Garmin Colorado images and specs

Garmin Colorado images and specs

Early last month, we let the cat out of the bag on the Garmin Colorado handheld series. I'm expecting the official announcement no later than tomorrow, but here's a sneak preview for you, replete with specs and lots of eye candy for you geocachers and other outdoor enthusiasts out there. Unless there is a lot of additional info that warrants another post, I'll come back and add links here as they become available. I'll have more to say next week after meeting with Garmin at CES.

Garmin International is pleased to announce the Colorado, the newest member of the premium handheld line.' This rugged unit with a high-sensitivity receiver offers innovative features such as a new Rock ‘n Roller™ wheel for one hand operation as well as the ability to exchange waypoints, tracks, routes and geocaches wirelessly between units.' In addition, you can customize your Colorado with five different user profiles: automotive, marine, recreation, fitness or geocache.' The SD card slot on the bottom of the unit makes it simple to load optional maps for different types of adventures.' The Colorado has a rugged, metal-look and a sleek, slim profile.' The Colorado’s detailed mapping and high-resolution color display enhance any outdoor adventure, whether on land or water.

The Colorado is offered in four different variations:' Colorado 300, 400t, 400i and 400c.

The Colorado 300 features a built-in worldwide basemap with shaded relief for incredibly enhanced map presentation on the unit.' Optional detailed maps can also be loaded using the SD card slot or the 384 megabytes of internal memory built into the Colorado 300.

With the state-of-the-art 3D elevation perspective and preloaded topographic map data of the U.S., the rugged Colorado 400t is the perfect companion for your outdoor adventures.' It gives you all the tools you need for serious climbing, hiking or hunting.

The Colorado 400i is your all-purpose guide to outdoor fun.' Built-in U.S. Inland Lakes and navigable river maps provide boaters and anglers with shoreline details, depth contours, boat ramps and mile markers for thousand of lakes.

Saltwater mariners will love the built-in detailed BlueChart g2 coverage for the coastal U.S. and the Bahamas in the 400c.' The chart detail includes shoreline, depth contours, navaids and port plans.

Availability and expected retail price:

• Garmin Colorado 300 - January 2008, $499.99



• Garmin Colorado 400t - February 2008, $599.99



• Garmin Colorado 400i - February 2008, $599.99



• Garmin Colorado 400c - January 2008, $599.99

Product Features and Specifications

• High-sensitivity GPS receiver



• Innovative Rock ‘n Roller input wheel



• Wireless sharing of user tracks, waypoints, routes and geocaches between units



• SD card slot for optional mapping and user data storage



• User configurable profiles:' automotive, marine, recreation, fitness, geocache



• Unit dimensions:' 2.4’W x 5.5’H x 1.4’D



• Display size (H x W):' 2.55’ x 1.53’ (3’ diagonal)



• Display resolution (W x H):' 240 x 400 pixels



• Display type:' Transflective Color TFT



• Weight:' 7.3 oz with batteries



• Waterproof standard:' IEC 60529 IPX7



• Battery type:' 2 AA Alklaine or NiMH batteries



• Battery life: 15 hours



• Electronic compass, altimeter, temperature sensor



• Compatible with heart rate monitor and speed/cadence sensor (GSC 10)



• JPG image viewer can display pictures from the SD card



• Supports Geoching.com GPX files for complete cache descriptions and hints

(Via GPS Tracklog.)

garmin nuvi 5000

garmin nuvi 5000

Apparently Garmin is about to release a new giant sized GPS navigation system called nuvi 5000 featuring a 5.2″ screen and lacking battery. Nuvi 5000 will have an expected retail price of $857 and will have new features such as the video in port for backup cameras, ability to create favorites in a browser and transfer to device via USB, and the digital elevation maps.

Perhaps Garmin is targeting truckers with such a big screen and the exclusion of an internal battery - planning they would have the device embedded in their dashboard permanently.

Nuvi 5000 will have an SD card slot, dual speakers, and auto-dimming back light…

(Via NaviGadget.)

garmin nuvi 880 (and 860)

garmin nuvi 880 (and 860)

We have rumors regarding a new 800 series of Garmin Nuvi GPS navigation systems. The first two models from the 800 series will be the nuvi 860 and the nuvi 880 which will cost $1,071 and $1,178 respectively and latter will have MSN Direct capability.

The most fundamental additions in the 800 series is the addition of voice recognition, picture navigation (routing to a geocoded point in JPEG files), web drop (create favorites in a PC browser and send to nuvi via USB), digital elevation maps, and of course the embedded Linux OS.

For a full list of specs

(Via NaviGadget.)

Alpine PND-K3

Alpine PND-K3

Alpine’s 2008 catalog is out in the wild and it looks like they’re releasing a couple of new GPS navigation systems in addition to their older Blackbird models.

