Archive for: Garmin
Today, popular GPS maker Garmin, unveiled their first iPhone app. Dubbed “StreetPilot”, the new app more or less looks exactly like the stand alone GPS units in regards to functionality — and that’s a good thing. The app includes some of the most important features of the stand alone units such as lane assist, speed limit indicators, and free traffic alerts. The cloud-based (internet connection required) app retails for $39.99 in the App Store.
If stand alone GPS devices are more up your alley, Garmin’s new 2400-series will be more to your liking. Available in four separate models, the new nuvi 2400 devices all feature a 5-inch display as well as the company’s traffic-learning “nüRoute” which incorporates trafficTrends and myTrends in order to better predict travel times the more you travel a particular route. The new 2400 series will start at $249 and reach up to a still manageable $349.
The StreetPilot iPhone app is available today in the App Store while the Nuvi 2400 series GPS devices will be showcased this week at CES.
- November 3, 2010 10:08 pm
After several dismal years of failed attempts to gain smartphone acceptance, Garmin is officially throwing in the towel. The news came during Garmin’s summer fiscal discussions. While the GPS giant is down and out of the smartphone hardware business, the company reiterated their plans to continue developing smartphone apps and stand alone GPS units — two areas they are still enjoying expansion.
It’s been a quick, bumpy ride for Garmin since unveiling the Nuvifone back in January of 2008. Initial reception was far south of what Garmin was hoping for. Sales were also nothing to write home about — ever. The nail in the coffin, however, was the actual number amount of revenue, or more specifically, the lack thereof. In the entire two years that Garmin and Asus teamed up, $27 million is all they have to their name. In contrast, Apple has sold over $8 billion this past summer alone.
There’s really nothing more to say.
- November 11, 2009 3:12 pm
You would think that after numerous missed deadlines and broken promises, a company such as Garmin who has been hyping up their Nuvifone offerings for well over a year now would have something that would truly drop our collective jaws. Sadly, with the latest announcement of all new Nuvifone M20′s dropping Garmin’s proprietary OS in favor of WinMo 6.5, a grim painting is starting to form on this once great concept. This is but one example of how a perfect idea on paper can falter and become a sad disappointment once it materializes.
Those of you who picked up an M20 before this decree went out can will be able to pick up the WinMo 6.5 download for free (some saving grace I guess.) The countries named that are to receive the new Windows love include Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech, Turkey as well as “elsewhere by the close of 2009″. Strange that the western world is left out of the loop though not the first time we’ve had to sit back and watch our fellow Eastern geeks receive such lavish attention.
It may seem sad that some will miss out on the 6.5 love fest. But if you’re like me, an “upgrade” to WinMo 6.5 is anything but. Where do you stand?
BGR
{Image Source}
- October 28, 2009 12:55 pm
And so it begins…To all of those who thought that Google Navigation either wouldn’t impact the mobile GPS market or would take some time to impact the market, I give you exhibit A above. Traditional GPS makers start to see the cold hard truth. So let’s all ask Garmin: How does it feel to see a billion dollars worth of market cap evaporate since this mornings meeting?
One thing to keep in mind, as @zpower points out, Garmin has several other very large, very profitable divisions. Strictly considering the consumer division however foreshadows to an epic headache for TomTom, Navigon, etc.
This stock slump will probably rebound for the most part within the next couple of days. But it sure is interesting that it took a nosedive so fast and signals that Google just one upped everybody.
IntoMobile > @zpower
GPS/globe trotting world travelers and those looking for a decent smartphone thrown into the mix who were looking forward to the delayed release date of sometime in June will have another reason to finally cut this one loose and simply move on. The Garmin-ASUS nuvifone G60 is right on track to become the much talked about though never planned for “vaporware”. It’s sad really, 15 months after first being unveiled coupled with an “alliance” with ASUS and even going through a re branding haven’t helped matters. Garmin President and COO Cliff Pemble have cited the difficulties of designing a phone and OS from the ground up as the reasons for a set back. Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure Android was built “from the ground up” and wasn’t delayed nearly as much. Of course I could be wrong (please enlighten me if so). Instead, the G60 is now slated for an even more vague 2H09 release meaning it’s as good as dead. Even if it does manage to come out sometime before this decade is over, it will be too little too late. While it was a monster phone 15 months ago, it is nothing more than a needle in a haystack of many other highly preferable offerings. Still, a tear comes to our eyes as we look back on the one that got away.
