NaviGadget

garmin bmw

Nov 5, 2008 garmin, gps navigation 5 Comments

Garmin today announced that it is offering two new navigation devices to add to the line of BMW Portable Navigation Systems. These Garmin devices are known as the Portable Navigation System Plus and Portable Navigation System Pro, and are already available at BMW dealerships in North America, Europe and other regions of the world.

The new GPS navigation systems which are just really nuvi 880 and nuvi 760, can be fitted with specially-engineered mounts into the BMW 1 Series, BMW 3 Series and BMW X3 models. The nice thing is of course the hidden wiring and no suction cup to provide a neat, highly integrated experience.

Also the models can work with your BMW’s sound system which will momentarily mute all entertainment audio so that the driver can clearly hear the navigation commands.

Portable Navigation System Pro also has voice recognition (nuvi 880) and comes preloaded with maps of most European countries or North America.

If purchased in North America, Portable Navigation System Plus will include Garmin’s FM traffic receiver with FM real-time traffic. The North American version of the Portable Navigation System Pro will offer MSN Direct’s real-time traffic reports, gas prices, weather, etc…

In the box you’ll find:

• Preloaded Worldwide basemap and BMW dealer database
• GTM 12 TMC traffic receiver (traffic version only)
• BMW custom mount and cover

cnet compares garmin and tomtom, ignores price

Sep 18, 2008 garmin, gps navigation, reviews, tomtom 6 Comments

CNet featured tomtom go 930 and garmin nuvi 880 very recently on their site and had 3 judges to compare these two high end GPS navigation systems. As you know TomTom and Garmin are big competitors where Garmin has more share in the U.S. and TomTom more in Europe.

Back in the days we had done a similar feature and price comparison for Garmin vs TomTom and that article had gotten a lot of attention.

Now CNet’s doing something very similar comparing the two in the following categories (winner for each category noted inside parentheses):

• design (garmin)
• user interface (garmin)
• features (garmin)
• route guidance (tomtom)
• performance (tie)

Now that’s all really nice to categorize and have a winner for each category, but people! why not consider price? How many of you out there read reviews and not care about price? If you’re like us price will be one of the most important categories. Don’t you think so?

If you wondering on Amazon TomTom GO 930 costs $457 where as Garmin Nuvi 880 costs $674. Garmin is about 1.5 more expensive.

garmin nuvi 880 from consumer reports

Aug 5, 2008 garmin, gps navigation 1 Comment

Consumer Reports has a nice video of Garmin Nuvi 880, mostly displaying its voice recognition feature. If you are deciding whether you should get a nuvi 880 or not, you must see this video.

Here are some of the features of Garmin Nuvi 880 which currently goes for $880 on Amazon:

• Text-to-speech
• Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) capability (screen control)
• Bluetooth wireless technology (pair with phone or headset)
• FM transmitter
• Picture navigation: routing to a geocoded point in JPEG files
• Included traffic receiver via MSN Direct receiver for North America
• Last position: unit automatically marks your position when you remove it from the windshield mount, so you can navigate with nüvi on foot and find your way back to your vehicle
• Location and Text messages
• Instant on
• Web drop: create favorites in a PC browser and send to nuvi via USB (.gps files)
• Route planning with via points
• USB 2.0, high speed connectivity and mass storage
• SD card slot
• MCX connector (external antenna)
• Digital Elevation Maps (DEM)
• Embedded Linux (OS)
• Replaceable battery, high capacity Lithium-ion (up to 5 hours use)

Read More …

garmin runs gnome linux on nuvis

Jul 5, 2008 garmin, gps navigation, software 1 Comment

Garmin Nuvi 8xx and Garmin Nuvi 5xxx is running a flavor of Gnome Linux according to linuxdevices. Also The Garmin Linux source code page, now lists source code for version 2.6, 2.7, and 2.8 of the Nuvi 8xx software, as well as versions 3.7 and 3.8 for the Nuvi 5xxx. This does not mean much for the everyday user but if you’re a developer or some sort of hacker we thought this information could be of use to you.

A quick look at the Nuvi 8xx source code indicates that the devices run a 2.6.17.7 Linux kernel on a Marvell “Monahans” processor, likely either the Marvell PXA-300 or -310. The kernel seems configured to use 64MB of RAM, and to be patched with Steven Rostedt’s real-time patches.

Garmin’s source code listing for the Nuvi 800 is nicely organized by license, certainly a civilized touch. And, an included patch file shows lots of kernel .config files. Here’s a full list of included open source packages, with a few highlights shown below:

• gnome 2.4.0
• gnome-vfs-2.16.3
• xserver-kdrive-common-0.1
• busybox-1.01
• tinylogin-1.4
• alsa
• blueZ
• matchbox window manager
• geoclue-0.9

nuvi 880 available for pre-order for $999

Jun 17, 2008 garmin, gps navigation 17 Comments

Garmin Nuvi 880, the most expensive, top of the line GPS navigation system from Garmin is now available for pre-order on Amazon for $999.

