It’s amazing what features are being crammed into portable GPS navigation units these days.

TomTom has announced the UK launch of three high performance, connected satellite navigation devices with a package of ‘over-the-air’ live services via a built-in SIM card.

Aimed at high mileage and daily drivers, the TomTom GO x40 LIVE units come with a new and extended version of TomTom’s innovative IQ Routes™ technology, (plans the best route) which is now based on historical travel time information for every road, every hour, every day of the week.

Other new features include:

TomTom’s exclusive High Definition (HD) Traffic service for the most accurate and detailed live traffic information, which is updated every three minutes.

As well as a comprehensive fixed safety camera database, users will have access to mobile camera data, supplied in partnership with Road Angel (UK only). In addition, the service will include real-time safety camera reporting and sharing, meaning users can keep each other informed about mobile safety cameras. Drivers will also receive warnings about unmanned railway crossings, schools, places of worship, and other potential accident blackspots.

TomTom has included a fuel price search to allow users to locate up-to-date pricing information from 12,000 fuel stations across the UK, and guide them to the cheapest fuel stations along their route or in their local area.

Google Search gives TomTom users access to information and location details of more than 11 million businesses and turns search results into a destination with the press of a button.

With safety in mind, the TomTom GO LIVE series features voice command and control in addition to existing safety options. For the first time, users can plan a route or make a phone call just by using their voice. Around 140 tasks can be activated by voice, so drivers can keep their eyes focused on the road ahead.

The new units will be available from leading electrical retailers in the UK from mid November, starting from about £300.  A free three month trial period for TomTom LIVE Services is included. Following this, users can register for a monthly, flat-fee subscription of £7.99.

Five plaques commemorating fallen soldiers from both the First and Second World Wars were ripped from the memorial at Philips Cemetery in Bradford, east Manchester.

It is feared the 6ft-high panels will be sold for scrap. They could be sold for just £200 each, but will cost £10,000 to replace all five.

Source: Manchester Evening News 5/11/08

If the culprits are ever apprehended, perhaps they ought to be sent to a war zone, without a flak jacket.

Ceremonies have taken place across the UK today to remember the servicemen and women who lost their lives in all past and current armed conflicts. The Queen led Remembrance Sunday tributes at the Cenotaph in London’s Whitehall before thousands of veterans marched past the monument.

Researchers have discovered that honey bees can only seem to count to four.
www.reuters.com

Researcher Mandyam Srinivasan is quoted as saying: “The more we look at these creatures that have a brain the size of a sesame seed, the more astonished we are…”

Finally, I’ve found something that’s worse with figures than I am!

I just bought tickets for Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of The Worlds 30th Anniversary Tour, June 2009.

The War of The Worlds is going back out on the road for the third time in 3 years, the last shows were in 2007.  I only found out about the tours last year, and so I registered on the TWOTW website to be kept informed of any future developments.

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I drove down to Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire today with Sue & Emma and had a great day out.  It wasn’t cheap though, with tickets that covered all the attractions costing £22 each, plus food etc.

In 1966, Longleat caused a revolution in the world of zoological collections by becoming the first location outside Africa to open a drive-through Safari Park. 

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