Navigon are showing new Australian GPS buyers (sorry rest of the world) some generosity by offering free map upgrades for 24 months. The condition is that you have to purchase a new Navigon unit before the end of April this year. You’ll save close to 100 bucks!

I reviewed the Navigon GPS software for the iPhone last year and gave it a thumbs up!

We highly recommend Navigon if you’re looking for a new GPS gadget.

Press Release: NAVIGON Offers Free Map Updates for 24 Months with All New NAVIGON Devices Purchased Until the End of April

Sydney/Australia, 25 March, 2010 — NAVIGON today announced they will be offering 24 months of free map updates to Australian customers that purchase a NAVIGON GPS device between March 25 and April 30, a saving of $99.

And with Easter just around the corner, a time at which many Australian’s hit the road for a long weekend holiday, NAVIGON will help to ensure mum and dad won’t have to argue over taking the wrong turnoff or finding the best camping ground ever again with the best GPS devices and frequently updated maps.

The free updates will be accessed through FreshMaps, NAVIGON’s online map updating service on a quarterly basis. FreshMaps provides trusted, field-verified, and quality-controlled map and points of interest updates, based on data from NAVTEQ, the GPS industry’s leading digital map data provider. This ensures that NAVIGON customers have the latest, accurate and most up to date maps to accompany NAVIGON’s feature-packed suite of GPS devices.

“Navigation devices have exceptional functionality, but are only as accurate as the data that drives them,” said Gerhard Mayr, Vice-President Worldwide Mobile Phones & New Markets at NAVIGON.  “We aim to provide NAVIGON users with not only the best in GPS functionality, but also devices that will last them for years to come, and with free Map updates NAVIGON are ensuring this is possible.”

The free FreshMaps updates complement recent price reductions across the GPS range. Each of the NAVIGON 6300 ($449), 4350max ($349), 3300max ($249) have been reduced by $50, while the 1400 ($199) has been reduced by $30. Each of the units will come with the free FreshMaps updates and can be purchased through Harvey Norman’s stores around Australia.

Before we set out on a small weekend getaway to picturesque rural Gippsland, I thought it may be handy to get my wife a new GPS unit since she didn’t have any GPS software on her HTC HD Touch. I chose the Navman MY30 due to its size, cost and because it was relatively new – all-in-all I think I made a good decision. This intelligent little travel companion proved that good things come in small packages.

The Navman MY30 gave clear, detailed voice guidance that informs you of more than just street names and turns. Instructions were easy-to-understand and included distance to turn and location information such as “In 100 metres at the traffic lights, turn left into Smith Street”.

The Premium Safety Alerts keep you safe and within the boundaries of what’s lawful on the road with information about Speed and Red Light Cameras, School Zones, Accident Prone Blackspots and Railway Crossings. Voice guidance is supported by clear visual imagery, including helpful 3D Junction Views for improved clarity at busy intersections and easy navigation through them.

With up to 600,000 Points of Interest built-in as well as a range of handy features, you’ll always find whatever you’re looking for with ease.

My only gripe with the device was that the keyboard wasn’t sensitive enough which sometimes required me to double-tap on letters for them to be recognised. Perhaps it’s just my tender touch?

Main Features on the Navman MY30 GPS are:

• Tap and Slide Touchscreen
• Smart Find^™ Keyword search
• Premium Safety Alerts
• School Zone warnings
• Advanced Lane Guidance
• 3D Junction view
• Petrol and Parking Shortcuts
• Australian Spoken Street Names
• Digital Logbook
• SOS shortcut for emergency services
• Up to 600,000 Points of interest (POI)
• Optional Live Traffic Updates available
• Optional Travel Guides
• Latest Map Guarantee

I give this unit a 8/10. Nice work Navman

Navman MY30 GPS Product Page

Here is another great review by one of our new customers who added an i-gotU GT200 GPS Logger in their prized possessions. Rating the gadget a 5-star!

This is indeed an efficient and effective tracking device! It is also easy to use. I was amazed on how easy it was for me to have it work.

Knowing exactly where you are, and in some cases, knowing just where you’ve been in your travels can be invaluable. Be it finding the location of that unbelievable fishing spot or locating a party in the midst of suburbia, being able to have such an accurate sense of direction would sure come in handy wouldn’t it?

The really cool thing is that all of us can now be known as the Columbus or Magellan of our block, all thanks to a small tool, but amazing indeed, made available by the people of MrGadget, the “i-gotU GPS Travel Logger”.

