Logitech the world’s leading developer of force feedback gaming wheels, announced the Logitech® Driving Force™ GT racing wheel, the official wheel of Gran Turismo™. Featuring powerful force feedback and an innovative 24-position real-time adjustment dial for on-the-fly control of brake bias, traction and damper settings, the Logitech Driving Force GT gives gamers the most accurate and authentic PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3™) racing experience.

“We’re excited to be working with Polyphony Digital again to deliver a wheel that will satisfy the needs of car enthusiasts, like me, around the world,” said Ruben Mookerjee, Logitech’s director of product marketing for gaming. “People who love the striking realism of the Gran Turismo racing series will discover that Logitech’s latest wheel will allow them to experience the cars the way they were meant to be driven. With the Logitech Driving Force GT, you’re not playing games anymore – you’re racing!”

Logitech’s latest racing wheel was meticulously designed by Logitech and Polyphony Digital, Inc., the developer of the Gran Turismo series. The companies worked together to add the unique real-time adjustment dial, a first for force feedback wheels, allowing people to fine tune the car’s balance by adjusting the brake bias, traction control and damper settings. Now Gran Turismo drivers can have precise control over the car’s setup to achieve maximum performance.

The Logitech Driving Force GT turns 900 degrees lock-to-lock allowing drivers to navigate hairpin turns with greater accuracy. And with anti-backlash gearing, there is no slack in the steering response, making any race a smooth, realistic experience. In the centre of the 11-inch wheel, the Driving Force GT features an illuminated horn button with the official Gran Turismo logo. Using the authentic sounds of the car being driven, racers can quickly alert other cars when they are approaching fast. Or when playing online, people can simply use the horn to taunt other players as they speed by.

The Logitech Driving Force GT wheel is engineered for use with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue on PS3, which will be available on Blu-ray Disc™ (BD) and as a download on the PLAYSTATION®Network in North America on April 17 and in Europe on March 28. The Logitech Driving Force GT wheel is also compatible with Gran Turismo™3 and Gran Turismo™4 on the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system.
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GPS manufacturer Garmin sprang out of left field on Wednesday with an unexpected entry in the mobile phone market that will challenge the iPhone. Garmin’s ambitious Nuvifone will feature a totally touch-based interface, wireless Internet access, a browser along with a host of other Web accoutrements, and of course, GPS.

Garmin’s biggest assault on Apple will come by way of the Nuvifone’s 3.5G Internet access , which promises download speeds significantly faster than the iPhone’s much-bemoaned 2G access. Garmin has also challenged the iPhone’s ease of use with an usual proprietary menu system that presents three initial selections: call, search, and view map, along with a handful of other side options.

GPS features will be similar to Garmin’s standard line of GPS units, but with some ramped up capabilities made possible through Internet access. The Nuvifone will include built-in maps and points of interest, but also integrated Google local search capability. This will allow travelers to find destinations through Google and have them immediately plotted and routed to on Garmin’s own mapping system instead of Google Maps.

As an interesting twist on the more traditional camera phone, all of the photos taken with the Nuvifone’s built-in camera will be geotagged with exact latitude and longitude coordinates. This makes it possible to navigate back to the spot where a photo was taken later, or share on sites like Google’s Panoramio which allows users to to sift through geo-tagged photos using a map interface.

So far, the Nuvifone’s most critical spec, price, still remains a mystery. Garmin anticipates a third-quarter 2008 release for the phone.