Filed under: GPS

Garmin launched its updated 7×5 series of nuvi navigators back in August, but the high-end MSN Direct-equipped 785T is just hitting stores, and GPS Magazine says it’s a solid improvement over previous nuvis — but if you’re not willing to pay the $50 / year for the MSN service, you’re probably not going to miss it. The 785T drew high marks for its fast frame rate, nice 3D lane guidance / upcoming turn features, and semi-realistic building displays, but the MSN Direct traffic implementation was less accurate than the free traffic service built into lesser T-series nuvis, and download speeds for the service weren’t particularly swift. We’re not all that sold on the connected GPS concept yet, so we’re inclined to take the reviewer’s advice and pick up the otherwise-identical non-connected 765T, but click on for the full exhaustive review to decide for yourself.

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Filed under: GPS

We get plenty of emails from big-time drug smugglers in Miami who want to know: “When will Garmin provide a comprehensive, affordable GPS solution, at home both on the road and the water?” Looks like we’re one step closer to an answer with the GPSMAP 600 series. These rugged, portable touchscreen nav units feature a 5.2-inch display (800 x 480) and come with two mounts: when placed in either the marine or auto mount, the device will start up in the appropriate mode. On the road, the domestic GPSMAP 640 ($1,199 MSRP) provides the maps, turn-by-turn directions, custom POIs and proximity alerts you expect. On the water you get aerial POI views and optional BlueChart g2 Vision for underwater 3D perspective. Rounding things out, XM WX Satellite Weather data, XM Satellite Radio and XM NavTraffic are available with the optional GXM 40 antenna and subscription. The international GPSMAP 620 ($999 MSRP) is a bit scaled down, with street maps and marine chart data available through the SD card slot. There you have it, kids — and keep an eye out for Crockett and Tubbs!

[Thanks, Rich]

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Filed under: GPS

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Filed under: GPS

We got a brief glimpse at Garmin’s new nüvi navigators, the 7×5 Series and 2×5 Series. Since we weren’t on the road, the 755T treated us to 3D views of the IFA building we were chilling at, spinning at a blistering 10 fps. The Lane Assist also does what it says on the box, giving you a crystal clear look at your next merge. The 265T was considerably less dramatic, and both units show a considerable amount of boredom on the industrial design front. Garmin clearly knows what it’s about when it comes to navigation devices, but we could use a bit more spice with those maps to keep us coming back.

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Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Handhelds

Oh, Nuvifone, how you disappoint us. Over here at IFA we just managed to get a Garmin rep to whip out his Nuvifone prototype for a quick look, but sadly, almost a year after the device was first announced, there really wasn’t anything new to see. We still aren’t allowed to take video of the interface, or really see much of the phone other than the home screen, and when the rep tried to show us how the Nuvifone kicks the iPhone’s ass in navigation, the Nuvi promptly crashed — so at least those two have that in common. Not that we should be surprised, Garmin mentioned last month that the phone had been delayed into 2009, but we’re quickly running out of patience, as well as any scrap of remaining hope for this thing to actually matter when it does arrive. Peep the gallery for a little bit of iPhone 3G versus action.

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Filed under: GPS

Garmin’s Oregon 400 nav comes in a few different flavors depending on how you like to experience the outdoors, but the essential 3-inch touchscreen package is the same, and it looks like it’s a winner — the folks at PC Magazine just put the 400t variant through its paces, and found that it’s an “excellent hiking companion.” Of course, for six bills you’d damn well better get a sensitive GPS receiver with quick acquisition times, but the 400t also impressed with solid battery life on just two AAs and easy set up. Of course, as an outdoor-centric PND, the highway guidance features are a bit lacking compared to devices like Garmin’s Nuvis, but if you’re looking to tromp around the woods in style and you’ve got cash to spare, it sounds like the Oregon series is worth a look.

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Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

Somehow this doesn’t surprise us. According to a statement released ahead of Garmin’s Q2 earnings call, the company says it will be delaying the release of its Nuvifone from late 2008 until the first half of 2009. In the press release, the satnav-maker says it has “found that meeting some of the carrier specific requirements will take longer than anticipated,” and claims it is “working toward making necessary design changes to meet their requirements.” Here’s hoping the bump stems from these minor niggles with carriers, versus trouble with the phone itself, which was running only a partially operational OS last time we saw it.

