Garmin Mobile(TM) XT: Plug 'N Play Maps for Your Phone

[Ironwalt]

Press Release Source: Garmin International Inc.


Garmin Mobile(TM) XT: Plug 'N Play Maps for Your Phone
Wednesday October 3, 6:00 am ET


OLATHE, Kan., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN - News), today announced Garmin Mobile XT, a unique, all-in-one software solution that turns select smartphones with internal GPS into high-end Garmin navigators. This mobile phone software application seamlessly pairs the phone's built-in GPS with Garmin's software so that customers have the benefits of navigation anywhere in North America or Europe. Unlike other mobile phone applications, Garmin Mobile XT offers convenient preloaded maps and includes access to dynamic content like premium real-time traffic alerts and fuel prices, but does not require any monthly fees or subscriptions of any kind.


"Garmin Mobile XT is easy-to-use and affordable, with no monthly charges," said Charles Morse, Garmin's director of mobile and PND marketing. "It's a one-time investment that gives customers full-featured GPS navigation on their smartphone whenever and wherever they need it, including areas outside of wireless network coverage."

Garmin Mobile XT is preloaded on a microSD card (with miniSD and standard SD card converter) that includes Garmin navigation software for the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, or Europe. Once the card is inserted into a compatible smartphone with embedded GPS, the Garmin Mobile XT application will launch automatically. Customers are then greeted with Garmin's intuitive "Where to?" and "View map" welcome screen. With a few screen or button taps, customers can easily route to a specific street address or choose from millions of points of interest -- such as restaurants, hotels, ATMs, and gas stations. In addition to turn-by-turn, voice prompted directions, users will also see their exact position on a detailed moving map. If a turn is missed along the way, a new route will be recalculated automatically.

Thanks to Garmin's vast product line and ability to leverage technology from the other GPS markets Garmin serves, Garmin Mobile XT builds in unique features such as support for travel guides, topo maps and custom points of interest, as well as advanced features such as route planning with saved routes, custom avoidances and visible trip logs. Garmin Mobile XT users also have the benefit of routing to the location of a contact in their phone's address book or to a calendar appointment (on supported platforms).

Garmin Mobile XT also includes PeerPoints(TM), a powerful feature enabling users to send their position to any other phone as well as view and navigate to the location of other Garmin Mobile XT users. PeerPoints is the perfect way to keep track of friends and family and navigate to them with the touch of a button.

In addition to navigation, Garmin Mobile XT includes free access to Garmin Online(TM) so that customers have useful, constantly-updating information at their fingertips like real-time traffic, fuel prices, hotel prices and weather forecasts. The real-time traffic service from traffic.com identifies accidents, road construction or other incidents affecting traffic, and routes users around the congestion. The fuel price feature displays the filling station's name, fuel price, type of fuel, and distance to the station (U.S. only). Garmin Mobile XT users can also help customers find hotel information, ratings and discounts from hotels.com. Real-time weather information provided by Custom Weather lets users see weather forecasts at their current location or anywhere in the world. Garmin Online is accessed through the phone's wireless data service.

Garmin Mobile XT is available now for a suggested retail price of $99 in the U.S. Garmin Mobile XT products purchased in the U.S. include maps of all North America. In Europe, Garmin Mobile XT includes map data for 30 countries in Europe. Map data is provided by NAVTEQ(TM) -- a world leader in premium-quality mapping.

Visit the Garmin Mobile Buyer's Guide, On the Go, for more information or to purchase Garmin Mobile XT.

About Garmin International Inc.

Garmin International, Inc. is a member of the Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN - News) group of companies which designs, manufactures, markets, and sells navigation, communication and information devices and applications -- most of which are enabled by GPS technology. Garmin is a leader in consumer and general aviation navigation and its products serve the automotive/mobile, outdoor/fitness, marine, and aviation markets. Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit Garmin's virtual pressroom at * Garmin: Virtual Press Room * or contact the Media Relations department at 913-397-8200. Garmin is a registered trademark, and Garmin Mobile, Garmin Mobile XT, Garmin Online and Peer Points are trademarks of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries.

