Garmin | On the Go

Scenes from CES

Garmin — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:37:15 -0600

We're here at CES and the Garmin booth has been packed. Customers are really excited about the all-new Smartphone Link, an app that creates a seamless navigation experience between any Bluetooth enabled 2012 Garmin nüvi and an Android smartphone allowing you to communicate and share data between the two devices. Now you can get real-time traffic information, traffic camera images, live weather information and fuel prices right to your PND. To learn more about Smartphone Link, visit the mini site, or stop by the Garmin booth at CES (South Hall #35812).

Also on display at CES is the new Approach G6 and the 5-inch nüvi 3500 series with an all-glass touchscreen display, ultra-thin design and all of the premium features you could ever want in a PND. But if you don't have a front-row seat to CES, don't worry, just keep checking back to the Garmin blog for more updates from the show!

Garmin Smartphone Link for Android Provides Connected Services to nüvi Personal Navigation Devices

Garmin — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 08:00:00 -0600

Keeping you connected and on the right track is what today's announcement of the launch of Smartphone Link, the first Android app to provide live services to personal navigation devices (PNDs) is all about. Smartphone Link creates a seamless navigation experience between any Bluetooth^® enabled 2012 Garmin nüvi and an Android^TM smartphone allowing them to communicate and share data. Among other functionalities, the app lets nüvi users add live services, such as traffic information, traffic camera images, weather and fuel prices to their navigation device, utilizing the smartphone's mobile data plan. Garmin Smartphone Link is available at no cost in the Android Market and includes several free live services as well as premium content available through subscriptions.

“Garmin Smartphone Link solves the problem of having to pay for an extra data plan to use live services on a PND by utilizing the existing connection of a smartphone,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “It is a great example of how smartphone apps can complement navigation devices, which offer key benefits such as bigger screens and better GPS reception.”

Free connected services include live weather information and myGarmin™ messaging, which provides update notifications and special offers from Garmin. Premium Live Services include the following:

Live Traffic ($19.99 per year): Garmin Live Traffic provides the best-in-class real-time information to help users navigate in and around congestion. Live Traffic is updated every two minutes and receives more than 1,000 messages every update cycle, including details of traffic incidents, road conditions and delays. It covers major highways, interstates and main roads.

photoLive traffic cameras ($9.99 per year): This functionality is an addition to Garmin’s Live Traffic feature and provides drivers the ability to literally see traffic conditions ahead of time. It lets users easily look up real-time photos from traffic cameras to get a glance at traffic and weather conditions. Included are more than 10,000 traffic cameras across the U.S. and Canada that send images every couple of minutes.

Fuel Prices ($9.99 per year): Users can find the best prices for any grade of fuel in their area by tapping the screen and selecting a station.

Advanced Weather ($4.99 per year): Get current and 5-day forecasts tailored for major cities in the U.S. and Canada. In addition to what the free weather service provides, Advanced Weather also allows users to receive severe weather alerts and view animated radar images on a map. Colors distinguish types of precipitation such as rain, snow and ice, to help you avoid bad driving conditions.

In addition to using Garmin Live Services, Smartphone Link allows the Garmin GPS to share its favorite locations with the phone. And better yet, the app can help users find their way from a parking spot to their destination and back by displaying both on a map.

Garmin Smartphone Link works with all Bluetooth enabled 2012 Garmin PNDs, the nüvi 2475LT, 2495LMT, 2595LMT, 3490LMT and the all-new 3590LMT, the company’s most feature-packed 5” navigator. All of these models require a software update, except the nüvi 3590LMT. Garmin Smartphone Link is available from the Android Market at no cost. To learn more, go to http://sites.garmin.com/smartphonelink.

Check out a video of Smartphone Link in action here:

A New Year, A New You and All New Updates to the Endurance Athlete Friendly GTU 10 Tracker!

Garmin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:18:34 -0600

Another amazing year is behind us and with that comes new challenges and adventures. We are just a few short months away from the spring marathon season and the sign ups for local 5k and 10k's and the cycling season. What better way to give your family peace of mind when you are out training and hitting the pavement than bringing a GTU 10 Tracker with you.

Weighing in at well under 2 ounces, the GTU 10 is a GPS locator that combines a web-based tracking
service with GPS technology so you can keep watch on children, pets and property. You can even track your GTU 10 from our secure website using any computer or with the free Garmin Tracker™ app and send invitations to friends and family so they can track your progress too!

The next time you use the Garmin Tracker online or on your smartphone, you’ll notice we’ve made a few pretty cool enhancements to make it easier to track what you love.

