The Official Tiger GPS Blog

Wire reports today announce that Garmin has purchased Nautamatic Marine Systems, Inc., manufacturer of the TR-1 Gold and Gladiator marine autopilots.  This is one of the last frontiers for Garmin, as they can now add autopilots to existing GPS, sonar, radar, and satellite weather offerings.  What worries me is that this comes on the heels of BlueChart g2 Vision, which includes "Auto Guidance" that searches chart contents to suggest the safest known charted route for navigation.  So within the next year or two, Garmin marine systems will be able to plot out your course with the g2 Vision chart AND actually drive it with the autopilot - the day of the electronic skipper is nigh...

Posted by Le Tigre at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Magellan has announced their latest addition to the automotive GPS market:  the Maestro series.  These thin units feature 4.3" diagonal screens and have a built-in POI database with information from AAA.  As a AAA customer, I'm actually disappointed that non-members now get to have the same info we get from their Travel Books; as a consumer, however, I'm excited that this is now available built-in on a unit.  Magellan is finally creating a unit to rival the Garmin nuvi 660 in the Maestro 4040; even better, the Maestro 4050 is the first after-market GPS system with VOICE RECOGNITION!  You'll now be able to speak commands to your unit - the next big technological step in the industry.

I can see it now:

Me:  GPS, take me to 360 Franklin Street

GPS:  Turn left in 300 feet on Franklin Street.

Me:  That's not Franklin, and you took me down a dead-end road!

GPS:  That must be attributable to human error.

***GPS empties the car of oxygen.***

Posted by Le Tigre at 02:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)