Looks like Garmin is pulling a TomTom, rolling out cool new features on the other side of the pond while leaving US commuters stuck in traffic. The nuLink 2300 series, announced today, brings European motorists PhotoLive cameras and 3D traffic.
There’s not a lot of detail about what the latter means, although Garmin does cite “80 million expert traffic sources across Europe to ensure the best traffic avoidance and live traffic information available.” I guess every phone/probe is an “expert,” huh?
The new models also include Garmin Tracker capabilities, a permission-based GPS tracking system that allows you to show your position online, on another nuLink device and/or social networks. No word yet on whether this will cost extra.
The cool thing though, is the traffic camera feeds. Will we see these in the US? Is distracted driving less debated in Europe? Chime in and let us know what you think.
Via PocketGPS World and Garmin UK blog.
About Rich Owings
3D traffic means that it is better than tomtom – theirs is only HD traffic!
If Garmin rolls this out in the US with Inrix instead of Navteq traffic it’ll hammer what’s left of TomTom into the dirt. The traffic cameras popping up automatically is the ultimate traffic check. Seeing what lane is blocked etc.
Their Traffic Trends should be catching up to IQRoutes soon.
It appears Garmin is going all connected from the looks of things.
A lot of these ‘nulink’ features are extras that are not free. The fuel prices, the traffic cameras, the weather radar, currency converter, telephone directory and flight status are extra $$.