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January 4, 2007

Garmin Drops 4 New GPS Units, Falls in Love with MSN Direct

Garmin's New GPS Lineup

Garmin has officially released the details on 4 new upcoming GPS units: The StreetPilot c580, nuvi 370, nuvi 670, and nuvi 680. One interesting note is that Garmin's product pages for all four new units state that they units use a "high-sensitivity WAAS-enabled GPS receiver." That's unusual, since Garmin clearly states the SiRF chipset is used on the nuvi 360, 660 and many other models. I wonder if this means Garmin is moving away from SiRF? Also interesting is that the nuvi 670 has a lower suggested retail price than the top-of-the-line nuvi 680. Probably just a type that will be corrected later, but odd just the same.

Garmin nuvi 370
The nuvi 370 looks identical to the 360, but comes preloaded with City Navigator NT street maps for both North America and Europe, and includes an FM traffic receiver. Retail price is set at $964.27, available within the next two months.

Garmin StreetPilot c580
The StreetPilot c580 build on the StreetPilot c550, adding MSN Direct content (the unit comes with 1 free year of MSN subscription service). MSN Direct's service is used to transmit real-time data to the GPS, such as weather, traffic, local gas prices, movie times, etc. The unit retails for $857.13 and should be available this quarter.

Garmin nuvi 670
The nuvi 670 looks identical to the nuvi 660, but adds full map coverage (City Navigator NT) for both North America and Europe. Retail price is $1178.56, available this quarter.

Garmin nuvi 680
The nuvi 680 has everything the already popular 660 has, but adds full map coverage of North America and Europe, and dynamic content from MSN Direct (such as movie listings, traffic data, local gas prices, and weather). The unit ships with a free 1-year subscription to MSN's service, and will retail for $999. Available this quarter.

Posted by Fletch on January 4, 2007 | Comments (5)