12. Traffic

Technically speaking, Traffic is part of the MSN Direct offering, but since real-time traffic data is such an important feature, it warrants its own section in this review.

Access to real-time traffic information and the ability to navigate around traffic jams is a major selling point of the nuvi 880, and one of the features consumers are most interested in; after all, the thought of avoiding traffic jams and intelligently routing around them is an appealing proposition indeed. Unfortunately, traffic data is generally limited to major highways and cities, is delayed, and is still far from perfect.

Figure 86: Map Screen - Traffic Event Notification

If a traffic event is received that will impact your current route, the nuvi 880 displays the corresponding icon in the lower-right hand corner of the map display, as shown above. Tapping the alert displays additional information about the traffic event, shown below.

Figure 87: Traffic Event Overview Page

This screen displays an overview of the traffic problem, and marks the problem area with the appropriate traffic icon.

Tap the traffic notification bar at the top of this screen (the gray bar that reads: "1 min delay 15 mi ahead"), and additional details of the traffic issue are displayed. Tapping "Avoid" forces the GPS to find an alternate route around the traffic problem.

Note that if the nuvi receives a traffic alert and finds a faster route with less traffic, it will automatically prompt the driver with a message asking if you want to route around the traffic (a message saying "A better route is available").

Garmin's traffic integration in well implemented and easy to use. My biggest complaint is with data accuracy; more often than not I found MSN's traffic data either wrong or missing, resulting in lengthy detours to avoid traffic jams that don't actually exist, or the nuvi telling you the road is backed up as you sail along at 70 MPH. In fairness, this isn't unique to MSN Direct - virtually every traffic-enabled GPS I've tested to date suffers from the same limitation (with the exception of Dash Navigation's Dash Express). Hopefully, over time the data accuracy will improve and coverage areas expand, making traffic data a more valuable feature. Currently, traffic data is better than nothing, but it's still got a long way to go.

13. Using Voice Recognition

Figure 88: nuvi 880's Speech Recognition Remote Control

Most nuvi 880 functions can be performed using your voice. Pressing the "Start" button on the wireless remote control tells the nuvi 880 you are about to speak a command. Speech recognition can be used to:

• Speak any text on the screen
• Speak shortcut commands (such as "Find nearest gas station", or "Gas Prices", for example)
• Speak the name of a place
• Speak an address

Here's a short video demonstrating the speech recognition features of the nuvi 880:

The use of a wireless remote to initiate/cancel a voice command might raise a few eyebrows given that competing GPS systems with voice recognition features don't require remotes, but Garmin manages to succeed where others have failed: a voice recognition system that actually works, and can perform virtually all GPS functions without taking your eyes off the road.

Most other VR (Voice Recognition) enabled GPS devices rely on a "wake-up" command to tell the GPS you're going to issue a voice command. For example, Magellan's VR-enabled Maestro GPS units will listen for the word "Magellan", and will then initiate a speech recognition session upon hearing the designated word. The trouble is that system doesn't work well at all; the interior of a moving vehicle can be a noisy place, especially with music and/or additional passengers talking in the car. When I tested similar VR systems from other GPS manufacturers, voice recognition only worked in a silent, parked car, and even then only supported a limited number of voice controls. Moreover, units that "listen" for a special keyword to "wake-up" can be irritating when the GPS is constantly thinking it has heard the magic word.

Figure 89: Speech Recognition Dialog Icon

Pressing the "Start" button on the remote control tells the nuvi 880 you're ready to issue a voice command. When the nuvi 880 is ready to accept a verbal command, a short audio chime is played and a green dialog box appears in the upper-right corner of the screen, as shown above.

Once the green dialog appears, any text on the screen can be spoken. For example, in the screen above, "Where to", "View map", "Volume", and "Tools" are all valid voice commands. Additionally, a number of shortcut commands are also supported, and can be spoken from any menu.

