Amazon says its holiday sales this year were better than ever before, due in large part to strong GPS sales. According to a company press release, the e-tailer shipped a "combined weight of 151 Mini Coopers" (which roughly translates to 386,000 pounds, assuming a curb weight of 2,557 per Mini).

Amazon won't say how many GPS units it actually sold, but making some basic assumptions, we can reverse engineer the number: assuming the average boxed GPS weighs about 2.5 lbs, then one could estimate that Amazon shipped about 154,442 GPS units this holiday. Not too shabby.

Continue reading "Amazon Ships 386,000 lbs of GPS Units This Holiday Season" »

Posted by Fletch at 11:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa's Christmas Eve flight.

The tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, and a tradition was born.

You can track the Santa sightings in real-time via NORAD's dedicated site, noradsanta.org. They also have a cool 3D tracking version available here.

Posted by Fletch at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It's no secret that Garmin makes some of the best GPS units around. But with 27 different nüvi models to choose from, figuring out which one is right for you can be difficult. Want text-to-speech but don't care about Bluetooth? Want a wide screen but not text-to-speech? Traffic? Lane Guidance? Choice, choices, choices!

I've put together a decision tree that walks you through the nüvi jungle, and helps you buy the right nüvi with just the features you care about:

Posted by Fletch at 7:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)

Verdict: The Best Recession-Friendly GPS You Can Buy

REVIEW HIGHLIGHTS

• nüvi 205 replaces the older nüvi 200
• New map screen enhancements, features, & HotFix GPS technology, make the 205 a significant improvement over the nüvi 200
• nüvi 205 is a better GPS than the TomTom ONE 130, or Magellan RoadMate 1200
• Overall the best GPS in its price class

Garmin's nüvi 205 replaces the nüvi 200, adding niceties like an improved GPS receiver, faster screen redraws, support for traffic receivers, and, perhaps the most significant improvement, an upcoming turn arrow on the map. After thoroughly testing the nüvi 205, I can confidently recommend this capable GPS. Currently priced well under $150, you won't find a better GPS at that price.

Continue reading "Garmin nuvi 205 Review" »

Posted by Fletch at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (45)

MiTAC, the parent company that makes the low-end Mio brand GPS units, has acquired Magellan's consumer GPS division. The press release doesn't specify what will become of Magellan, it's employees, or products, saying only that the sale will complete in January 2009.

Magellan has struggled over the past few years, changing owners several times (Shah Capital Partners, most recently). Magellan once dominated the GPS market, and was considered one of the most innovative companies around. Back when Orbital Sciences owned it, ground-breaking products like the Pathmaster and 750NAV set new standards in GPS navigation, and Magellan enjoyed almost 90% market share.

Continue reading "MiTAC Buys Magellan" »

Posted by Fletch at 9:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Garmin's nüvi 205 replaces the nüvi 200. Here's everything you need to know about what's new, what's changed, and whether the 205 is worth the extra money.

Continue reading "Garmin nüvi 200 vs 205" »

Posted by Fletch at 3:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)

Mercedes has announced that upcoming S-Class cars will get updated COMAND systems capable of displaying one thing to the driver, and something else to the passenger. The "filtering mask", as Mercedes calls it, lets drivers and passengers see different images on the same surface. A driver looking at the COMAND screen from the driver's seat might see GPS navigation information, while a passenger looking at the same screen from a different angle could be watching DVD movie playback at the same time, on the same surface.

Mercedes says S-Class models with the new dual-view system will begin shipping this summer.

Posted by Fletch at 2:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

If you decided to avoid being trampled to death at big-box chain stored this weekend, and are still looking for some major bargains, you're in luck: today is Cyber Money, the online version of Black Friday, and there are great GPS deals to be had.

Here's a list of all the Cyber Monday sales I've found so far:

Continue reading "Cyber Monday 2008 GPS Deals Round-Up" »

Posted by Fletch at 1:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)