To provide customers with the best portable navigation experience, Magellan’s latest generation of turn-by-turn, voice-prompted portable vehicle navigation devices are newly designed inside and out to usher in a thin, sleek style with a 4.3” WQVGA full-color, anti-glare touch screen plus refined functionality that’s destined to set a new standard. The Maestro 4000, 4040 and 4050 offer the most simplified, intuitive user interface designed to require minimal key strokes. The clutter-free menu and map screens feature stylish icons and map graphics that are clear, crisp and easy for drivers to see in all lighting, with Menu icons that are prioritized so drivers have faster access to the features they use most.

Offering customers the benefit of Magellan’s superior navigation expertise combined with AAA’s premium content and services is another significant step toward further differentiating Magellan navigation devices and increasing the company’s future success in the fast-growing GPS market.

“The success of personal navigation solutions will continue to grow in 2007, but companies must focus on adding new functionality and valuable content to avoid market commoditization,” says Thilo Koslowski, Vice President and Lead Automotive Analyst at Gartner. “Successful navigation solutions in the future must provide a flawless navigation experience and at the same time offer compelling content and services that provide daily relevance to users.”

“The Magellan Maestro devices are more than reliable tools for drivers, they are the portable car navigation solutions that drivers really want,” said Christian Bubenheim, vice president of product marketing for Magellan. “We’re building on superior utility with a new design and appeal that extends to broader markets. The Maestro series is fast, easy and intuitive. And thanks to the AAA partnership, the Maestro series also makes trip planning and traveling easier, less stressful and possibly more affordable, while also providing unique AAA member benefits.”

AAA TourBook® Travel Information, Roadside Assistance Details, Show Your Card & Save® Locations and More

Drivers gain access to North America’s most trusted source for trip planning information through searchable AAA TourBook® listings, including AAA Diamond Rated Restaurants and Accommodations, Show Your Card & Save® Locations for member discounts, Approved Auto Repair Facilities, Attractions, Events, Campgrounds, Cities and AAA Branch Office locations. The Maestro series also provides AAA member roadside assistance details that show your exact location and provides the AAA member toll-free help number. Bluetooth-enabled Maestro devices will connect the driver’s Bluetooth-enabled cell phone directly to AAA for immediate help when AAA members need it most.

Maestro 4050 – First Voice-Command GPS, Real-Time Traffic, Bluetooth, Advanced Voice Routing and AAA TourBook® Travel Information

Available only in North America this May at US $699.99, the Maestro 4050 delivers the newest advancements in voice recognition capabilities so drivers can control the device and route to their destination using voice commands. It also provides real-time traffic alerts, Bluetooth hands-free phone calling capabilities and advanced voiced routing directions via Magellan’s SayWhere™ text-to-speech function, which audibly announces street names so drivers can be confident in preparing for upcoming maneuvers.

The Maestro 4050 includes a free three-month trial subscription for real-time traffic services with the included Magellan TrafficKit™, the first completely integrated, portable real-time traffic solution with a no-fuss, wire-free design for neat and easy installation. The receiver attaches as a cradle with a simple click to help drivers avoid traffic delays with incident alerts and rerouting.

Ready to use out of the box, the Maestro 4050 is preloaded with full coverage maps of the 50 United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. It also contains AAA TourBook® travel information and member roadside assistance details plus a database of millions of additional points of interest (POI) like ATMs, gas stations and more to help drivers find what they need wherever they are, even in unfamiliar areas. The Maestro 4050’s Bluetooth capabilities make it possible for drivers to be connected to a business from the POI listings with a hands-free phone call once the POI is selected.

Maestro 4040 – Combines AAA TourBook® Travel Information, Bluetooth, Text-to-Speech and Upgrade Options

Available in North America April 1st at just $499.99 US, the Magellan Maestro 4040 features Bluetooth hands-free phone calling functionality with advanced SayWhere™ text-to-speech voiced routing directions. The Maestro 4040 also provides preloaded maps of the 50 United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, AAA TourBook® travel information and member roadside assistance details, plus an expanded POI database containing millions of business and service listings. Upgrade options will allow drivers to add real-time traffic services.

The Maestro 4000 – AAA TourBook® Travel Information, Roadside Assistance Details and More

Available April 1st in North America at US $399.99, the Maestro 4000 provides voice-guided, turn-by-turn directions with preloaded maps of the 48 contiguous United States, AAA TourBook® travel information and member roadside assistance details, plus an additional database of nearly two million points of interest.

All new Maestro 4000 series models feature:

* SiRF Star III GPS chips for fast position fix and reliable satellite acquisition
* Integrated antenna and battery for added portability and cord-free operation in or away from the car
* SmartDetour™ feature to help drivers route around freeway traffic
* QuickSpell® for fast data entry by reducing keystrokes as it checks spelling
* Searchable points of interest (POI) database for finding and routing to businesses and services like gas stations, ATMs, hotels, restaurants, airports and more. Listings include a phone number, address and the travel distance.
* Exit POIs conveniently list gas stations, lodging and restaurants at exits so drivers can plan stops in advance.
* Trip Planning provides multi-destination routing when drivers need to make several stops – up to 20 destinations

Each of the new Maestro products ship with a windshield mount and cradle, a cigarette lighter adapter, protective pouch, A/C power adapter, USB data cable and an adhesive disk for dash mounting. For additional accessories, including cases, pouches and additional mounting options, visit www.magellanGPS.com.

