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Today, Garmin announced two new GPS units that are similar to each other called the Nuvi 500 and Nuvi 550. The interesting thing about these GPS units is that they are both capable of helping when driving, or when outdoors such as hiking. One of the main differences between the 500 and the 550 is that the 500 provides US only maps, while the 550 comes with maps of North America.

Both of these devices sport 3.5-inch screens, full street maps, waterproof touchscreens, as well as handy topology maps. It comes with a swift toggle system to switch between maps, and it also comes with a compass. The topology maps and the compass should both come in handy when outdoors. They also have support to load photos as well as sharing photos. It has something called Route 66 guide, which means it will display special POI’s or landmarks along highways. 

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During CeBIT 2008, TomTom officials have announced a new range of TomTom GPS systems. The GO 930 and 730 models have several updates and new features over their predecessors the 920 and 720. They each contain something called ‘IQ Routes’ technology, which finds out the average speed of certain roads, rather than the speed limit, so it can calculate whether the shortest route is actually the quickest, thus saving time and fuel.

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Go figure, the Nuviphone is a popular name.  Reminiscent of the iPhone name dispute between Apple and Cisco, Nuvio an internet telephone provider is suing Garmin over trademark infringement.

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When the high end Nuvi 880 was released, it was speculated that Garmin would come out with the Nuvi 860, which would have came with a little less features than the 880. However, that fell through and now Garmin has recently announced the Nuvi 850, which is the downgrade of the 880. One of the main features that will be missing is the lack of hands free calling via Bluetooth. Also, it won’t come with a 3 month free trial of MSN Direct.

However, the Nuvi 850 will still come with many notable features including voice recognition, FM traffic updates, MSN Direct, text-to-speech, even a car locater.The Garmin Nuvi 850 is available on Amazon for pre-order, and it costs $800.

Via [NaviGadget]

BMW and Garmin, have joined forces to include the Garmin Nuvi 360 in select models of BMW cars. The models that will feature the Nuvi 360 will be the BMW Series 1 and Series 3. These GPS units will come with special custom logos, integrated BMW database, and a unique dock on the dashboard for to you place the GPS. That is a good idea which means it will be located always in a convenient spot.

“Includes a customized mounting bracket that allows owners to mount the nüvi directly to the interior trim on the instrument panel, rather than to the windshield via a suction cup mount like traditional Garmin portable navigation systems… The special bracket is powered by BMW’s onboard network and eliminates the need for exposed power cables. The mount charges the nüvi’s built-in battery so that the device may also be used outside of the car when navigating a city as a pedestrian.”

Furthermore, the Nuvi 360 sports Bluetooth connectivity, pronounces street names, and acts like a MP3 player as it plays MP3’s. As of now, it sells for $322.

Via [NaviGadget]