I can't say I'm all that surprised. When I first saw the Maestro Elite 5340 last year at CES, I wondered who on earth would shell out $1300 (plus monthly service) just for the Google local search feature. Originally planned for a March 2008 release, a full year has almost passed, and I half expected to see Magellan "announcing" the same GPS at next year's CES in January.

Magellan says it remains convinced of the potential value of internet connected GPS navigation, but says consumers have "shown an unwillingness to pay a steep price for PNDs, especially with the recent economic downturns."

I'm not so sure. It's true that the most volume of sales are for the lower priced units, but the highest profit margins remain with the higher-end units. Garmin has done a masterful job convincing consumers to shell out upwards of $800 on its high-end nüvi models. I'm hoping Magellan's statement doesn't mean their just giving up on the high-end and heading towards $99 el cheapo garbage.

In many ways Magellan is a company struggling to find its niche. Once the market leader in navigation, the Magellan has had a difficult time competing with the likes of Garmin, TomTom, and, more recently, Navigon. My very first turn-by-turn navigation system was a Magellan 750NAV back in 2000, and it was the most innovative, user-friendly, exciting thing I'd ever seen. Here's to hoping Magellan can find the secret sauce again, and put some real innovation back in its products.