As if Garmin wasn't having enough trouble selling GPS units in an increasingly smartphone-driven world, now it seems roughly 1.3 million nuvis are at risk of overheating -- possibly "lead[ing] to a fire hazard!"

Garmin is voluntarily recalling around 1.3 million nuvis, including some 200W, 250W, 260W and 700 series models. Not ALL units are affected, however. Only units manufactured within a certain date code range are impacted. You can use this form to enter your nuvi's serial number and see if it's part of the recall.

If your nuvi is part of the recall, Garmin will replace the battery, and insert a spacer between battery and the circuit board free of charge.

Posted by Fletch at 3:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Verdict: Yup, It's A TomTom GPS On Your iPhone or iPod Touch

TomTom's App brings standalone GPS device performance to your Apple iPhone or iPod Touch. Traffic costs extra, and routing logic isn't perfect, but this may just be the best GPS App to date.

Continue reading "TomTom app for iPhone and iPod touch Review" »

Posted by Fletch at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Last week I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with Garmin upcoming 2200 and 2300 nuvi GPS units. These new models will attempt to bring the high-end features without the high-end price tags.

I'll be posting in-depth reviews of the new models soon, but in the mean time here's everything you need to know about the newest nuvis.

Continue reading "Garmin's New Budget-Friendly 2200 and 2300 nuvis Will Have nuvi 3700-Esque Features" »

Posted by Fletch at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

TomTom's iPhone Car Kit improves GPS performance, provides a windshield mount for your iPhone, a more powerful internal speaker, and a generally better GPS experience. However, the Car Kit doesn't accommodate the iPhone 4 out of the box. If you've got an iPhone 4 and want to use TomTom's Car Kit, you'll need to use this adapter to get a proper fit.

Note that all new TomTom Car Kits sold after September 1st already include the iPhone 4 adapter in the box. Buyers who purchased before then can claim a free adapter from TomTom. Just insert the plastic adapter into the mount, and the iPhone 4 will fit properly.

Posted by Fletch at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've complained for years that TomTom's interface was turning into a labyrinth of endlessly nested menus, and was getting unnecessarily complex. Apparently I'm not the only one, and TomTom has responded with EasyMenu -- a simplified menu system that provides one-button access to the most commonly used features.

TomTom demoed the new EasyMenu interface in New York last week, and overall I think most users will find EasyMenu an improvement over the previous menu system. Power users may complain that some features are now hidden, and actually require more taps to use, but there's no denying that the most commonly used functions are now easier to use.

EasyMenu is currently available on TomTom's new XL 350 and XXL 550 models.

Posted by Fletch at 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)