With a suggested retail price of $549.99, the traffic ready Magellan CrossoverGPS is the first rugged, IPX-4-waterproof device designed to provide both turn-by-turn driving guidance and navigation for outdoor adventures in the wilderness or on water. The CrossoverGPS ships preloaded with street maps and topography maps, and additional memory cards can be purchased with maps of lakes and fishing-hot-spots, marine charts, and additional hiking topography maps.  The preloaded maps include topographic contour maps and the latitude and longitude of locations to guide users to and from destinations on land or on water using a map screen or compass screen. You can also create and save waypoints and routes, backtrack, and save a base camp location.

Based on what I saw at CES, the CrossoverGPS’ driving guidance features are identical to the 2200T. The CrossoverGPS features voice and text prompted turn-by-turn directions, ships with mapping data for the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, features a 3.5-inch color touch screen display, text-to-speech, optimized multi-destination routing, and the same POI database as is found on the RoadMate 2200T. Notice in the image above that the main menu on the CrossoverGPS is almost identical to the 2200T's main menu, but includes icons for Marine and Outdoor.

Tapping on the Marine icon from the main menu brings up the Marine screen, shown above.

Tapping n the Outdoor icon from the main menu brings up the hiking/outdoor menu, shown above.

Like it’s cousin, the RoadMate 2000T, the CrossoverGPS also features an MP3 player and photo viewer. Perhaps the best part of the CrossoverGPS is the whopping 8-hour battery life, making extended outdoor expeditions possible. I’m a fan of Geocaching, and I currently use a nuvi in the car to get close to the cache, then use my Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx on foot to find the cache. Personally, I’d much rather have an all-in-one device (not to mention the obvious cost savings of having only one device), and am looking forward to testing out the Magellan CrossoverGPS.

Magellan also announced the release of the Magellan TrafficKit for the RoadMate 2200T and CrossoverGPS. The TrafficKit retails for $99 and includes three months of service. After that, the service will cost $60/year. Using FM frequencies, the Magellan TrafficKit wirelessly transmits NAVTEQ traffic data on a continuous basis. NAVTEQ gathers data from multiple, reliable sources, including commercial traffic sources, government departments of transportation, police and emergency services, road sensors, cameras and airborne reports.

The TrafficKit receiver processes the real-time traffic information, and displays icons on the Magellan GPS map screen to show traffic jams and conditions that impede the normal flow of traffic, such as lane reductions, road construction and accidents. Drivers can learn details about each traffic event by touching the associated icon. Drivers can also customize which type of traffic events they are alerted to, and choose whether or not the GPS will automatically re-route you around traffic jams.

Already own a 2200T and want the CrossoverGPS functionality? Magellan also announced the release of the CrossoverGPS upgrade option that adds outdoor navigation capabilities to the Magellan RoadMate 2200T. The upgrade adds topographics maps and GPS guidance tools for hiking, off-road excursions and more. Suggested retail price for the CrossoverGPS upgrade option is only $49. The 2200T isn’t ruggedized like the CrossoverGPS, but it is IPX-4 waterproof rated and therefore appropriate for outdoor use.  Like the CrossoverGPS, the 2200T can be upgraded with optional memory cards that allow you to add marine charts, lakes data with fishing hot spots and additional topographic detail. If you plan on doing serious outdoor activities, you can protect your 2200T by outfitting the unit with Magellan’s new rubberized, impact and water-resistant Sports Guard jacket, also announced at CES.