Kansas City Tech Guide

It’s not like DARPA hasn’t been trying to miniaturize unmanned aerial vehicles already, but its Nano Air Vehicle program is yet another attempt to find tiny, ultra-lightweight devices that could theoretically “perform indoor and outdoor military missions.” More specifically, it’s looking for something less than 7.5-centimeters and under 10-grams, and the overriding goal is to “explore novel, bio-inspired, conventional and unconventional configurations to provide the warfighter with unprecedented capability for urban mission operations.” Reportedly, AeroVironment already has an idea in mind for such a drone (pictured), but as these type things always go, we’ve no idea how soon we’ll see critters like these take to the skies with a thumb-sized American flag plastered on the side.

[Via BoingBoing]

Not that it’s been that long since we heard from Becker or anything, but it’s never too early for yet another numerically named navigation unit, right? Available now in the UK, the Becker Traffic Assist 7827 sports a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 resolution touchscreen, 400MHz processor, 128MB of RAM, a SiRFstarIII GPS chipset, integrated TMC receiver for traffic avoidance, an SD expansion slot and USB connectivity. Additionally, you’ll find a rechargeable battery good for around five hours, a 2GB SD card with maps for 37 European countries, a headphone jack and a multimedia player that handles photos and MP3s. All things considered, we suppose it’s not priced too outrageously at £249.95 ($497), but if you’re still unsure if it’s worth the coin, may we point out the elusive “mood light” feature to push you over the edge.

[Via NaviGadget]