Magellan has just announced the 7″ RoadMate Commercial 9270T-LM
7″ Magellan RoadMate Commercial 9270T-LM announced
May 29, 2012 By 6 Comments
The future of auto GPS, part two – embracing the smartphone
May 23, 2012 By 4 Comments
Yesteday we looked at safety technologies that might be integrated into auto GPS. Today, we’ll look at another option for GPS manufacturers that is somewhat safety related – how we interact with smartphones while driving.
The future of auto GPS, part one – Safety
May 22, 2012 By 2 Comments
Today and tomorrow, we’ll take a look at a couple of different directions personal navigation device (PND) manufacturers might take in the near future. One possibility is to add some safety-oriented technology.
New 7″ Magellan RV models announced and shipping
May 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Seven-inch screens must be working for Magellan since they continue to roll out new ones. Today’s announcement focuses on models for RVs, with four three new RoadMates all pre-loaded with the Good Sam Trailer Life Directory and Good Sam discount locations (I’m not counting the Pro 9165-T as new, since it’s been around awhile). An A/V input is offered for a DVD player or backup camera, and the screen will automatically switch to the latter when you put your gargantuan home away from home into reverse.
Getting mileage reports from your Garmin nuvi
May 14, 2012 By 2 Comments
Need to keep track of your mileage? There may be a built-in solution already in your nuvi. Garmin’s ecoRoute app automatically creates a mileage report that can be viewed on the screen or downloaded from the nuvi as a .csv file. The only trick is you have to select a destination; if you’re just driving around with your nuvi on, the mileage won’t be recorded. read more
UPDATED: Six-inch TomTom VIA 1605TM heading to US
May 9, 2012 By 8 Comments
UPDATE: It’s official.
UPDATE 2: Read my hands on review of the TomTom VIA 1605TM.
There were a few items showing up on the Web this morning about a six-inch START 60 that just hit the market in Europe, and while we often have to wait many months to see new TomToms on this side of the pond, a 6″ TomTom VIA 1605TM
Chopper-bound Garmin zumo 340 and 350 clear FCC
May 8, 2012 By 4 Comments
Hitting the open road on your Harley this spring? There may be a GPS in your future. The Garmin zumo 340 and 350 have cleared the FCC, so we expect an official announcement in the near future, possibly even later today. Those low model numbers are especially welcome, since many folks are scared off by the 500 and 600 series price tags. These will be the first lower-end motorcycle-friendly units that Garmin has introduced in two years, since the zumo 220. Also noteworthy, these are the first models to drop the nuvi-like flat-form factor in favor of the more Rubenesque shape found on the zumo 550.
New Magellans bring Landmark Guidance
May 7, 2012 By 8 Comments
UPDATED with availability info below.
UPDATE: Read my hands on review of the Magellan RoadMate 5230T-LM with Landmark Guidance.
Big news today from Magellan, which (AFAIK) becomes the first GPS manufacturer in the US to deliver what they are calling “Landmark Guidance.” They define it this way, saying it:
…gives drivers an easier way to navigate to their destinations. Instead of presenting the driver only with street names that may be hard to locate and read, the Magellan RoadMate GPS tells drivers to turn at familiar landmarks such as gas stations, banks, stores or other large, easily-seen places.
Using Garmin nuvis for fleet tracking
May 7, 2012 By 1 Comment
Did you know you can use a Garmin nuvi or dezl for fleet tracking? Yes, you can dispatch and message vehicles, track them using a Web interface and more. In order to do this though, you’ll have to turn to one of Garmin’s Mobile Resource Management (MRM) partners. These companies have taken Garmin’s Fleet Management Interface toolkit and built an end to end solution around it. So in addition to the cost of the navigation unit, you’ll also be paying for a transponder, data usage and access to a fleet tracking Web interface.
read more
Does Garmin have a new PND pricing strategy?
April 16, 2012 By 12 Comments
Last month ABI Research issued a report saying that Personal Navigation Device (PND) manufacturers seem to be “moving away from mass market consumer goods to becoming low volume, high value.” While I take issue with their analysis showing that “nearly one-third of all products offered on the market are above the US$500 mark,” I do think they are onto something.
The fact is, we’re already seeing this trend. Garmin may be stepping up enforcement of their minimum advertised price (MAP) program — I’m not seeing PNDs discounted very much, especially at the high-end. We’re still seeing the upper-end of the Advanced nuvi series selling at their list price on Amazon, a full six months after these units started shipping. Significant discounts are mostly relegated to prior generation units. read more