Some of those enhancements include the ability for you to create a shared page where you can allow friends and family to temporarily track you. This is especially useful when you want to let friends follow your location during a race and they are not able to make it to the event. Or better yet, when your family wants to know where you are on the marathon course - so they can get ahead and cheer you on. This Continuous Tracking* feature reports your device’s location automatically every 15 seconds for up to 5 hours.


Attach your GTU 10 to what you want to track.	Your GTU 10 enters or exits a geofence that you set up.	We notify you with an email or text message.	You can also locate your GTU 10 on your computer or mobile device.

You can also activate the Check-ins* feature - where the tracker sends your device’s location via email or text message on the days and times you specify. If you are wanting to look back at your event history, all of the GTU's now offer access to the previous 24-hour tracklog as opposed to just the 10 last tracklog points.

We have even added support for poor acquisition while in situations where GPS signal is weak or not present. The tracker now uses cell tower triangulation to provide approximate location of the tracker.

Have you ever wanted to keep an eye on the family car when you are out of town? Well, here's your chance. Simply connect the GTU 10 to a power source in your vehicle and take advantage of the Speed Alert feature*. This feature will send you an alert to your mobile phone or email when a user-selected speed is exceeded. If the device loses its power or connection to the car it will automatically let you know that too!

If you already own a tracker, simply update the software for your GTU 10 to use the new and improved features. And, if you use the Garmin Tracker app on your smartphone, get the latest version of the app.

In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Priceless Pets, the New York City based pet walking experts, were featured using the GTU tracker on their four-legged clients. Check out the video below to find out more about how they use this exciting new technology!

*Deluxe Trackingservice plan is required for these features. Deluxe Tracking is available for purchase at www.garmin.com.

Chicago Store: Give a Garmin, get FREE shipping, and vote for our windows!

Garmin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 10:21:40 -0600

Last month the Chicago Store offered free ground shipping on orders of $100 or more and debuted our new festive windows to kick off the holiday season. And the fun continues into this month! Just mention my-Garmin-Ground when you call and you’ll receive free ground shipping to the lower 48 states for orders of $100 or more through December 16, 2011.

Someone you know needs a Garmin and all you have to do is call (312) 787-3221 and talk to one of our product experts. We’ll answer your questions and help you find the perfect gift for the special driver, runner, biker, hiker, golfer, mariner or pilot in your life. Maybe a Forerunner 610, a voice-activated nuvi 3490LMT with free lifetime maps and traffic, or the Approach S1 - now available in white!

You’ll love the convenience of shopping over the phone, which will also give you some extra time to vote for Garmin in the Magnificent Mile Window Contest. It’s no secret that everyone on Chicago’s Mag Mile wants to have the best holiday windows, and that’s why we need your help in voting! It’s simple, just visit the site and vote for your favorite. With your help, we’re sure to take home the People’s Choice Award! Voting ends on December 15, so if you love our windows as much as we do, there’s plenty of time to encourage friends and family to vote, too.

Garmin Fit App and ANT+ Adapter Keep You Connected and On The Move

Garmin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 06:00:00 -0500

Today we announced Garmin Fit for iPhone and Android – our first fitness app that lets you track metrics such as speed, pace, distance, time, calories and with the help of Garmin accessories displays heart rate and cadence. Garmin Fit also maps and automatically uploads workouts to Garmin Connect. Garmin also introduces its ANT+ adapter for iPhone allowing you to use your Garmin ANT+ accessories with your iPhone.

“Garmin Fit is the ideal solution for users who are new to the fitness tracking landscape and for those looking to stay totally connected,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “To be able to utilize Garmin’s powerful fitness accessories with the same device that plays music, makes calls and uploads workouts automatically to share and analyze, makes Garmin Fit a must have app.”

Whether running on a local trail, cycling around the neighborhood or traveling for business Garmin Fit makes it easier than ever to see how far, how fast and where you have been. Garmin Fit ensures you will never be stuck without a way to track your workouts even when you forget to charge your Forerunner GPS enabled watch or fail to pack it for a trip. With the tap of a button Garmin Fit displays time, distance, pace and calories and even allows you to control your music from within the app. Never miss that important call - during a workout you will also be able to view and answer incoming calls and text messages without interrupting Garmin Fit ($0.99 USD).

Upon completion of a workout, you will be asked to name the activity and will have the opportunity to input notes about how the workout went or what the weather was like. The data will then be automatically sent to your account in the ever-expanding and free Garmin Connect community (http://connect.garmin.com). Here you can quickly and easily log your workouts, track your totals, set goals, share workouts with friends and family and participate in an online fitness community of more than 70 million activities around the world. Garmin Connect displays metrics such as time, distance, pace, elevation and heart rate. This information is shown through charts, illustrations, reports and a variety of map representations including street, photo, topographic, and elevation maps. Garmin Fit will display the previous 30 days of Garmin Connect history as well as charts directly on your smartphone -- giving you an extra tool to achieve your goals.