All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

Notice on forward-looking statements:

This release includes forward-looking statements regarding Garmin Ltd. and its business. All statements regarding the company's future product introductions are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on management's current expectations. The forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release may not occur and actual results could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting Garmin, including, but not limited to, the risk factors listed in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 30, 2006 filed by Garmin with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission file number 0-31983). A copy of Garmin's Form 10-K can be downloaded at Garmin: Financial Reports. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and Garmin undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.




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Source: Garmin International Inc.

[Fire14]

Originally Posted by Ironwalt

Unlike other mobile phone applications, Garmin Mobile XT offers convenient preloaded maps and includes access to dynamic content like premium real-time traffic alerts and fuel prices, but does not require any monthly fees or subscriptions of any kind.


Garmin Mobile XT is preloaded on a microSD card (with miniSD and standard SD card converter) that includes Garmin navigation software for the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, or Europe. Once the card is inserted into a compatible smartphone with embedded GPS, the Garmin Mobile XT application will launch automatically. Customers are then greeted with Garmin's intuitive "Where to?" and "View map" welcome screen. With a few screen or button taps, customers can easily route to a specific street address or choose from millions of points of interest -- such as restaurants, hotels, ATMs, and gas stations. In addition to turn-by-turn, voice prompted directions, users will also see their exact position on a detailed moving map. If a turn is missed along the way, a new route will be recalculated automatically.

This sounds like an excellent idea and for the $99.00 it's not a bad deal. I wonder if this means GSM smartphones will be looking into putting GPS into the phones (I am not sure if they do or not) and it prevent's people from having to use the data network for this feature.

[hf1khal]

Originally Posted by Fire14

This sounds like an excellent idea and for the $99.00 it's not a bad deal. I wonder if this means GSM smartphones will be looking into putting GPS into the phones (I am not sure if they do or not) and it prevent's people from having to use the data network for this feature.

Well we do have some that already has it built in like BB 8800, 8820, HTC aka AT&T 8925 as well as a few others. It also seems that Nokia is also building some units with built in GPS chips. For $99 this is a good thing and this would make it tough for tlenave. Now the one thing for AT&T on any thing other than a BB, the issue will be the trusted app and if it is not then each page that opens up will ask for one to akkow and this ask doe not have the always grant and do not ask. I have that issue in the Razr2 with GMaps and it is annoying.

[Shizam76]

Originally Posted by hf1khal

Now the one thing for AT&T on any thing other than a BB, the issue will be the trusted app and if it is not then each page that opens up will ask for one to akkow and this ask doe not have the always grant and do not ask. I have that issue in the Razr2 with GMaps and it is annoying.

Okay....sorry, but I am confused at what you are trying to say

Because Gmaps are not trusted, it asks you to grant something all the time?

[Fire14]

Already posted:

http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/wi...xt-plug-n.html (Garmin Mobile(TM) XT: Plug 'N Play Maps for Your Phone)

[Ironwalt]

Originally Posted by Fire14

Already posted:

http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/wi...xt-plug-n.html (Garmin Mobile(TM) XT: Plug 'N Play Maps for Your Phone)

I thought I read that somewhere before, but I guess this happens to the best of us sometimes

[Gamer03]

Now if only Sprint will release the update for my Mogul that will supposedly enable GPS and Rev. A, then I might consider this since it would be handy to have.

[Mobile Mike]

This sounds like an excellent product. For now, I can live with Google Maps for mobile on my MDA (especially since there's no GPS functionality on it). Granted it is rudimentary, but it has worked very well for me.

[hf1khal]

Originally Posted by Shizam76

Okay....sorry, but I am confused at what you are trying to say

Because Gmaps are not trusted, it asks you to grant something all the time?

Correct GMaps are not trusted and this goes the same for Opera Mini. So every time it is about to refresh the page the device will ask for permision.