Garmin’s connected nuvi 1690 now shipping for $500

Guess what, kiddos? Garmin’s minty fresh connected PND is now shipping, and if you plan on getting your home address on one of those labels, you best break out the checkbook. The nüvi 1690 is now moving out from Amazon’s warehouses, and just as promised, it’s going for a penny under $500. Is real-time access to Google search, white page listings, real-time traffic and flight status updates on your GPS unit really worth all that cheddar? Maybe — but just wait until those two years of free service expire. Good times.

[Via navigadget]

Filed under: GPS

Garmin’s connected nuvi 1690 now shipping for $500 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TomTom pushes Google services to mid-range XL 340S LIVE

TomTom has already delivered its LIVE services to an array of its higher-end personal navigation devices, but now the company is pushing the Google love onto less expensive siblings. Er, one less expensive sibling. The mid-range XL 340S LIVE has just been launched, complete with Google-powered Local Search, real-time traffic information, real-time fuel prices, local weather and the company’s own IQ Routes, which gets you from one point to another via the most efficient route possible. Essentially, this is simply a 4.3-inch (320 x 240 resolution) XL 340S with connected services, and as with Garmin’s latest, said services are being provided courtesy of AT&T. Unfortunately, the $299.99 asking price only includes three months of LIVE; after that, you’ll be shelling out $9.95 per month and hating every minute of it.

Filed under: GPS

TomTom pushes Google services to mid-range XL 340S LIVE originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Garmin’s nuLink! service powered by AT&T — more connected nuvis to come?

Connected PNDs have it rough. Ever since Dash folded, the future has been murky at best for any GPS company hoping to rope consumers in by promising real-time information on the face of their navigator. Garmin, however, is hoping to get folks hooked by avoiding that awful monthly fee for the first two years on its nüvi 1690, and it’s using AT&T’s network in order to do so. Today, the carrier proudly announced that it would be the one providing service to the device, giving users within range of an AT&T tower access to Google Local search, updated fuel prices, white page listings and Garmin’s own Ciao! social networking system. What’s interesting, however, is the high-profile nature of the partnership. We’d hate to speak too soon, but would we be nuts to think a whole cadre of AT&T connected GPS units were on tap for, say, CES 2010? Guess only time — and sales data from the 1690 — will tell.

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

Garmin’s nuLink! service powered by AT&T — more connected nuvis to come? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Garmin’s nuLink-enabled nuvi 1690 is nuly official

News of Garmin’s nüvi 1690 took an unofficial route and managed to find its way to us a few weeks ago, but the official press release took a little longer, arriving this morning and confirming that the connected device will be available sometime before the end of the year at an MSRP of $499.99. For that you’ll get two years of the Garmin nüLink service, including such niceties as Google local search, white page listings, real-time traffic and flight status updates, and the Latitude-like Ciao service, which would enable you to snoop on your friends’ locations from afar. The 1690 even hops on the trendy green bandwagon with an ecoRoute mode that will select the least environmentally destructive route — based on expected speed and acceleration, not on the expected number of critters squashed along the way. Fancy? You betcha, but there’s still no official word on the even fancier 1800-series. Perhaps official confirmation of that device is taking the most eco-friendly route — walking.

Filed under: GPS

Garmin’s nuLink-enabled nuvi 1690 is nuly official originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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User manual for Garmin’s connected nuvi 1690 reveals "nuinfo" service branding

The connected PND, by most accounts, is a dying breed. Dash couldn’t pull it off, TomTom’s execution was downright pathetic and no one even remembers that Insignia made one. But considering that Garmin’s nüvi range has always delivered, we’re going to let the nüvi 1690 ship before passing judgment. Said navigator, which just slipped into the FCC’s database a fortnight ago, didn’t have too many details attached to it, but a recently discovered user manual reveals that although Garmin’s local-data service will by powered by Google, the company has branded it with the the virtually-unpronounceable name “nuinfo.” Yeah, we have no idea, but we’re definitely interested in finding out what the ultimate plan is — the shots of the device in the manual lead us to believe that local weather information will be on tap in addition to the usual waypoint searching and so forth, but unless Garmin throws these so-called “connected services” in gratis, every smartphone owner on the planet will simply laugh and move on.

[Via GPS Tracklog]

Filed under: GPS

User manual for Garmin’s connected nuvi 1690 reveals “nuinfo” service branding originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TomTom XL Live connected GPS passes the FCC

Looks like domestic drivers may soon have the privilege of shelling out extra money every month for TomTom’s “connected” services. According to recently unearthed FCC documents, the mid-range (and until now Euro-centric) XL Live has been manhandled and passed all its tests. This guy operates on the GSM850 and GSM1900 bands, which means it should be available on AT&T or T-Mobile’s 2G network — you know, when it does make it to market. And when it does make it to market, might we recommend you go with the Homer Simpson voice skin? That thing is hilarious.

[Via GPS Tracklog, Thanks Rich]

Filed under: GPS

TomTom XL Live connected GPS passes the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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