Good Job!

i-gotU GT200 Bluetooth GPS Travel Logger

Here’s a quick review by one of our customers who recently purchased an i-gotU GT200 GPS Logger:

I cannot believe how easy and effective this device is. And if you forget to synchronize camera with device, the software makes it easy to correct afterwards.
Being able to upload your trip so that friends can see where you have been in 3D on Google Earth is brilliant.
You must check out the trips on www.a-trip.com to see what can be done.

i-gotU GT200 Bluetooth GPS Travel Logger

Are you looking for a simple-to-use GPS unit? Something that won’t drive you crazy trying to operate?

The Laser GPS FD250 is one of the easiest to use on the market.

It’s actually been called “GPS for Dummies” since it follows the mantra of the “Dummies” books – together with Laser they have created a brilliant unit that even the biggest technophobe will be able to use.

continue reading "World’s most easiest-to-use GPS – Laser FD250 GPS for Dummies"

For those who didn’t know, the new iPhone 3G currently does not have true turn-by-turn instruction GPS. It does however have GPS via Google Maps. Here’s a demonstration of how it works:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bO5tw_vLOA]

YouTube – iPhone 3G GPS Road Test

Thoughts?

February 2008, Mio-Tech Website: The latest PDA-phone with GPS from Mio landed on our desk this week, and we’ve been impressed in the short time we’ve had to play with it.

We thought it would be interesting to see how a fully-fledged GPS PDA/phone compares with consumer versions like the Nokia Navigator 6110. The Mio is arguably a different class of phone, it has Windows Mobile 6 with the usual spreadsheet and word features, but if you’re after portable navigation it also outclasses the consumer grade GPS phones.

Mio’s pedigree in navigation made us more comfortable than usual when unwrapping a GPS phone for the first time. We have mixed feelings about these devices – they can impress, but can also come with catches compared with dedicated in-car units. For one thing some don’t come equipped with the onboard maps, meaning potential data charges for downloading.

In this case the GPS is ready to go straight out of the box, with pre-loaded maps (like the 6110). In fact we were able to get track our journey without a SIM card at all.

It’s a marked contrast with some other business class PDA phones such as Nokia’s E90. The E90 requires you to fiddle around enabling your navigation license. Crucially, the A702 also includes turn by turn voice navigation as standard – this costs over $100 a year with Nokia’s E90.

We find the Tom Tom interface friendlier, but if you’re familiar with MioMap you’ll have no trouble with the A702. The 2.7inch screen is big enough if you’re walking down the street, though we’d find it too small for mounting in a car. Zooming in and out is easily done via a small jog dial on the left of the unit, and the system copes quite while with minimal lag when zooming out to a city –wide view.

The major area where the Mio and smartphones like the Nokia 6110 differ is wireless connectivity. Unlike the Nokia, which can access the Web at HSDPA speeds (up to 3.6Mbps), the Mio lacks 3G. It seems like a major disadvantage until you take into account the Mio’s drawcard – WiFi. WiFi is still a relative rarity in run-of-the-mill consumer grade phones, and it gives the Mio a serious advantage in terms of cheap Internet access. We wish more phones had it.

The Mio also outclasses the Nokia 6110 with its touchscreen – this is a must for GPS navigation because it makes selecting menu items much less of a headache.

The Mio also stacks up well in other areas. The 3.2 megapixel camera isn’t groundbreaking, but it beats the 6110’s 2 megapixels. The Mio is slightly heavier at 150g than the Navigator (125g), but the difference isn’t huge. It’s much easier than carrying mini-bricks like the ASUS PND models.

The Mio A702 also gets a much-needed upgrade to Windows Mobile 6. Opinions vary on Windows Mobile, but this is a PDA device as well as a phone, so if you’re after email and messaging then Windows Mobile is a good thing. It’s overkill if all you need are calls and texting.

One of our few gripes was the slow startup time – it took 50 seconds before we had a usable menu screen. The unit also took about 17 seconds to load the MioMaps application – it doesn’t sound like a long time, but if you’re after directions in a hurry it can be a pain. The lag isn’t too bad within Windows Mobile 6 though, and we were able to startup Word and the calendar without any problems.

In short, this is a PDA-class smartphone aimed at executives, couriers, or a sales force, but it’s worth considering if you’re after a solid GPS phone. The touchscreen and preloaded maps means we’d choose the Mio A702 over Nokia’s 6110 for navigation, though if you’re a heavy data user you may miss 3G speeds and a QWERTY keyboard.

See our current GPS Range here. 

Just about every Tom, Dick and Harry has a GPS gadget these days. While they help us get to our destinations without the aid of paper-based maps, are they also just another dangerous distraction while we drive?

There was yet another tractor-trailer that became stuck under the bridge on Oak Street in Scranton Sunday. The driver from California told police he didn’t see the warning signs. He said he was trying to follow his global positioning system, or GPS, and didn’t see the height restrictions.

See full article at Channel 16 WNEP.