[Via GPS Tracklog]

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Filed under: GPS

For those who spend just as much time getting lost in the forest as they do on the highways, Garmin’s nüvi 500 holds quite a bit of promise. Combining four modes covering cycling, boating (optional), driving and walking, this waterproof navigator has nearly every walk of life covered. GPS Magazine recently got to spend some time with the Q3-bound unit, and not surprisingly, it came away very impressed. On the roads, this device performed just as admirably as any other Garmin unit. When traveling off the beaten path, things were just as great. The only real knocks on this were the added bulk / weight and the omission of text-to-speech, but true adventurers aren’t apt to care about that when consolidating four GPS devices into one.

[Thanks, Fletch]

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Filed under: GPS

Sure, Garmin’s new nüvi 500 series can get you from point A to point G on paved and well-lit highways, but that’s not the (whole) point here. Instead, these rugged (and waterproof) navigators are geared up to take to the trails, waterways and sidewalks with one-touch transitions between driving, bicycling, boating and walking modes. The 500 includes road maps and topographic maps for the lower 48 US states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, while the 550 touts comprehensive street map coverage of the US and Canada. Both devices boast a 3.5-inch touchscreen, a removable, rechargeable battery, Garmin’s “Where Am I?” feature and geocaching support to boot. As for USers, you’ll find the 500 and 550 on sale in Q3 for $499.99, while those across the pond will see the nüvi 550 land this September for £299.

[Via GPSTracklog, thanks Rich]

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Filed under: GPS

As expected, Garmin has gone official with their new Oregon 200, 300, and 400 nav units. To make things extra confusing, the Oregon 400 includes the 400c, 400t, and 400i. The outdoor-friendly PNDs are waterproof, feature high-sensitivity receivers, and sport 3-inch touchscreens. As for the various 400-series units, it’s all about your outdoor poison. The 400c is for sea anglers with chart coverage for the coastal US and Bahamas, the 400i is for fresh-water fishers with depth contours and boat ramps for U.S. inland lakes and rivers, and the 400t if for you land-lubbers with preloaded US topographic maps in 3D. Meanwhile, the 300 features a worldwide basemap with shaded relief and the 200 provides just your basic basemap. The units weigh in at just 6.8 ounces, run on AA batteries, and support microSD cards. Pricing is set at $479.99 for the 200, $533.32 for the 300, and $639.99 for the 400.

[Thanks, Martin]

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Filed under: GPS

It’s been a while since Garmin dropped any new gear on us, but it looks like we’re about to get a whole new series of nav units soon — Buy.com and Amazon just put up listings for the Garmin Oregon 200, 300, and 400. The new boxes are a little smaller and lighter than the Colorado series, with a rugged, waterproof casing, 3-inch 240 X 400 sunlight readable touchscreens, customizable user profiles, and the ability to transfer waypoints, tracks, routes, and geocaches between units. We’re assuming pricing will change when these things get real, but for now the 200 is listed at $420 and the 400C is listed at $558. It’s not exactly clear what the specific differences between the line is, except that the 400 will come in several flavors, with the 400C variant sporting BlueChart g2 marine maps for the coastal US and Bahamas. Hopefully we’ll get some more details soon, as these bad boys seem ready to go.

[Via GPS Tracklog]

Read - Oregon 200 listing
Read - Oregon 400C listing

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Filed under: Gaming, GPS

An enterprising nerd and Portal fan by the name of Ryan VanMiddlesworth has cobbled together an installable GLaDOS-simulating voice pack for Garmin Nüvis. Having “GLaGPS” guide you to point B seems like it’d be only slightly unnerving, but that’s mostly to do with the fact that its constantly trying to divert you to cake-related points of interest. Video after the break.

Continue reading GLaDOS GPS voice pack just wants to help you find your way. To the morgue.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Word on the street (and by “street” we mean mysterious corners of the internet) is that Garmin’s upcoming Nuvifone will actually be manufactured by the ubiquitous and varied ASUS. According to “industry sources” — that rare breed never seen yet often heard — the two companies have been working on the device for the past two years, with the computer-maker lending a hand in the RF technology department amongst other things. The sources further claim that the Nuvifone will be the first in a series handsets, with plans to roll out new models through 2010… the year we make contact. More on this breathtaking bit of news as we get it, faithful readers.