These three new units are expected to start shipping sometime this April with suggested retail prices of $449.99, $599.99 and $799.99

UPDATE: Links no longer work
Maestro 4000, 4040, 4050

Some of the main features include

• A 3.5 inch color touch-screen display
• Dimensions are 12.5 x 8.5 x 2.6 centimeters and weight is 235 grams.
• Voice-and text-prompted turn-by-turn driving directions
• IPX-4 water proof
• Up to 8 hours battery life
• Multiple outdoor navigation screens and fields: compass, altimeter, distance to destination, cross track error (XTE), estimated me of arrival.
• A Sports Guard™ sleeve, for easy gripping and extra protection

It is expected that it will cost less than £300 in the UK (about 550$).
For more information you can read the Press Release or visit its page at Magellan’s site

Magellan Roadmate 6000T has also been announced today along with the Roadmate 3000T and 3050T. The Roadmate 6000T will be the first in the Magellan line of GPS devices that will offer hands-free calling with Bluetooth enabled phones. It will have the same new design and similar features with the 3000T and 3050T like the integrated music player and photo viewer, but in addition to those it will also have a built-in real-time traffic receiver. It will also be able to “speak” the name of the road for upcoming maneuvers using Magellan’s SayWhere(TM) text-to-speech guidance.

The Roadmate 6000T is expected to start shipping in July, no information about pricing yet.

Technorati Tags: Magellan, Roadmate 6000T

Magellan besides the Roadmate 3000T, has also announced another model in the Roadmate series the Magellan Roadmate 3050T. The features of the Roadmate 3050T are similar with those of the 3000T and no major differences are reported in the press release. However, the 3050T will be a little more expensive than the 3000T (50$) since its expected retail price is 649$. Probably because of a bigger harddisk? Just speculating here.
Some of the features include:

3.5 inch color touchscreen
2-D or 3-D bird’s eye view
Preloaded maps of the USA
Music player
Photo viewer
SmartDetour(TM)
QuickSpell(TM)
Optional traffic module

The Magellan Roadmate 3050T is expected to start shipping in June with a price of 649$

Magellan has officially announced the Magellan Roadmate 3000T that we have previously talked about. Not a lot of information have been disclosed at the press release about the specifications of the 3000T and Magellan hasn’t yet created a page at their official website about this product. However our previous report about the Magellan Roadmate 3000T seems to be accurate. So some of the features and specification of this new device include:

3.5″ hi-resolution anti-glare color touchscreen
4GB hard disk
Integrated MP3 Player and Picture Viewer
Preloaded maps (Navteq) of 50 USA states, Canada and Puerto Rico.
3D bird eye and 2D map views
Turn-by-turn visual and voice guidance
Over 6 million POIs
SmartDetour
Auto Re-route
Automatic night view (The displayed map background color switches to night view at sundown)
SmartVolume™, the volume automatically increases at speeds over 45 MPH
QuickSpell (sorts, searches, and checks spelling for rapid address entry with minimal keystrokes, accelerating your data entry by matching letters to the available destinations.)
Optional traffic module

As we have reported in our previous post the Magellan Roadmate 3000T is expected in April with a retail price of 599$.

Press Release

Technorati Tags: Magellan, Roadmate 3000T, GPS

Besides the Magellan Roadmate 3000T that we mentioned in our previous post, Magellan is about to release another new GPS system, the Magellan RoadMate 860T. The design of this new GPS device is basically the same as the Magellan Roadmate 800. Some of the new features compared with previous Roadmate models include Traffic alerts, an integrated mp3 player Magellan SayWhere text-to-speech feature. The Roadmate 860T will have a 3.5″ hi-resolution color touchscreen screen, a 20GB hard disk, SD card slot, turn by turn visual and voice guidance, over 6 million POIs and the user will have the ability of adding extra custom POIs. In addition to all of the above all the standard features of the latest Roadmate series will be available like QuickSpell, SmartDetour, SmartVolume and Night View. The 860T will come preloaded with NAVTEQ maps of fifty USA states, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

The Magellan Roadmate 860T is expected to start shipping in early May with a price of about 800$

Via GPSPassion

Magellan is about to release a new compact automotive GPS System the Magellan Roadmate 3000T. This new GPS device that is pictured on the left has a new design compared with the previous Roadmate models that combines and to be honest I like this new rounded design. The 3000T has a 3.5″ hi-resolution anti-glare color touchscreen, 4GB hard disk with SD card capability for additional user storage, integrated MP3 Player and Picture Viewer. Some of the other features include:

Preloaded maps (Navteq) of 50 USA states, Canada and Puerto Rico.
3D bird eye and 2D map views
Turn-by-turn visual and voice guidance
Over 6 million POIs
SmartDetour
Auto Re-route
Automatic night view (The displayed map background color switches to night view at sundown)
SmartVolume™, the volume automatically increases at speeds over 45 MPH
QuickSpell (sorts, searches, and checks spelling for rapid address entry with minimal keystrokes, accelerating your data entry by matching letters to the available destinations.)
Optional traffic module

The Roadmate 3000T is expected to start shipping in late April with a price of 600$

Via GPSPassion

GPSInformation has reviewed the Magellan Roadmate 800 and report:

Overall this is a good autorouting product and provides an easy to use navigation screen with good attention to user interface features. The guidance was good but added extra messages that could get you in trouble. I found the autorouter was fast and it did a pretty good job most of the time.

The GPS was very sensitive and locked quickly. The included mp3 player was disappointing in that it could not be used while navigating.

Via GPSInformation

Technorati Tags: Magellan, Roadmate 800, GPS, Review

Technology Evangelist has reviewed the Magellan Roadmate 800 and reports:

Violet’s (Roadmate’s 800)improvements on the basic 700 platform are amazing. I have now sold my Victoria (Roadmate) 760 to a friend, and she will continue to be loved by others. But Violet (the Roadmate 800) is simply amazing. Trust me, if you travel in unknown cities in USA, Canada and even Europe (with a map upgrade) get your own Magellan Roadmate 800, your own Violet.

Technorati Tags: gps, magellan, roadmate, 800, review