One of the most advance features of the 880 is the speech recognition which can be activated using the included remote control.

Some of the other advanced features on this sleek sat nav system with 4.3″ screen include:

• Text-to-speech
• Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) capability (screen control)
• Bluetooth wireless technology (pair with phone or headset)
• FM transmitter
• Picture navigation: routing to a geocoded point in JPEG files
• Included traffic receiver via MSN Direct receiver for North America
• Last position: unit automatically marks your position when you remove it from the windshield mount, so you can navigate with nüvi on foot and find your way back to your vehicle
• Location and Text messages
• Instant on
• Web drop: create favorites in a PC browser and send to nuvi via USB (.gps files)
• Route planning with via points
• USB 2.0, high speed connectivity and mass storage
• SD card slot
• MCX connector (external antenna)
• Digital Elevation Maps (DEM)
• Embedded Linux (OS)
• Replaceable battery, high capacity Lithium-ion (up to 5 hours use)

nuvi 860

Mar 27, 2008 garmin, gps navigation 1 Comment

We have a shot of the nuvi 860’s remote controller! Nuvi 860 is the European version of Nuvi 880 so we’re assuming the remote will look the same on nuvi 880, and nuvi 850.

nuvi 860’s features include hands free bluetooth connectivity, voice guided directions, speech recognition which is activated via the remote controller, FM traffic receiver, FM transmitter for using your (European) car’s audio, and microSD card slot.

Nuvi 860 will be available in Europe starting in May for 600 €.

Also we have updated our huge table where you can compare nuvis… Read More …

garmin nuvi 900T (italy only)

Mar 4, 2008 garmin, gps navigation 3 Comments

Garmin Nuvi 900T is one the latest GPS navigation systems from Garmin announced at CeBIT today. It is unique because it is the only the nuvi that comes with an DVB-H (digital TV receiver) antenna and for that same reason you won’t get it here in the U.S. It looks like Garmin only made a deal with the Italian La3 TV offering their content for free for the first 6 months.

Other features on the nuvi 900T include a wide 4.3″ screen display, turn-by-turn directions, preloaded maps of Europe, hands-free calling, life-time traffic services, and more. However don’t expect MSN Direct (U.S. only feature anyways), speech recognition, FM transmitter, or dead-reckoning like the highest end models (nuvi 880).

Live Maps ready for sending addresses to your GPS

Jan 24, 2008 CES 2008, garmin, gps navigation 3 Comments

Garmin introduced a new service at CES 2008 called 2nd Generation MSN Direct network that is available on the new nuvi 880 and nuvi 780.

This 2nd Generation MSN Direct is nothing but Spot, that was introduced by Bill Gates 5 years ago. It never became popular since its release but it looks like they’re making a few deals with names like Garmin (and Pioneer, Alpine, etc) to utilize their network which relies on FM radio broadcast channels in U.S. and Canada.

What’s really cool about the service is that this will allow you to send a location to your nuvi 880 or nuvi 780 from Live Search Maps without cables or internet – as long as you’re in the area covered by the FM transmission. Not only an address but you can even plan a vacation by making a collection of places you want to visit.

Of course everything comes with a price. MSN Direct service will cost you $50/year or $130 per lifetime of your device. And one more thing – the MSN Direct receiver is not embedded into the device but is embedded in the car charger. So you’ll need it to be plugged in if you want to receive addresses.

the ultimate nuvi comparison table

Jan 20, 2008 garmin, gps navigation 32 Comments

There are 25 26 31 32 different nuvi’s out there and it can be slightly confusing to pick one. So we put together THE ULTIMATE NUVI COMPARISON TABLE.

Here are some abbreviations we used to make everything fit:

• disp: display size
• batt: battery life
• T2S: text-to-speech for pronouncing street names
• NA: North America
• BT: bluetooth
• voice comm: voice commands for speech recognition
• rmt: remote controller
• FM: FM transmitter for using your car’s audio system

Let us know if you think we got something wrong.

UPDATE: (Jan 23) We had forgot about nuvi 200 which is now added to the bottom.

nuvi 850

Jan 18, 2008 garmin, gps navigation 9 Comments

We thought Garmin was going to announce a nuvi 860 when we first heard of the nuvi 880 but we were wrong. The step down from nuvi 880 is going to be nuvi 850 which means no hands free calling with bluetooth wireless. Also unlike 880, 850 will not come with a 3 month free trial subscription to MSN Direct.

nuvi 850 will still have many high end features such as voice recognition, FM traffic compatibility, MSN Direct, text-to-speech, and the car locator.

Nuvi 850 is already available for pre-order on Amazon for $800.