Source: BG, PMP Today, Twice, Image Source
If you are the tree hugging, mouting climbing, animal loving outdoorsy type of person, and have gone on at least one small expedition, you may know the scariness and pure helplessness that you feel when roaming the open landscape. Since the dawn of handhelf GPS devices, navigating that open landscape has become more efficient and safer thanks to the ever present eye of technology. For those of you who have witnessed some of the most magnificant corners of the planet and would like to not only savor it, but also to remember how to get back to that same spot at some future date, in years past you had to take a really good mental note. Today, thanks to Garmin’s new Oregon line, the 550 and 550t (“t” denotes added topographic maps), featuring an integrated 3.2 Megapixel camera and geo-tagging functionality right out of the box, makes finding those hard to reach and hidden corners of the planet are now oh so easier. With 850MB of onboard storage for all of your globe trotting shots, you will more than likely have enough room unless you start going crazy with the camera function. Remember, it’s a GPS device first, camera second. Besides the camera/geo-tagging, the new Oregon series models will also benefit from a new 3-axis compass as well as an enhanced sunlight readable touchscreen. Any globe trotters out there fumbling for their wallets?
[Product Page]
Source: Gizmodo
- February 15, 2009 9:16 pm
Mobile Burn is in Barcelona and having a grand ‘ol time with the Garmin-Asus G60. For those who aren’t familiar with the G60, it is a join effort by Garmin and Asus that is trying to be the be all end all as far as cell phone GPS is concerned. The body of the G60 definitely more closely resembles an actual GPS device with it’s relatively brick-like appearance. However, it’s feature set of SMS, email, 3G, WiFi among others show this phone to be serious on the communication side of things as well. For all of the visual learners out there, a video is after the click provided by Mobile Burn
- February 12, 2009 10:51 am
The much talked about Garmin-Asus pairing is finally coming to light today as Garmin and Asus have spilled the beans on the latest nuvifone…the M20. The M20 will feature Windows Mobile 6.1 (sorry Android hopefuls). A 2.8 QVGA touchscreen as well as GPS navigation…*obviously*. The radios stuffed inside include quad-band EDGE/Tri-band HSDPA (up to 7.2Mbps) as well as WiFi and Bluetooth. Other tasty tid bits include weather, real-time traffic and movie times. If you’re interested in bringing a ton of files on board with you, take a mental note that it only comes in 4GB and 8GB storage sizes so you’ll have to choose wisely the files you want to bring with you on the road. One last thing to round out the package is a new service that Garmin has dubbed “Ciao”. Think of it as another version of Google Latitude to find friends. Pricing and availability will be out soon…as in the first half of the year. Full rundown on the specs and plenty of eye candy…step inside…
- December 31, 2008 6:29 pm
For some time now, Garmin has remained pretty quiet on their iPhone competitor the Nuvi Phone. Obviously being a GPS manufacturer, the phone is going to be heavily based around GPS. Other features besides GPS will be your standard smart phone features such as email, web browsing, multimedia, etc. Electronista has acquired pretty decent set of screenshots of the UI. Electronista makes note of certain iPhonesque features in the UI. While I see certain placements of icons being similar, the overall look is more “cartoony” to me. Not the best in the handset world, but certainly leaps and bounds ahead of WinMo! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The Nuvi phone, while not being exactly my cup of tea, will just make other manufactures work that much harder, meaning more competition and better products for us the consumer. Bring it on Garmin! Take a minute or two to look through the images below courtesy of Electronista.
Source: Electronista
