Personal fitness GPS products could be a possible growth market for struggling PND companies. A new report from ABI Research is forecasting that the personal fitness GPS market could soon surpass 10 million units. Products such as the Garmin Forerunner 610 have helped its Outdoor and Fitness division deliver 27% of the company’s operating income last year, ABI said, and that growth continued into 2011 when the company recorded a 25% increase in fitness sales during the second quarter. “Garmin rema...

On Tuesday Garmin announced that Navigon’s shareholders have signed an agreement for a Garmin subsidiary to purchase Germany-based Navigon. “This acquisition is a great complement to Garmin’s existing automotive and mobile business. Navigon has invested significantly in the European automotive OEM business, and we feel that we can rapidly expand our automotive OEM footprint and capabilities through this transaction,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO. “With Navigon, we are also acq...

Today, via a barrage of press releases, navigation company Garmin announced its nüvi 2400 series of personal GPS devices and its first iPhone navigation application, StreetPilot.The 2400 series of personal navigation devices will come in four different models and offer a variety of features, including live-traffic updating, hands-free calling, voice activated navigation, and lifetime map updates. All four models will feature a 5-inch display, include Bluetooth connectivity, and boast several new software...

Hot on the heels of the public break-up between GPS giant Garmin and handset maker ASUS, the navigation company has announced that it will still work with the Taiwanese handset providing its GPS software and some location-based service applications on select ASUS, Android handsets. The exact verbiage of the statement looks like this:ASUS will design and manufacture new models of ASUS-branded mobile phones, some of which will include preloaded Garmin navigation and Location Based Service (LBS) applications. ...

Asustek confirmed Monday that the Garmin-ASUS joint venture it entered into with GPS giant Garmin two years ago will end early next year. The confirmation comes following last week’s report that the unsuccessful venture would come to an end when the companies’ deal expires in January 2011. With the popularity of navigation apps for smartphones exploding over the past few years, the joint venture seemingly started as an experiment that posed a single question: are consumers interested in a product ...

In an interview with Reuters, Garmin CFO Kevin Rauckman was fairly candid when speaking about his company’s foray into the smartphone market place. “We’re pragmatic. If we end up ultimately not successful with units … we’ll have to sit back and evaluate that and consider making the best decision for our business,” said the CFO. Rauckman continued, “We’ll have to make decisions within the next couple of quarters — whether we continue to invest or whether we...

Just a quick PSA: Garmin has just announced that they are voluntarily recalling 1.25 million nüvi navigation units due to the possibility of faulty batteries. A press release explains that some devices, with a specific printed circuit board design, could contain defective third-party batteries that, “in rare circumstances, increase the possibility of overheating, which may lead to a fire hazard.” The nüvi models affected include those with the model numbers 200W, 250W, 260W, 7xx and 7xxT. If...

T-Mobile has cut the price of the Garminfone by $70, lowering the handset to $129.99 with a two year agreement. This price cut comes hot on the heels of a series of contradictory rumors regarding the demand for the GPS-centric device. Earlier this week, analyst Yair Reiner calculated that T-Mobile has sold a paltry 20,000 Garminfones since the phone launched in June. Asustek refuted that number with a claim that the handset was shipping as expected and consumer demand was positive. Until actual sales figures ...

Anyone looking for a device that’s as much a sat-nav superstar as it is a capable smartphone might want to mosey on over to T-Mobile, as the Garmin-ASUS Garminfone is now available. Running Android 1.6 with a 3 megapixel camera and AWS 3G, the Garminfone really comes into its own with its GPS capabilities which include just about everything you’d get in a top of the dedicated GPS unit for your car. A 2-year stint with T-Mobile will let you get the Garminfone for $199.99 after a $50 MIR, but if c...

Good news for everyone who has been waiting on a launch date for the T-Mobile Garminfone, as today it was announced that the GPS-centric and Android-powered smartphone will be available starting June 9th. Priced at $199.99 after a $50 MIR on a 2-year contract, the Garminfone isn’t exactly cheap  for a phone that offers a 3.5″ display, 3 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and HSDPA to the table, but let’s be real here — the Garminfone is all about its amazing GPS and navigational ...

T-Mobile has announced pricing for the Android-GPS-phone hybrid, which we all know as the Garminfone. A quick recap of the GPSmartphone: 3G, Wi-Fi, 3 megapixel camera with autfocus and digital zoom, Bluetooth 2.1, and a Garmin-specific interface. All you Magenta loving, Android preferring, navigationally-challenged, freaks can head on over to T-Mo’s Garminfone splash-page and sign up to be alerted the moment the hardware will hit the streets. The Garminfone will set you back $199 on a two-year contract ...

Any smartphone worth a darn has GPS capabilities, but some are more adept at finding their way than others. After getting a reputation for a company that takes it sweet-ass time launching a handset, Garmin-ASUS today announced two new handsets in the nüvifone A50 and nüvifone M10. First up is the A50. An Android device with a 3.5″ HVGA touchscreen display, 3 megapixel camera, HSDPA connectivity, 4GB of internal memory and accelerometer, the A50 is said to be one heck of a pathfinder thanks in part to ...

TmoNews is reporting on three hot new handsets that are rumored to be hitting T-Mobile in this first quarter of 2010. One handset is the HTC HD2 which was made official at CES. The second is an unknown handset from Garmin that was spotted recently at the FCC showing off its AWS band and is rumored to be launching in May. Last but not least is a handset identified as the myTouch2, also referred to as the myTouch Slide and codenamed the Espresso. Android fans will recognize that last codename has been making th...

You know your proprietary mobile OS isn’t all that great when we go ahead and say: thank heavens for Windows Mobile. Garmin/ASUS have announced that their M20 “GPS that can make phone calls” will now ship with Windows Mobile 6.5, and “all” current M20 owners are eligible for the free upgrade. Sweet. The two companies claim 6.5 will be available in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech, Turkey and elsewhere on the M20 by the close ...