How Much Is Too Much For GPS? How About A G?

Travis Hudson — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:20:00 EDT

Garmin's ever-expanding line of GPS navigation units is getting an expensive new addition. The Garmin Nuvi 880 is now available for pre-order at Amazon for a ridiculous, ball-busting $1,000. You're probably telling yourself that a GPS system had better be able to read your mind and make coffee to be worth $1,000, right? Well, it can't quite do either, but it does have an extensive list of features and abilities. Full list after the jump.

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: The unit automatically marks your position when you remove it from the windshield mount, so you can navigate with the 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)

In addition to this extensive list, the 880 also has a 4.3-inch screen to go along with its most-touted feature: speech recognition, which can be activated with the remote. [Amazon via Navigadget]

Garmin, MSN Eliminate Unnecessary Address Entry on GPS Units

Travis Hudson — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:30:00 EST

Garmin is taking steps in the right direction with a new service it recently announced. Everyone who has used a GPS navigation knows that entering addresses is pretty painstaking, so this new service—a collaboration between Garmin and MSN Direct—tries to eliminate that requirement altogether. It seems the service is pretty simple: beaming directions from a computer using Microsoft Live Search Maps directly to a compatible Garmin GPS unit. But the method they used to get to that point is an interesting one.

Back in 2003, Microsoft introduced Spot, an information service that operated on the FM frequency band. There functioned using watches that could receive weather info, sports scores, etc. Spot has taken on a new identity as MSN Direct now provides a direct method of communication between your PC and compatible GPS receiver or other gadgets.

It sends the directions and addresses to your GPS receiver over the FM frequency. The current two compatible GPS receivers are the Garmin nuvi 880 and 780. An additional MSN Direct receiver is also required for your GPS unit, a $50 per year operation cost. So by no means is being lazy cheap, but it sure as hell is convenient. [Navigadget]

Jalopnik: garmin nuvi

How Much Is Too Much For GPS? How About A G?

Garmin, MSN Eliminate Unnecessary Address Entry on GPS Units