It’s a new product party day over at GPS technology maker Garmin as they introduced six new GPS units targeted towards the consumer market. Here’s the line up, according to press releases issued on each of the products:
- StreetPilot i-series: Two units make up this new portable, budget focused automotive GPS navigator. The i3 and i2 are each smaller then a baseball and feature a click-to-enter scroll wheel as well as a back button for screen navigation. They both provide voice prompted, turn-by-turn directions. The $399 i3 has a 2.2†color display and will be available in August, while the monochrome display i2 will hit store shelves in October for $299.
- iQue M3: This handheld GPS unit is based upon Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system and can be operated with only the touch of a finger. It comes in a Pocket PC design and can serve double duty as a PDA while at the same time offering up full GPS navigation functionality. It is expected on store shelves shortly with a retail price of $499.
- StreetPilot c340: Back in the world of more traditional automotive GPS designs, the new c340 is due out this month as well at a price of $799. What stands out on this unit, according to Garmin, is the integration of text to speech features and optional real time traffic information in select metro areas. This latter function, which helps drivers see traffic congestion before they see it, gets its data via transmissions sent from specific FM stations to a specially designed optional receiver.
- StreetPilot 2720: This particular Garmin automotive GPS unit is at the top of the features heap by pretty much having all of the goodies the other models build up to. It will be available shortly for $1,099 and offers, on the short list, text-to-speech, WQVGA TFT display, optional real time traffic information and the ability to augment pre-loaded maps with custom defined points-of-interest.
- Quest 2: Another in the pack of consumer GPS friendly devices announced by Garmin today, this unit is already available and priced at $799.99. Besides being pre-loaded with street maps and the like, the Quest 2 can also accept optional topography data such as U.S. Topo and BlueChart.
