The GPS folks of TomTom introduced a whole new device called the TomTom Duo, a device that is mounted on your car's stereo dash - touchscreen facing out - and that should serve as a GPS system for the modern car. But wait, it's also claimed that the TomTom Duo will support a unique USB docking station.

The station could scan the surrounding area for Bluetooth devices, "allow direct control of iPods" and allow you to route audio of any portable device through the car's speaker system...all from the little touchscreen on the TomTom Duo!

The TomTom Duo will also allow hands-free calling through Bluetooth phones and the playing of music straight from USB storage devices. The Duo will succeed the TomTom One as a whole new dual-purpose in-car device.

The world (well, except Japan) flocks to Apple's doorstep for the iPhone, but don't think that (and the iTV - well, Apple TV now) would be the whole world for MacWorld. You might have just overlooked something just as interesting (sexy, even). Remember all those rumors and wild dreams about an Apple UMPC/UMMac? Well, it's still a no-show in MacWorld 2007, but Axiotron, Inc., with Other World Computing, provides the closest thing possible. Meet the ModBook: their take on a Tablet Mac.

"The first ever Mac OS X tablet computer solution" literally is the guts of a Core 2 Duo MacBook in the shell of a UMPC, explains AppleInsider. It will cost the buyer around US$ 2,279 to transplant the essence of a MacBook into a 13.3 inch Wacom pen-enabled widescreen and chrome-plated magnesium top shell. The ModBook retains all the functionality of its donor, up to and including the CD/DVD combo drive and the iSight camera. The ModBook also comes with an optional built-in GPS system.

It drew such a huge crowd - for a non-Apple booth - and it was awarded "Best in Show". Until January 31, Other Word is offering a special introductory price of US$ 2,199 for the ModBook - optional GPS included. Slated for an April release. Pictures of the demo pre-production unit below from AppleInsider. Come on. You know you want it.

Please tap your pens on the Full Article link for more pictures of the ModBook.

While technophiles the world over got worked up and hyperventilated at Steve Jobs' announcement of the iPhone, the Japanese simply looked up a while from their keitai, then went on with their business. And the reason for this? The fact that the iPhone has nothing new to offer to them.

While Jobs boasts of the iPhones new interface, the Japanese are finding it hard to believe that it is a "revolutionary product" that will "change everything". Apple also notes that the iPhone can be used to download music and surf the internet, as well as support one-way conferencing in the future. Over at Japan, the whole population have already been doing all this for years. On top of that, most phones can support five-way video conferencing, and their mobiles can also be used to buy train tickets, pay for taxi rides, design a webpage, update a blog, pay for puchases at the convenience store, book hotel reservations, watch a movie or the latest baseball game, use GPS, get exclusive content by scanning a barcode on the seats at the baseball stadium, and an entire plethora of other features and uses which Apple still seems to be clueless about (they should probably start off by checking out Strap-Ya, or something).

All this can again be attributed to one main attribute that Apple is missing, and that would be 3G technology. At the moment, the iPhone is still on a second-generation network.

So, when Japanese retailers were told about the amazing, new iPhone and its features, one shopkeeper merely laughed and said, "Sounds like business as usual".

A few days ago we brought you a list of seven Japanese high-tech gadgets you can't buy just yet. Today we have another list - courtesy of TechEBlog - of seven gadgets that are not yet available for the consumption of the general public. This time, we're setting our sights on one of the most useful accessories we've ever come across: watches.

First up is the iPod watch. Designed by Peter Burns, this concept watch is supposed to be a "10GB player with Bluetooth-enabled earphones." The clean design is enhanced by the lack of wiring between the player and earphones, "a sleek, efficient method of dealing with the increasing risk of misplacing the unit as the iPod gets smaller and smaller."

Check out the rest of the high-tech watches after the jump!

Steve Jobs really did a great job hyping up the Apple phone so much so that rumors just seem to keep on weaving itself as to what the phone would exactly be like.

From AllGadgets.org, the grapevine just got juicier as fans of Apple have allegedly found references to the GPS data in Apple's iPhoto software. This, in case you're not aware, is said to be used with the iPhone. Says the overzealous Nancy Drews, the code of the software references GoogleMaps, while also hinting at the idea that the iPhoto will also be able to allow photos to be tagged with location data.

And of course, as it is practically unimaginable now to have a mobile phone without an installed camera in it, you can expect no less from this secret Apple phone. Imagine it with a GPS, and able to sync data taken across iTunes and iPhoto whenever you dock it. Imagine that the GPS device can also be a means for tracking the unit down if it gets lost or stolen. Imagine, cause it just might turn out to be how you pictured it.

But again, these are all just rumors. So until we hear some more concrete information from Apple itself (which we doubt to be any time soon), let's just keep imagining. It'll all come together in good time.

Okay, here's something nifty you can do: open the Localizable.strings file inside the iPhoto app bundle. You'll should see several interesting keys.

Notice that the GPSMapURL is set to "http://maps.google.com/maps?maps?q=%f+%f", funky weird huh? The 6.0.5 iPhoto update contains new calendar, greeting card, and postcard themes for use with Apple print services. It should also include a variety of holiday card designs. Anyway, based on the pic above, Google is up to something with Apple.

Now upen the iPhoto's InfoPanel.nib file. And you'll see a hidden show button.

If you go through the iPhoto executable itself with a Hex Editor, you'll see around 70 references to GPS. Now, GPS fields in iPhoto isn't exactly news. What is news is the presence of Google Maps and that hidden Show button.

More on Javester, Exif tools, and that last interesting bit on iPhoto after the jump!

Here's another one of those nifty little gadgets that adds even more functionality to your portable devices. Japanese manufacturer Princeton announced an Ultra High Frequency (UHF) transmitter aimed at iPod Video users. The PCK-UAV Video Transmitter works like an FM transmitter but for TV signals.

The device will display videos from iPod Videos or portable DVD players on your Car TV/GPS devices. You'll need a video cable to connect the iPod to the PCK-UAV transmitter. You can also connect other video source to the transmitter, so if you don't have an iPod, a portable video player will work just fine. Of course, this nifty device is useful only when you can't connect your iPod to a TV or a larger screen.

It's one of those things we can do without, but we welcome the innovation nonetheless.

No word yet on pricing and availability.

There are a lot of speculations on what the highly-anticipated and much publicized Operating System from Apple, Leopard, will have as its spots, I mean, features. Some possible candidates that are being thrown around are Boot Camp, Bit Torrent, Maps...

Yes, you read it right, Maps. I bet you never saw that one coming huh? What good purpose will maps on your Macs serve, you ask? Apparently, Leopard will come bundled with something simply called Maps, which works pretty much the same way as Google Maps and Microsoft's Virtual Earth does. Maps, insiders say, will use GPS to track down stolen Apple goods. How Steve Jobs and the people a Apple are going to do that before its release in August, I absolutely have no clue. We simply know they can.