Automotive Traveler Shops For Portable Navs

It seems a new portable navigation device comes out about every other week, and with prices varying from less than $100 to over $800, it can be pretty difficult to decide which unit is right for you. What makes a premium priced high-end PND better than a mid-level model? Well, the guys over Automotive Traveler decided to look into just that and give you the skinny on five different PNDs ranging from $350 to $750. Get to know the "cool factors" for each, and see which unit fits your budget and fulfills your gadget needs.

Source: Automotive Traveler

Videos: Garmin Nüvifone FTW!

Garmin released a few videos showing the amazing Nüvifone in action. And folks... It really is THAT cool. Rich provided his thoughts on the Nüvifone when the story first broke, and the gallery made our mouths water, but the videos have really sealed the deal. This phone is dope.
I think one of the coolest features explained in the videos is the image geo-tagging. Say you're driving down the road and you spot that rare and classic 1985 Subaru Brat you've always wanted, but you need your buddy the Subaru expert to check it out. Well, all you do is snap a pic with your Nüvifone, send it to his Nüvifone, and he can tell the phone to calculate a route to the GPS coordinates attached to the photo. Cool, huh? I could also see this starting a new fad of geo-caching road rallies for car clubs. The only thing I can think of that would make this phone cooler is adding Autopage's cellphone-controlled C3 alarm/remote start system into the mix. Your cool-points would be off the chart.

Check out the videos after the jump!

in the forums!

Garmin Nüvifone: A Traveler's Dream Come True

In the aftermath of CES came what I thought was a breakthrough product. I’m on the road 20 weeks a year and typically test drive more than 40 cars annually. I have tried to configure various mobile phone devices with an easy-to-use GPS package, but quite frankly, none have all the functionality of a standalone PND (portable navigation device). That is until now as Garmin has introduced the Nüvifone, which it claims is the first 3.5G smartphone to include full navigation, Internet browsing and messaging in an all-in-one format with a PDA-style form factor.

Unlike trying to run GPS software on your phone, this is much more like a PND with phone functionality. You put it in its dock and the GPS is activated. Through the navigational menu hands-free calling is enabled. It includes a Google local search functions so if you want to search for the nearest Starbucks, just search for “coffee shops” and it will provide a Web-based rating of local merchants and can navigate you there quickly. As I typically make four to six trips to Europe each year, I really appreciate the fact that the Nüvifone includes preloaded maps of North America and Europe and announces the street names for upcoming turns.

--Richard Truesdell
Editorial Director of Automotive Traveler, an online-only automotive travel lifestyle publication.

(Full gallery available after the jump)

in the forums!