[Via Unwired View]

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Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

It’s one thing to describe a UI, it’s another to see it in action. Laptop Mag just posted nearly 5 minutes of finger-flicking, auto-rotating, rubber banding video of Garmin’s hotly anticipated Nuvifone. There’s even a brief glimpse of the touch keyboard in all its landscape, predictive text glory. Sure Garmin only showed the working aspects of the not-ready-for-prime-time prototype. Regardless, it’s enough to keep us impressed and awaiting the Q4 release. Video just beyond the read link.

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Filed under: GPS

We’re sorry, we know Garmin puts a lot of TLC and, um, maps into these things, but we’re still having trouble swallowing the $1000 pricetag the company is placing on its new hotness, the nuvi 880. The device is finally up for pre-order at Amazon, so if you want to be first in line for speech recognition and the other perks this unit will bring, now would be a good time to start selling off the kids.

[Via NaviGadget]

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Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

It’s about time someone got his hands on a working Garmin Nuvifone. The folks at Laptop Magazine were lucky enough to spend some time with a prototype, reporting that the interface was snappy, the screen is nice and big, and the UI appears to be very GPS-centric. They tried the QWERTY keypad which is “spacious enough” and uses an auto-complete dictionary. The main interface presents a row of icons for calling, searching, and mapping, and finger swipes stream them across the screen. Included apps, at least in this model, were SMS, Google Search, email, and media player. All said, some apps didn’t load properly and some of the display units were frozen in bug limbo, but we’ll give Garmin a pass there as these were clearly early test units. So a couple questions remain: Is it still coming out Q3 of this year, and will it still run $499? Is it coming in white? Follow the read link for more impressions and hands-on pictures.

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Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

The folks at NaviGadget got a couple reader-submitted shots of a white Nuvifone, but there’s no telling just now how legit they are. Garmin just shows a black version of its phone — which is still slated for Q3 at a purported $500 pricepoint — on its own site, but perhaps this teensy supposed leak means there’s more news in store for the Nuvifone camp in the near future.

Update: Turns out this is just an inverted shot of a black phone, so sorry to disappoint.

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Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

We know it’s coming in Q3 but the price of Garmin’s hotly anticipated Nuvifone has always been a mystery. Until now. We just received a screenshot that a helpful reader snagged from a Garmin survey. In it, our tipster was asked the following question:

“Now, how likely would you be to buy the Garmin nüvifone (for yourself or as a gift) if offered by AT&T for $499.99 with a two year contract? You would be required to have both a data plan that would include unlimited Internet browsing and unlimited Navigation for $19.99 per month and one of the standard voice rate plans for a monthly fee.”

So dear readers, we ask you… does that sound reasonable for a 3.5-inch touchscreen cellphone with GPS navigation, 3.5G data, WiFi, audio and video playback, and 3 megapixel camera?

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Filed under: GPS, Transportation

Back in the day, integrated GPS units were the stuff of luxury cars, gargantuan SUV cruisers, and lost old ladies. Suzuki is looking to change all of that by including the Garmin T.R.I.P. on all 2009 SX4 Sport and SX4 Crossover vehicles — at no extra charge. As Suzuki gleefully points out, this marks the first time a sub-$16,000 car has included a GPS unit as standard equipment. The T.R.I.P. (Travel, Real-time traffic, Information and Play) sports a flip-up 4.3-inch screen and Bluetooth connectivity. As for software, it will include real-time traffic, weather forecasts, local event listings, community-based recommendations, and a gas station finder that can filter based on fuel prices. We’re still fans of portable GPS units, but there is something elegant about those big-screened integrated monsters.

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Filed under: GPS, Portable Audio, Portable Video, Transportation

Although Kenwood’s been shipping nav-enabled car stereos powered by Garmin since 2006, they’ve mostly gone under the radar — but now it looks like the two companies are so pleased with the arrangement that they’re going to launch a combined marketing blitz and some new jointly-developed models. We’ve already seen a couple nifty Kenwood stereos with built-in nav (and some sweet concepts), but it looks like 2008 will bring even more units like the Garmin-powered Excelon DNX-8120 (pictured above) that launched at CES. All the new units are to have touchscreens with flash-based Garmin nav internals, as well as the usual high-end Kenwood features like Bluetooth, satellite radio, HD Radio, and iPod hookups. No new model numbers or prices have been announced yet, but the marketing partnership is apparently already underway — get ready for the car stereo section of your local big box to be taken over.

[Via Blast]

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