With Garmin’s ANT+ adapter for iPhone, available now at www.Garmin.com ($49.99 USD), you will be able to monitor and record your heart rate and cadence directly on your phone when paired with those optional accessories. One such accessory is a footpod sensor – which allows you, when training indoors, to track your speed, pace, distance and run cadence.

New app offers onDemand option for affordable navigation

Garmin — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:19:40 -0500

Rounding out Garmin’s diverse range of guidance options, our new StreetPilot onDemand app provides iPhone users convenient navigation for walking or driving when they need it, with an initial 99-cent download that includes 30 days of premium features. It is the first iPhone navigation app to include multimodal pedestrian routing, with bus and train transit schedules in many major cities. Additional premium features include spoken turn-by-turn guidance with street names, representation of 3D buildings and landmarks, traffic rerouting, photoReal Junction View and Google Local Search, among many others.

“Our new StreetPilot onDemand app is the perfect solution for anyone who occasionally needs navigation but still is looking for a premium experience and precise directions. There is nothing comparable in the App Store today,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales.

“By including multimodal pedestrian routing,” Bartel continued, “our new app is especially helpful for users in urban areas. The app seamlessly provides directions in the car and integrates public transportation when getting directions by foot.”

With the new multimodal pedestrian routing offered in StreetPilot onDemand, users can choose to integrate public transportation into their route. It is the first turn-by-turn iPhone navigation app that integrates train or bus schedules in the cities in which this service is available. Users can navigate to a destination from their current position (or set a different starting location), and the app provides turn-by-turn directions including a detailed itinerary of transit stops and instructions for walking to and from a bus or train stop. Beautifully rendered 3D buildings and landmarks make it even easier for pedestrians to find their destination.

The app also is a comprehensive driving assistant that integrates many of the signature features for which Garmin is known. This includes spoken turn-by-turn directions, photoReal junction views that show a realistic depiction of the junction as well as lane guidance and real-time traffic information that automatically routes drivers around gridlock. Users can easily find points of interest using Garmin’s extensive database or Google Local Search. A new functionality suggests points of interest based on the users search history to provide faster and more relevant search results. The app also warns drivers when exceeding the speed limit and even provides an overview of the weather conditions at the destination, complete with a five day forecast.

The Garmin StreetPilot onDemand app integrates an extremely easy to use interface that is customized for the iPhone. It stores the maps and points of interest in the cloud, so they are always up-to-date. The comprehensive map options allow users to easily enable or disable features displayed on the map such as traffic information, 3D buildings and landmarks or points of interest.

Garmin StreetPilot onDemand is available in the App Store on iPhone or at www.apple.com/appstore for $.99 and includes turn-by-turn, voice prompted navigation and traffic rerouting for 30 days in the United States and Canada. Users can extend this initial period by subscribing on a monthly ($2.99) or annual ($29.99) basis. Garmin offers a special introductory price of $19.99 for the yearly subscription from August 31, 2011, to September 14, 2011. Even without a subscription, users can still view maps, lookup points of interest and create routes. A subscription is required for turn-by-turn voice guidance with automatic off-route recalculation, real-time traffic information and multimodal pedestrian routing.

StreetPilot onDemand complements Garmin’s other newly announced automotive innovations that guarantee industry-leading navigation for every kind of driver and traveler. For a dedicated device that’s built to navigate with ease and efficiency, the recently announced 2012 nüvi^® line adds robust features to Garmin’s flagship product line at affordable pricing (details at www.garmin.com/move). For iPhone users who want the nüvi experience, Garmin’s StreetPilot Onboard app dodges many of the pitfalls of other smartphone options. And for customers seeking in-dash guidance with the intuitive interface of a nüvi, Garmin is growing its OEM presence and building automaker partnerships to offer the most effective solutions.

StreetPilot for Windows Phone provides another option on the go

Garmin — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:49:37 -0500

Busy commuters and travelers now have another option for using easy-to-use Garmin navigation in their everyday activities. Available in the Windows Marketplace, Garmin StreetPilot for Windows Phone puts Garmin's intuitive interface right at your fingertips with flickable menu pages and theme color support designed specifically for Windows Phone. It's easy to look up addresses and services and get voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions that speak street names to your destination. Garmin StreetPilot uses detailed City Navigator NT street maps of the U.S and Canada, featuring millions of points of interest, 2-D or 3-D map views and speed limits for most major roads. Garmin StreetPilot for Windows Phone uses the same great City Navigator NT maps available for Garmin’s nüvi product line without the need to ever download new data. There's no need to purchase or download map updates because data is updated regularly on the network.

