GPS reviews, news, tips and tricks
UPDATE: The Garmin eTrex Vista H now has its own page on GPS Tracklog.
Garmin has responded to the state of the economy with two new entry-level handheld GPS units, the eTrex Legend H (pictured at left) and eTrex Vista H. These are monochome units, with internal memory only (no micro-SD slot). The Vista H will include a barometric altimeter and electronic compass. MSRP is $149.99 and $199.99.
Garmin is pretty tight-lipped about future plans and, as expected, I wasn't able to pry a lot out of them at CES. I did find out that the new third-generation MSN Direct services will be available on nuvi 2×5, 7×5 and 8×5 models (when equipped with an MSN receiver, of course). And it does sound like the nuvifone rollout will be at the GSMA Mobile World Congress next month.
Mio was showing off their new Moov S-series with the Spirit interface at CES. There really isn’t a lot more to add about that, though I am looking forward to reviewing them. I’m thrilled to see Mio include 12 million POIs, even on entry level models.
UPDATE: Read my hands-on TomTom GO 740 LIVE review
I could have titled this post "more about the TomTom GO 740 LIVE" since it was their only introduction this year and the main thing we discussed. Shortly after meeting, they learned the the unit had been given the Best of CES award by both CNet and Laptop Magazine. Here are a few more details on the device and some additional screenshots:
Okay, maybe two days late. I'm off to CES shortly, but there is method in my madness. I learned long ago that it's easier to cover these events from home when all the news releases hit the ether, and then catch the tail end of the show for face-to-face meetings. Plus I've got to be in Vegas for another meeting afterwards, so cutting back some time keeps me from being, oh, a thousand dollars short!
MSN Direct has announced some nice improvements for 2009, including Doppler radar, flight status information and faster downloads. All services are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2009.
UPDATE: Read my hands-on TomTom GO 740 LIVE review
NOTE:I haven't seen a formal news release on this, so I'm piecing it together from multiple sources, all linked to below. UPDATE: The news release is appended to the bottom of this post.
TomTom is announcing the GO 740 LIVE, a connected GPS with a built-in cellular modem, today at CES. Unfortunately, TomTom has not been able to nail down a carrier partner in the U.S. that would allow for crowd-sourced traffic data, ala Dash. So, for the time being anyway, you won't have access to near real-time data from other TomTom GO 740 users. It will instead utilize traffic data from INRIX. The GO 740 LIVE will come with a one-year subscription and, according to GPS Business News, "TomTom probably expects to have its HD Traffic ready when this one year free subscription comes to an end" (emphasis added).
Mio will be announcing several new models at CES a little later today. As we predicted last week, these units will incorporate the Spirit interface with what they are now calling "slide screen" technology. Here are details on the new models, all slated to be available in the first half of 2009:
More news from the International Consumer Electronics Show…
have announced SPOT Assist roadside service, which seems designed to compete with OnStar
Continuing the no new hardware trend we ID'd yesterday, Navigon will announce this morning a wide range of new downloadable content, some good, some not so good. On the plus side we have red light cameras and European maps. Of more questionable value is 3D landmarks, and sure to rile the folks who bought the Navigon 7200T is the option to beef up its weak POI database by paying $29.99 for an additional 2.8 million POIs.
GPS Tracklog is written by Rich Owings, author of GPS Mapping.
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