Sat Nav News

MiTAC buys Magellan Navigation

nwild — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 21:32:02 +0000

A shock announcement yesterday emerged with news that Magellan Navigation, the Santa Clara based US manufacturer of GPS devices including the RoadMate, Maestro, Triton, eXplorist and Hertz NeverLost ranges has entered into an agreement to sell its consumer products division to the MiTAC Corporation.Magellan has been strugling in the last few years to develop new products and whilst it remains in third place in the US behind Garmin and TomTom it was slipping badly with poor sales of it’s latest products.

MiTAC is clearly choosing the buy out approach in its drive to improve its retail presence having purchased Navman in 2007 and will doubtless hope to take advantage of Magellan’s brand name in the US to improve sales of its products. Using a common product line Mio has chosen to capitalise on the use of brand names in its portfolio where they are better placed than its own. In the UK, Navman’s logo adorns the device whereas in France it is Mio branded and now in the US we can expect to see Magellan logos on Mio hardware.

The new route planner from TomTom sat nav

nwild — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 12:11:22 +0000

TomTom has just launched a beta version of their new online route planning system that combines HD Traffic data and IQ Routes™; this allows users to plan their journey by downloading the latest real-time and historic data on traffic flows to give highly accurate arrival times. The system will initially be rolled out to a group of test individuals and if successful shall be available to a wider audience soon afterwards. TomTom’s CEO, Harold Goddijn, said “Users who do not have a navigation device can now also benefit from our high-quality routing before starting their journey, giving them a chance to plan their day more efficiently than ever before.

Speed trap vans should be bright yellow

Admin — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:33:08 +0000

What’s the difference between a fixed speed camera and a mobile speed camera? Ever thought about it? Well the answer is in fact quite obvious; ones always painted bright yellow and the other usually isn’t.

Whatever your reason for why might this be? Painting police speed-camera vans the same eye-catching colour would improve road safety and that’s straight from the campaigning group Safe Speed.

According to the group’s co-founder Claire Armstrong, all ‘Speed camera vans should be the same. Identical. One bright fluorescent orange or yellow with the same markings. Then motorists will always know what they are - and they may be a deterrent.’ Going on to say that all motorists know a red light means stop and a green light go wherever they are.

It seems a national directive on consistency is needed if indeed ‘safety’ is the objective of mobile speed camera vans.

Bicycle Sat Nav by Garmin Edge

Admin — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:07:16 +0000

The new Garmin Edge series cycle computers combine high-end performance data with comprehensive, yet simple-to-use navigation for MTB, road, triathlon, time trial, touring, or leisure biking.

A top review for the TomTom GO 730

Admin — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:06:41 +0000

The well-revered and respected What Laptop magazine has awarded the new TomTom GO 730 a fantastic 9 out of 10 in the Editor’s Choice Award. The reviewer commented that “The TomTom GO 730 is an excellent sat nav overall, proving easy to use, accurate and good value for money.”

The Garmin Nuvifone its here!

Admin — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:32:27 +0000

August saw Garmin’s entry into the lucrative mobile phone market with the Garmin Nuvifone, an all-in-one, sleek and slim, touch screen device that combines a premium phone, mobile web-browser, and cutting-edge personal navigator. The Nuvifone is an all-in-one device offering unmatched integration of utility and function in a single mobile device,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO.

The all touch screen device is the first of its kind to integrate premium 3.5G mobile phone capabilities with an Internet browser, data connectivity, personal messaging, and personal navigation functions in one device. Specific details about pricing and sales partners will shortly be announced along with its predicted availability in the latter part of 2008.

Faster routes with TomTom GO x 40 Live

Admin — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:01:20 +0000

August saw the launch of Tomtom’s most innovative product yet in the UK, Germany, France and Switzerland. The connected TomTom GO x40 LIVE delivers dynamic navigation and route guidance that continuously adapts to changing road conditions and always gives drivers the fastest route to a destination.
The GO x40 LIVE connects to TomTom’s High Definition (HD) Traffic service for the most accurate and detailed live traffic information. If the measured traffic conditions differ from the expected traffic flow, the TomTom GO x40 LIVE will automatically calculate a better, alternative route, if one is available.

Latest Garmin Zumo 550 V10 NT bike navigation

Admin — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:12:43 +0000

Garmin Zumo 550 comes ready to go right out of the box with preloaded Garmin City Navigator NT street maps and a hefty points of interest (POIs) database, including motels, restaurants, fuel, ATMs and more. Simply enter a destination, and zumo takes you there with turn-by-turn voice directions that speak street names. In addition, zumo accepts customized points of interest such as school zones and safety cameras and includes proximity alerts to warn of upcoming POIs. It is also compatible with Garmin’s Tour Guide - a free utility that allows you to build and upload a database of POIs that are encoded with photos and MP3 files. A rechargeable, removable lithium-ion battery (three hour typical use) is integrated for trip planning or use on foot.

New TomTom One WE V3 with V7 Mapshare

Admin — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:07:08 +0000

The TomTom One WE V3 is the third version of this popular series of GPS navigation systems from TomTom and has map coverage for the whole of Western Europe. This latest version comes in a contemporary silver colour and features a 3.5 inch full TFT colour screen capable of displaying up to 64 000 colours at a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels.

Navigation with TomTom One WE V3 is made simple by choosing your destination via the touchscreen. When driving in the UK, you have the added convenience of just having to know the postcode and the TomTom One WE V3 will take you there! You can choose from a variety of route options including: quickest, shortest, avoiding toll roads and even congestion charge zones.

The interface of the TomTom One WE V3 is as ever user-friendly and the volume of the turn-by-turn voice instructions adjusts automatically depending on the car speed. Map Share enables you can make instant corrections to your own map for example, if roads are blocked or traffic directions change.

TomTom and BASE announce partnership

Admin — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:55:34 +0000

TomTom and BASE, a leading Belgian mobile operator, today announce an exclusive partnership to bring TomTom High Definition (HD) Traffic™ to Belgium. HD Traffic is TomTom’s unique way of supplying customers with the most accurate and up-to-date traffic information available in Belgium. This sets a new industry standard and will be a major step forward in the way drivers plan their daily journeys. TomTom expects to launch this service in Belgium in mid 2009.