and lets you enjoy all your digital media along the way.

Hit the jump to see a story submitted and to get details on how to enter.

So i was at a local target this morning, around 7 am. I was there to pick up a xbox 360 after i missed out on the amazon.com deal, and i was wearing a red polo with regular jeans and nikes. I walk in, head straight to the electronics department, and notice there are no xbox's. So i think, they are hiding them somewhere else and ask a employee.

He said that lady right there just bought the last premium, which is what i was after. So i start swearing to myself and get this great idea. I see her walking toward the toys, right by the electronics, and i run to her. I didn't think it would work, and id look like a jackass but i went for it. I ran up to her, posing as a employee and asked her to leave the xbox here with me while she looked around to other departments and it would be waiting for her right behind the counter. She gave me a hesitant look, then said "ok, sorry". So, i started walking to the counter, looked over my shoulder and as soon as she was out of site, i made the first left and bolted to the register, made my purchase and headed home.

Long story short, i got my xbox 360, fightnight round 3 and my mountain dew. What a great friday!!

Sponsored by Mio DigiWalker H610 Personal GPS Navigator & Media Player. No bigger than a deck of cards, the H610 provides voice-guided directions to almost any address in Canada and the U.S. and lets you enjoy all your digital media along the way.

Black Friday Story Giveaway

The best story will win a Mio H610 Personal GPS Navigator and media player. It is a handheld GPS navigator that could be great for navigating you from store to store next Black Friday. All of the standard Gawker Contest Rules apply. The contest ends Friday, December 1.

Sponsored by Mio DigiWalker H610 Personal GPS Navigator & Media Player. No bigger than a deck of cards, the H610 provides voice-guided directions to almost any address in Canada and the U.S. and lets you enjoy all your digital media along the way.

Well, when you consider that GPS functionality are pretty much a dime a dozen nowadays (GPS is increasingly being built into cellphones now, like the Helio Drift, which also features those adorable Google Maps), you really do question the sense in buying a separate unit. That'd be like buying a video game console that doesn't play back DVDs (oh, wait...) or a computer without an ethernet jack. It's a tough sell, but you might as well jump for a few extra pics.

So, if you need a cheap GPS with all the typical extras (downloadable maps, built-in MP3 player, etc.) the C250 might not be a bad choice. If you're looking a few months/years into the future, however, it might make sense to hold off a bit. – Nicholas Deleon

Press Release [Mio Europe via Crowdedbrain]

GPS Gang Bang [Giz]

Cobra NavOne GPSM 4500
The NavOne has a relatively huge 5-inch 320x240 display, an easy-to-use interface and offers clear and accurate directions. It also gives you real-time traffic reports and lots of configurability. Type in those addresses with a QWERTY virtual keyboard, and it's off and running, telling you where to go with a sexy female voice. She doesn't know street names, but gives you plenty of warning when it's time to turn, rerouting you around traffic and telling you about 7 million points of interest. But the NavOne was cheap-looking with its plastic chrome trim, and bulky, too, at 1.3 pounds—certainly not one you'd want to carry around in your pocket. Even so, we liked it anyway. Don't be scared away by its $1000 list price, you can find one for $580 on the street, or spend about $80 less for the model 4000 without those handy real-time traffic reports.

Cobra NavOne Product Page

Mio C710 DigiWalker
This Mio GPS unit is the most versatile of the bunch we tested here. It not only gives you clear directions on its 3.5-inch screen but it's a respectable movie and MP3 player, too. Its GPS unit is highly capable, loaded with 5 million points of interest and a sensitive touchscreen that gives you a choice of four dynamic data sets at the bottom. It was the only unit in our test group that showed us our altitude, nice to know we were climbing some of the big mountains out West. In addition to its GPS capabilities, it also works well with Bluetooth cellphones as a caller ID device, and it has an unusually responsive dual-duplex speakerphone as well. It can also give you live traffic reports, but too bad its GPS unit doesn't work when you're using it with your cellphone. We also wish it had a QWERTY keyboard—it's Alpha all the way, which we find rather awkward. Even so, everything this DigiWalker attempts to do, it does well, plus it's highly portable and will fit easily in your pocket. It's $600 on the street.

Mio C710 Product Page

Honda Civic Hybrid Factory-installed GPS Navigation System
This one's built-in to the Honda Civic hybrid, and offers your choice of male or female voices, a huge 6.25-inch screen, and near-perfect interoperability with the Civic Hybrid's highly capable sound system which even has XM Satellite readiness. Its maps are upgradeable once a year, but the 2006 model has shown us a few blind spots on roads it should know about. A neat trick is its voice recognition, where you can push a button on the steering wheel and yell, "Go home!" to the dashboard, and its voice will politely ask you if you'd like to go home. It has a QWERTY keyboard and tells you how long until you get to your destination. Too bad it doesn't give you a choice of 2D or 3D maps, staying with 2D and popping up a close-up when it's time to turn. It's an option that'll cost you nearly $2000; see if you can haggle a lower price with that car salesperson.

Garmin StreetPilot c550
This was the easiest unit of the bunch to use, and although its voice was somewhat robotic, it actually made attempts at speaking the street names. Sometimes this was rather comical, but it came in handy. Besides giving you the most accurate and complete directions we've seen, it can also play MP3 files and sync up with your Bluetooth telephone as well. Its 3.5-inch LCD display hits the sweet spot between portability and large-enough size, and its touchscreen gives you just the right information, and it's plenty sharp, too. Its live traffic information antenna is integrated into its cigarette lighter adapter, and it smartly reroutes you around any traffic slowdowns or accidents. Too bad it also has just an alpha keyboard—no QWERTY here—but that was about the only flaw we found. Best of all, this Garmin StreetPilot c550 passed the ultimate test: I handed it over to my lovely but non-gadgety wife for an evening, and she and all her friends were able to use all of its features without instruction on a ladies night out, finding their way home without incident even through the fog of questionable sobriety. Bravo, Garmin. It's a pricey $700, but if you're looking for a cheaper unit with similar capabilities, consider the StreetPilot c320, a similar unit without traffic data, MP3 player and Bluetooth capabilities.

Garmin StreetPilot c550 Product Page

Take a look at this video, where you can hear the voices of all four of these units. The smooth-sounding male voice is that of the Honda Civic Hybrid's built-in GPS unit, the robotic male voice is the Garmin, the smooth and sexy-sounding female voice is the Cobra NavOne, and the other female voice is the Mio. – Charlie White

Other new features: large armrests, a handlebar with ball knobs, a mesh-fabric seat and a large LCD display. All perfect for both seniors and George Costanza. – Jason Chen

Suzuki Unveils Prototype Fuel Cell Electric Wheelchair [Tech-On via Far East Gizmos]

To be initially targeted at markets in Europe, it includes preinstalled maps of 24 European countries. Pricing and availability haven't been announced.

Mio H610 [GPS Gazette]

Specs on A701 [GSMArena]
The Mitac Mio A701 will arrive to[sic] March [Navigadget]
SiRFStarIII [EMTAC]

Check pricing on Mitac Mio [Shopping.com]

Mio Technology A201 Sat-Nav PDA [Bios Magazine]

Specs and pricing for Mio GPS devices [Amazon]

Mio A701 communicator boasts Windows Mobile 5.0, GPS [InfoSync World]