NaviGadget

new Garmins are out: nuvi310 nuvi360 c550 and Mobile 20

Mar 8, 2006 garmin, gps navigation

Garmin International today unveiled the latest in electronics convergence, four new GPS navigators that connect wirelessly to a cellphone.

Using Bluetooth technology, the new Global Positioning System devices allow users to make a call from the screen of a GPS device and then talk hands free using a speaker and microphone built into the navigators.

“These new features are designed to make GPS navigation even more functional and easy to use,” said Gary Kelley, Garmin’s vice president of marketing.

Initially, the technology is being built into two new models of the company’s StreetPilot automotive navigators and two new models of the trendy nüvi personal travel assistant.

The company is showing off the new products, and others, at the massive CeBit electronics trade show in Hannover, Germany this week. More than 6,200 companies are exhibiting at the show.

Garmin is marketing aggressively in Europe, where the nüvi sold well last year. The company runs head-to-head with competitor TomTom in the automotive market in Europe.

In addition to Bluetooth technology, the nüvi 310 and nüvi 360 also include an MP3 player, travel guide, audiobook player, language translator and currency converter. The device fits in a pocket and weighs five ounces.

Consumers use the touchscreen on the nüvi or StreetPilot devices to dial a number stored either in the phone or from the directory of restaurants and businesses stored in the navigators.

Garmin also has added a new feature that disables the devices if they’re stolen.

Bluetooth wireless technology is new to both the nüvi and StreetPilot devices.

Garmin’s StreetPilot c300 series and c500 series devices also include a new “high bright” screen. The c550 also includes a new integrated receiver that displays real-time traffic problems on the navigator’s screen and routes drivers away from the problem.

The StreetPilot 550 is expected to sell for $799, and the nüvi 360 is expected to sell for $899.

Another new product unveiled Wednesday, the Mobile 20, wirelessly turns smartphones into turn-by-turn navigators.

The Mobile 20 will be linked to a new Garmin service, Garmin Online, which uses Bluetooth to provide traffic information, gas prices at nearby stations and weather information to a smartphone.

In other news today, Garmin announced a new deal with smart, the European minicar division of DaimlerChrysler, to supply a version of the c500 series for smart’s fortwo and forfour models… via