The new models are PND-K3msn and PND-K3 and the difference between the two as you may have guessed is that one of them has support for MSN Direct and the other doesn’t. Here are the features:

• 4.3″ wide high resolution touch screen


• Pre-loaded maps of USA & Canada (including Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands)


• Cradle with MSN Direct provides up-to-date traffic, weather, gas price information and movie showtimes


• Fast routing and map zooming


• 6 million POIs with selectable map icons


• Auto map zoom


• Multi-language menus and voice guide


• Customizable map and menu colors


• Animated menus


• Easy to use windshield and dashboard mount


• Built-in SD card slot and speaker for use with music player


• Announces street names during guidance


• Built-in Bluetooth for convenient hands-free calling

We do not yet know how much the new PND-K3 series will cost but we’ll be sure to visit their booth at CES 2008 to get some more information…

(Via NaviGadget.)

Raytel's EGO Drive GPS navigator will be seen at CES

Raytel's EGO Drive GPS navigator will be seen at CES

The EGO Drive GPS navigator from Raytel will be showcased at 2008 CES. What makes this navigator really unique is that it comes with a remote controller knob that makes operations very easy. Essentially, you don't need to fumble around or get distracted and keep your eyes on the road. The High-definition, full color 4.3 inch touchscreen displays 3D mapping and auto re-route. It features advanced Bluetooth support that includes Voice recognition (speech-to-text), Integrates and mutes car's stereo system, Supports all Bluetooth mobile phone voice commands, Reads out text messages (SMS text-to-speech), Shows text and picture messages (SMS and MMS) and accommodates up to 10 different user profiles. Impressed? The t raffic information is fed through built-in TMC support, it also plays MP3, WAV and MPEG-4 files on the system, with data being copied either to internal memory via USB, or held on SD cards up to 2GB in size. Roll over for the complete specs.
The pricing on Raytel's EGO Drive GPS navigator has not yet been released.

Other features include:
- Wireless remote control
- iGrip mounting interface
- Light sensor for day/night illumination adjustment
- 2 USB ports
- Built-in high capacity, rechargeable Li-Ion battery
- Docking cradle for portability and port replication
- SD Card (up to 2GB) and built-in memory
- 2-Year Limited Warranty
- Bluetooth audio streaming (A2DP and AVRCP)
- Picture viewer (JPEG and TIFF)
- Audio and video player (MP3, WAV, MPEG4)
- Data synchronization (Microsoft ActiveSync)
- Composite video input (e.g. backup-camera or DVD-player)
- Headset output
- Stereo input
- GPS navigation features
- Dynamic routing with 3D map view
- Shows landmarks and POI's
- Voice prompts (e.g. 'Turn left in 500 ft.')
- TMC (FM traffic) guides users around heavy traffic
- Pre-installed maps of USA and Canada

(Via Newlaunches.com.)

NavStar Voice Navigator Has No Screen, May Need One [You're Lost]

NavStar Voice Navigator Has No Screen, May Need One [You're Lost]

If you like to keep your eyes on the road while you're driving, the NavStar Voice Navigator can assist you by blurting out turn-by-turn directions with no screen in sight. The 11-oz unit resides in your car's cigarette lighter outlet, and it hooks up with your cellphone, doubling as a speakerphone for hands-free calling. Looks nice, but this could really suck.

If our experience with our GPS system's voice recognition is any indication, even if this smart-looking unit is 98% accurate (which would be miraculous at noisy highway speeds), it will still be terribly frustrating for inputting crucial and complicated data such as street addresses and points of interest.

Plus, we often glance at the GPS screen's map, just to be sure which street we need to turn onto, and how far away it is. If those near-impossible voice-rec hurdles can be overcome, the Voice Navigator has possibilities, and might even be safer to use than a conventional GPS system.

(Via Gizmodo: GPS.)

New Korean PMP seems to do it all

New Korean PMP seems to do it all

We all know that the iPod line of portable media players (PMPs) are the most famous and ubiquitous at this point in time, but that does not mean that other consumer electronics manufacturers aren’t going to sit down and do nothing. The Maxian E900T from Korea is one interesting PMP that seems to come with everything but the kitchen sink. It is powered by the Windows CE platform, so you can tell from the operating system alone that there will be much more on offer other than the typical audio and video playback capabilities that you get with other standard PMPs. Let’s usher in the new year by checking out just exactly what the Maxian E900T has on offer.

First off, there is a 4.3″ touchscreen display that boasts 800 x 480 resolution, making it much more ideal than other crappy 1.8″ or 2″ displays that we see plenty of in the market. Video support includes WMV, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DiVX/XviD and H.264 formats, and the E900T is more than capable of handling just about any audio file including the mainstays WMA, AAC, MP3, and OGG. Heck, tracks that come tagged with SYLT encoding also supports the real-time display of lyrics for folks who love singing along to their favorite tunes.

Enough of the audio video stuff. The Maxian E900T also shines when connected to a home theater system, capable of pumping out 720p high definition video couple with Dolby Digital or DTS surround sound, courtesy of the highly acclaimed Burr-Brown processing circuitry that is output through a digital S/PDIF connection. When out of the home, the E900T functions as a GPS navigation system, with a DMB receiver for those who can’t seem to get enough of their serials. Just when you think that is more than enough, the Maxian E900T even packs in a robust electronic dictionary system with English-to-Korean translation capabilities and Microsoft Office document support. You can choose from 30GB or 60GB versions that come in white and blue black colors respectively. An SD/MMC memory card slot is there for memory expansion purposes.

(Via Coolest Gadgets.)