Some people will tell you that standalone GPS devices have gone the way of the dinosaur thanks to the rise of fully capable smartphones, but I disagree. Many of those apps still require you to have an active data connection and you either want to conserve that data bucket or you may not have a connection while on the open road. And when you can get a quality GPS for half price, you can’t really turn down that navigational opportunity.

Take the Garmin nuvi 1390LMT as a prime example. The regular list price for this GPS navigator is $229.99, but Amazon has slashed that price in half down to $114.99. This is mostly because there is a newer model out, but this version is still very solid. You don’t have to worry about getting outdated maps either, because this comes with free lifetime maps and traffic. This way, you always have the most up-to-date maps, POIs and navigation information.

As far as the core specs go, there’s a 4.3-inch TFT color touchscreen, preloaded City Navigator NT North America, and integrated Bluetooth with a mic and speaker for hands-free calling. The “advanced navigation features” shouldn’t be ignored either. The standard voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions are nice, but you get voiced street names, lane assist with junction view (I can’t stress enough how useful this is), and something called “ecoRoute” to help you save fuel.

I have one of these myself and it works like a dream. I paid more than this sale price for sure, so be sure to snatch up the Garmin nuvi 1390LMT for $114.99 on Amazon while you can. And yes, that includes free shipping.

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What’s better than using Siri to navigate through your iPhone? Using SIRI to control many of the functions in your Mercedes-Benz A-Class, that’s what. That’s right, Mercedes’ Digital DriveStyle App and Drive Kit Plus for the Apple iPhone will now tightly integrate iPhone controls into the vehicle’s electronics platform.

What does this mean exactly? For one thing instead of memorizing the car’s commands for controlling things like music and twitter, you will be able to use Siri commands, which should certainly make things a little easier.

It will also allow a special driver controller knob to change music from the iPhone and even post things to the net. Which applications can actually be used will largely be up to Mercedes-Benz, but we do know that Twitter, Facebook and Aupeo! Personal Radio (similar to Pandora) have been tested and seem to work with the new system. The app also adds Garmin navigation which seems to replace CD or DVD-based systems.

This likely means that Mercedes-Benz will be the first manufacturer to integrate SIRI technology into vehicles, but you can pretty much guarantee they won’t be the last.

[ source ]

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This higher end GPS watch is waterproof up to 50 meters, letting you keep your tracking going even when you’re going for a dip in the pool or the lake. There are sensors that can provide detailed swim metrics, like distance, speed, pace, elevation, heart rate, strokes, pool lengths, and even your “swolf score,” which describes your swimming efficiency.

The watch can be used for other sports too, like biking, hiking, and running, but it’s clear that the waterproof-ness is lending itself to the more aquatic end of the equation. You can expect 20 hours of battery life, vibe alerts, and a “Virtual Racer” feature that lets you race against yourself. The Garmin ForeRunner 910XT is shipping now for $400.

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When Garmin and Asus first forged the deal to partner up on some smartphone collaborations, the agreement was supposed to hold up for at least two years and that 24-month window is quickly coming to a close. The joint venture is rumored to be falling apart as of this coming January.

This comes by way of the Economic Daily, a Chinese publication, which is also quick to point out that this doesn’t mean the two companies will stop working with one another. The Garmin-Asus co-branding is probably out the window, but we hear that Asus will keep making GPS-enabled smartphones (under the Asus brand) that will use Garmin for navi and mapping software.

I don’t think the deal was doomed from the start, but the nuvifone devices that eventually did make it to market quickly got lost in the shuffle.

SOURCE: Economic Daily via Engadget

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GPS is typically used to avoid getting lost, but there’s a group of very enthusiastic group of people who enjoy “looking for treasure in Tupperware,” aka, geocaching. Targetting these crazy weekenders is Garmin with a new chip called the Chirp. It may look like a rather nondescript piece of black plastic, but it’s got some navigational technology inside. The idea is that a geocacher can hide the Chirp somewhere in the middle of nowhere, activating it for other geocachers to find. The battery on the Chirp lasts up to a year and it serves as a wireless beacon for those who want to participate.

The Chirp “can communicate with… any compatible wireless-enabled Garmin handheld for a more interactive and enjoyable geocaching experience.” It stores hints, transmits multicache coordinates, counts visitors, and confirms the cache is nearby. When the owner of the pet rock Chirp comes back to retrieve it, he or she can then reprogram it for the next high-tech hide-and-seek adventure.

At $23, the Chirp isn’t a huge loss if someone decides to swipe it rather than maintain the integrity of the cache. Even then, since it’s password protected, you can probably track down the thief and ask for it back, making an entirely new game out of geocaching; finding the Chirp thief.

