10 Must Have Gadgets Coming Out In The Next Year

6. Navdy

You know how it is, as one of the increasing number of people in this world who are near enough surgically attached to their smartphones, you're driving and you hear that familiar ping of your phone as a text comes in. "It's alright" you think, "I'll just check it later". A few minutes pass and another ping, someone really wants to speak to you, it could be important, it could be urgent. You reach into your pocket and pull your phone out, just as you unlock the screen there's the sound of a police siren and you're pulled to the side of the road. It's not the first time this has happened, you've no points left on your licence so it's revoked, you lose your job, the wife leaves with the kids and you die poor and lonely. All because your buddy asked if you were free for a drink later on that day. Probably. Anyway, the guys behind Navdy are trying to mitigate such brushes with the law with this cool little heads-up-display (HUD). Navdy is a little box with a miniature projector that sits on your dashboard, right in your eye-line. The device connects to your phone via bluetooth and displays key information in an easy to read UI. If you're using the navigation on your phone, it displays the directions in an easy to read form, if you receive a text it can display it on the screen and allows you to dictate and send a response. It can be controlled using voice and gesture meaning you never actually need to touch the device or reach far from the steering wheel at any given time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKL4PJICS40 While it isn't the first HUD device to be developed or marketed, it is the first that simplifies the UI of your phone as well as working with both iOS and Android. Other HUDs rely on reflecting information from the phone screen onto the windscreen directly whereas Navdy has its own glass that sits away from the windscreen, not only allowing you to effectively use it in the day time, but also keep your phone well away from the dashboard and avoiding the temptation to pick it up when a call comes in.