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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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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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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nuvi GPS with EDGE data makes its FCC debut

Sure, you’re still waiting for your Nüvifone, but in the meantime it looks like the kids at Garmin have taken all that hard-won knowledge and applied it to their latest PND. The nüvi 1690, which recently popped up at the FCC, features GSM, GPRS, and EDGE connectivity. The unit won’t support voice calls, although with Bluetooth you should be able to use it as a hands-free unit for your current cellphone. Garmin has thus far been mum on this guy, but as GPS Tracklog points out, the IFA show in Berlin is just around the corner — certainly the company will have something to say about all this by then. To check out the FCC bit for yourself, hit that read link. [Warning: PDF.]

[Via SlashGear]

Filed under: GPS

nuvi GPS with EDGE data makes its FCC debut originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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