Garmin Announces Three New GPS Units

Like many companies, Garmin is taking advantage of the audience at CES and is announcing new products. This year, Garmin came to CES geared with three new GPS units. Here’s a quick look at each of them.

First up, we have Garmin’s nüvi 885T. As one of Garmin’s high-end GPS routing devices, the nüvi 885T offers lane assist with junction view, MSN Direct content, and speech recognition. Lane assist with junction view details upcoming maneuvers and specific driving directions to give you a clear picture of the road ahead. MSN Direct can provide information on flight status, weather, traffic conditions, fuel prices, movie listings, local events, and much more. MSN Direct also gives you the ability to plan a trip from your computer and then send it your nüvi 885T. The unit comes with three free months of the MSN Direct service. After that, it will cost you $49.95 for a one-year subscription or a flat, one-time fee of $129.95. The nüvi 885T also features Bluetooth and an FM transmitter. This unit is expected to sell for $799.99. Should you wish to forego the MSN Direct services and Bluetooth capability, Garmin also offers the nüvi 855, which costs $100 less than the nüvi 885T. Both units are expected sometime in the first quarter of this year.

Next, we have the Garmin Approach G5. As Garmin’s first touchscreen handheld that is designed exclusively for the golf course, this handheld unit shows golfers the distance to the center of green or other key course features. The waterproof Approach has a 3-inch color touchscreen that will display detailed course maps along with precise distance information from a user’s current position to fairways, hazards, and greens. Of course, the unit will update itself as you move about the course.  The Approach can also measure the distance of your last shot and keep track of scores using the digital scorecard. There are thousands of preloaded courses on the Approach G5, and more will be available through Garmin’s website. To see if your course is one of the ones available, head over to Garmin’s website.

Last, but not least, we have the Garmin zumo 660, a new motorcycle unit that was designed by Bikers for Bikers. This unit has a 4.3-inch sunlight readable and customizable touchscreen, glove-friendly design with left-handed controls, and oversized touchscreen buttons. It’s also rugged and waterproof to IEC 529 IPX-7 standards. On the zumo 660, you’ll find preloaded street-level maps of the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico along with over six million points of interest. The zumo 660 also has text-to-speech, which enables it to speak street names. Additional notable specs include lane assist, a new multiple routing feature, Bluetooth, zumo Connect, and a microSD card slot. Look for this device in the first quarter of this year for a penny shy of $800.

Also of note, Garmin announced its nüMaps Lifetime update program, which will provide customers with the latest map and point of interest updates every quarter for a single fee. The service starts at $119.99 for the City Navigator North America NT version, and will provide updates for the life of the customer’s unit. This new service will be available on January 21st.