With Garmin StreetPilot for Windows Phone, you’ll have access to Google Local Search integrated with navigation so you easily can find new restaurants, businesses and more. You even can place calls directly from the search listing. You’ll also have access to current weather conditions and forecast details around your current location, destination or other locales. With the flight status feature, you’ll be able to look up flights by airport, airline or flight number, and get up-to-date arrival, departure and gate information.

In addition to all of the other stress-relieving features, now there's no more guessing which lane you need to be in to make an upcoming turn. Lane Assist with Junction View guides you to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit, making unfamiliar intersections and exits easy to navigate. It realistically displays road signs and junctions on your route along with arrows that indicate the proper lane for navigation.

In most metropolitan areas, you can steer clear of traffic with the integrated traffic updates, and you can simply touch the screen to view the traffic details. Receive alerts about traffic delays and road construction that lie ahead on your route along with an estimate of the delay.

Chicago Store: Go-Garmin-Ground free shipping

Garmin — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 09:25:43 -0500

Starting today through June 30, the Garmin Chicago Store will ship any phone order of $100 or more to the lower 48 states for free! This dads and grads season, Garmin has something for everyone and every hobby. Whether you or the special person in your life drives, runs, bikes, hikes, golfs, boats or even flies, we’re here to help you find that perfect gift. Ask about the new touchscreen Forerunner 610, the voice-activated nuvi 3790 with free lifetime maps and traffic, or the new echo fishfinders. If dad's a golfer, he will love an Approach to help him measure yards and keep score. Ask about the $50 mail-in Approach rebate and other promotions, some exclusive to the Chicago Store.

Father’s Day is June 19, so place your order by June 10 for guaranteed delivery by June 17. Just call (312) 787-3221 and be sure to mention “Go-Garmin-Ground” to get free ground shipping on your order of $100 or more.

Chicago Store: GPS Academy open to all Garmin owners

Garmin — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 15:00:42 -0600

Maybe you’re a new nüvi owner or you just need some guidance on how to best utilize your Forerunner for training purposes - whatever it is, the Garmin Store offers a personal, customized tutorial where you can learn the ins and outs of your Garmin device. Just go the Garmin Chicago Store website, and click “Book Now” under the GPS Academy tab. Select One-on-One GPS Academy for available dates and times. Appointments fill up quickly, so don’t delay in registering.

You will be asked to enter your contact information and the model number of your device. The personalized one-on-one session is $14.95 for one hour, but if you purchased your Garmin from the Chicago Store, you are entitled to a complimentary session - simply enter in your Chicago Store receipt number.

Here’s what some of our recent GPS Academy graduates had to say about their experience:
“Just bought my first GPS - a nuvi 1450LMT. I'm a latecomer to the high-tech world, and am impressed at how the Garmin expert was able to explain clearly and patiently all of its amazing functions. It was all hands-on so that I was operating the nüvi and not the instructor. He answered all my questions and invited me to contact him if I wanted more instruction. I'm so glad I purchased a Garmin at the Garmin store where every buyer gets a free tutorial. It can't be beat!” – Joan P.

“Just completed orientation for the Forerunner 110 and was amazed at the simplicity of its operation. The options available are amazing and the staff trainer was excellent. He was patient to a fault, and gracious and attentive with his time, as if he had nothing else to do in this world!” – Alan R.

Garmin StreetPilot app for iPhone, new features available

Garmin — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:57:22 -0600

We announced the StreetPilot app for iPhone last week at CES, and we're already making it better. We received a lot of feedback from customers during the app's first week on the market, and the tweaks we've made are because we've been listening.

Here's a quick run-down of what you'll see in the new version of the app:

•Improved audio quality: Turn-by-turn voice directions are now clearer and easier to understand

•Increased map storage size: Customers can browse even more maps offline that they've previously downloaded

•Listen to music without interruptions: New setting toggles voice instructions on/off during navigation

•New volume control added to navigation map menu for quick access

•Faster map downloads

Also, one of the most frequent questions we've heard is "Why did Garmin go with off-board maps that are downloaded from a server, and not on-board maps that live on the device?" The benefit of off-board maps are that users have the most up-to-date mapping data available at all times. Many customers appreciate this feature because they're confident that their maps will always be current, regardless of when they downloaded the app from iTunes.