Additional Shortcut Voice Commands

• Audible Player
• Cancel Route
• Detour
• Find Address
• Find City
• Find Favorite
• Find Place by Category
• Find Place by Name
• Find Recently Found
• Go Home
• Hands Free
• Help
• Main Menu
• Music Player
• Stop Listening
• Tools Menu
• Trip Computer
• View Map
• Volume Down
• Volume Up
• Where Am I?
• Where To?

MSN Direct features can also be invoked via voice recognition. The following MSN Direct commands are supported via speech recognition:

• Gas Prices
• Local Events
• Movie Times
• News
• Stocks
• Traffic
• Weather
• Web Favorites

You can also string commands together to save time. For example, the "Find Nearest" command can be spoken with a specific POI or category, such as:

• Find Nearest Gas Station
• Find Nearest Grocery Store
• Find Nearest Bank
• Find Nearest Movie Theater
• Find Nearest Italian Restaurant

Figure 90: Stop Listening Dialog Icon

A red dialog icon appears in the upper-right corner of the display whenever the nuvi 880 stops listening for voice commands, either because the Stop button has been pressed on the remote control, or because the nuvi is processing the previous voice command and isn't ready for the next one yet.

Figure 90: Speaking a City Name to nuvi 880

Garmin's nuvi 880 gets Voice Recognition right. The system is elegant and works amazingly well. Even when traveling at highway speeds, the nuvi 880 recognized virtually every command I spoke.

Complete street addresses can be entered using your voice, and house numbers can be spoken in a variety of combinations. Shortcut commands make operating the nuvi 880 even easier. During my testing, I even found some undocumented features that further enhance the VR features: when I said "Find Nearest McDonalds", the nuvi 880 automatically searched for nearby fast food restaurants.

14. Creating and Using Routes

The nuvi 880 supports multi-destination routing with route optimization. Multi-destination routing is the ability to enter several addresses into the GPS and save it as a trip. Optimization mean you can then sort the addresses by distance -- a handy feature for realtors, delivery drivers, and anyone else who needs to make multiple stops and wants to drive to each location in the most efficient order possible.

The nuvi 880 can save up to 10 routes.

Figure 91: Accessing the Routes Feature

Creating, editing, and activating routes are all performed via the Routes menu. To access the Routes feature, tap on Where to? > Scroll down to page 2 > Routes.

Figure 92: First Time Using the Routes Feature

The first time the Routes icon is tapped the nuvi reports that no Routes have been created, and asks if we'd like to create a Route.

Figure 93: Adding Stops to the Route

The first step in creating a Route, or multi-stop trip, is adding a starting point. Tap Add New Start Point.

Adding addresses to a route is identical to the process for entering any other type of destination; you can use street addresses, POIs, recently found addresses, saved favorites, intersections, or coordinates as entries on a Route.

Figure 94: Creating the Route

Tapping on the green plus icon inserts another location to the route, while tapping on the red minus icon removes that location from the route.

Figure 95: Calculating the Route

Once all the desired locations have been added to the Route, tapping Next causes the nuvi to calculate the route. Route calculation is quick, taking no more than a few seconds.

Figure 96: Viewing the Route on the Map

Once the route has been calculated, the planned route is displayed on the map. Note that the last location in the Route is marked with a checkered flag. The nuvi also displays the distance and time for the planned Route.

Tap Save to store the Route and make it available for use and/or optimization.

Figure 97: Viewing a Saved Route

By default, the nuvi saves Routes using the starting and ending location names. You can rename the Route to something more significant, like "Family Trip To Disney Land", as well as re-order the stops by tapping Edit...

Or, tap the green Go! button to start navigating to the first location in the Route.

Figure 98: Reordering Stops Along A Route

Tapping on Optimally Reorder Points reorders the stops so that you are driving to each location in the most efficient manner. In other words, you're not driving back and forth or in circles, but making the taking the most logical order. This feature is especially helpful for drivers who regularly visit multiple locations in one trip, such as realtors, delivery drivers, and contractors.

You can also manually reorder the locations in a Route by tapping on Manually Reorder Points.

Recalculate allows you to change the route preference to calculate by faster time, shorter distance, or off road.

Tapping Delete erases the Route.