SOURCE: SlashGear, Garmin

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Garmin's Android-based navigation smartphone

I tend to use my smartphone for navigation these days more than I use my standalone Garmin GPS device. Recognizing this trend, Garmin released the Garminfone and Nuvifone. Unfortunately, they haven’t been nearly as successful as the GPS experts had hoped.

It was a good idea adopting the Google Android platform for their navigation-centric smartphones, but the sales push really wasn’t there. As such, the mobile division hasn’t performed quite as well as they had expected. In the second quarter, the smartphone product category “contributed $27M in revenue.” That’s “below our plan.”

The Garmin Android phones offer solid hardware, thanks to the partnership with Asus and the inclusion of on-board maps (so no need for a constant data connection), but it’s still lacking in other categories where the more popular smartphones have been shining.

What advice would you give to the folks at Garmin to boost their smartphone sales? Is the focus on navigation an advantage or a hindrance?

[Intomobile]

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Garmin Asus A10 Android GPS Smartphone

The standalone GPS market isn’t nearly as hot as it has been in years past, so many people are moving toward “convergence” devices that can do GPS and more.  Garmin is aggressively expanding its smartphone line with the new Garmin-Asus A10 in response to this new trend.  This follows up on the nuvifone from AT&T and the Garminfone with T-Mobile. A good move on Garmin’s part, I’d say, since they can continue to sell hardware to the growing navigation-centric smartphone market.

With the newly announced Garmin-Asus A10, you get a large 3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen display along with Google Android (no mention of which version) for its operating system. The webKit browser is there for your web surfing needs and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera will satisfy shutterbugs. The Walkman line from Sony Ericsson married MP3 players with cell phones and the iPhone is offering a better mobile gaming experience. What better way to bring great GPS navigation to the smartphone realm than to use the resources of a company like Garmin?  In additiion to regular old maps, the Garmin-Asus A10 has voice-guided turn-by-turn directions, cityXplorer maps for public transportation options, and more. Look for the A10 to launch in Europe and Asia-Pacific around the middle of the year.

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Garminfone Android-based smartphone on T-Mobile USA

As it turns out, AT&T isn’t the only one doing the smartphone thing with Garmin. T-Mobile USA is getting a piece of that navigation pie too with the announcement of the new Garminfone. It’s being offered exclusively through T-Mobile later this Spring.  To avoid any confusion with the Garmin smartphone being sold through AT&T, T-Mobile has decided that its version will be called the Garminfone rather than the nuvifone. This also allows them to say that it is exclusive to their stable.

In terms of features, the new Garminfone gets a large 3.5-inch touchscreen display, 3G connectivity, 3MP camera (with geotagging), Garmin’s “robust navigation experience.” Another big kicker is that the Garminfone will be powered by Google Android, opening up possibilities for all sorts of apps and customizations.

The Garminfone also comes with something called Garmin Voice Studio. This Android application allows customers to record and share custom voice directions from family and friends. So, you can tell grandma that she needs to turn left at the big oak tree… or something.

T-Mobile isn’t forthcoming with pricing information or a specific release date, but with a “later this spring” release window, they’ve only got a couple more months anyhow.

T-Mobile Garminfone Photo Gallery

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There are certainly some differences from the previous nuvifone devices. For instance, the nuvifone M20 gets powered by Windows Mobile 6.1, whereas the nuvifone A50 takes on the Google Android thing. In fact, it is the first Android smartphone to come pre-loaded with Garmin navigation software.

Other highlights on the A50 include the 3.5-inch HVGA capacitive touchscreen, 3MP camera, 4GB of storage, microSD slot, accelerometer, Microsoft Exchange support, and Google services integration.

The Garmin-Asus nuvifone M10, on the other hand, takes the path of Windows Mobile 6.5.3. We had originally hoped for Windows Mobile 7, but that doesn’t sound like it’s happening. The M10 has a 3.5″ WVGA resistive touchscreen, 4GB storage, and 512MB of RAM. Some impressive specs, but not at all worth phoning home about.

The Garmin-Asus nuvifone A50 will be on display at Mobile World Congress early next week. The European launch is being planned for the first half of 2010. There’s no mention of an Asian or North American release just yet.

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This is an annual subscription service that gives the user the ability to load “highly-detailed photo-based maps” on their “select Garmin handheld navigators.” Instead of a regular old map, you get actual images of your surroundings.

The images are raster-based, so they are compiled from actual aerial photos that are then scanned, geo-referenced, and overlaid onto the GPS receiver’s display. The resolution for most of the United States is 0.5 meter per pixel.

The Garmin Birdseye subscription costs $29.99 a year and allows for unlimited downloads to a single Garmin device.

Now, where have I read about something like this before? Oh right. That darn satellite mode in the free Google Maps application. I guess BirdsEye can come in handy when you’re in the woods, but I’ll stick to Google Maps in the city.

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