GPS reviews, news, tips, tricks and deals
UPDATE: Read my hands on review of the Garmin fenix.
Look what just showed up in the app store. That’s right, Garmin has rolled out BaseCamp Mobile for their new fenix backcountry sportswatch. At present it is for iOS only, although I have been told they are looking into an Android version. The app works on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (5th generation), iPad (3rd generation), and iPad Wi-Fi + 4G, and requires iOS 5.1 or later.
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The Internet has been buzzing for the past 24 hours, filled with complaints about Apple’s new Maps app in iOS 6. Back in June, Apple revealed the app, letting folks know that free turn-by-turn navigation was coming to iOS and that they were dropping Google Maps. The problem is that Google has been mapping the world since 2005 and has a seven year lead on local search, fixing errors, etc.
It’s been awhile since I addressed handheld GPS bike mounts (apart from some photos), and my thoughts have changed a bit over the years, so it seems like a good time to revisit it. Basically, I now prefer the standard Garmin bike mount which fits the newer eTrex, Oregon, Dakota and 62/78 series, over my previous favorite RAM mounts. The Garmin mounts work very well, and I appreciate their low profile, low cost, and the fact that I can use them with several different models. read more
Telenav has announced Scout for Android this morning, a free navigation app that offers turn by turn routing, local search, traffic, voice recognition, and automatic rerouting for free. read more
UPDATE: Read my hands on review of the Garmin fenix.
I’ve managed to get my hands on a Garmin fenix, the new backcountry sportswatch, and I’ve got a few pics to share. The fenix is already shipping from GPS City and REI
; it looks like Amazon
On my first trip out, I just wanted to get a feel for it, but I did verify that it has advanced track navigation (the top field in the image above shows distance to the next waypoint along the track). The image below shows the active route and compass screens. read more
If you’ve ever gone geocaching you’ve undoubtedly found yourself thinking about hiding your own geocache. You’ve probably said, “I know somewhere that would make an excellent hide…” Maybe you’ve wisely waited until you have a number of finds under your belt. Maybe your area is so saturated with geocaches that you’ve yet to set one. Or maybe you’ve set a few and had geocachers come back to you and say that your co-ordinates are way off. If so, then this month’s article on getting accurate co-ordinates when placing geocaches should be of use to you. read more
The TomTom VIA 1605TM
Magellan has announced yet another 7″ monster, this time with pretty much their entire line of features. The Magellan RoadMate 9250T-LMB will include lifetime maps, traffic, Landmark Guidance and Bluetooth Safe Texting. It is backup camera compatible, carries an MSRP of $229.99 and is expected to be available later this month from BestBuy.com. read more
UPDATE: Read my hands on Garmin fenix review.
We’re getting much closer to the Garmin fenix release date, with one source saying Garmin will ship it to dealers this Friday, and GPS City expecting to have it available next Monday. The company has posted some videos going though the menus (one is shown above), the manual has shown up, and Garmin has posted their first firmware update for it.
It’s that time again — the first of the month, when we look back on our readers’ favorite auto and handheld GPS units. And for the second month in a row, the nuvi 50LM and eTrex 20 top the charts. The rankings below are based on the number of units sold on GPS Tracklog and our sister site, GPS Deals, through our various partners like Amazon and REI. On to the charts…
