Android will have a great 2009. A bunch of manufacturers and carriers have manifested their intention of launching at least one Android powered handset next year. But then again we were expecting various Android cell phones this year and it was only T-Mobile and HTC to deliver one. Just one, the G1.

Garmin joins the list of manufacturers announcing Android phones. That’s plural! Phones! The company has reported a 50% increase in holiday sales compared to 2007. That’s not the reason for them announcing that they will launch multiple Android phones in the second half of 2009, but it’s good to know Garmin has the money to back all those fancy announcements. In other new news, the Nuvifone is going to arrive in Q2 next year. After that Garmin should unleash all that Android fury!

via GPS tracklog

On top of the recently launched GPSMap 640 for road and sea, there are two new models from Garmin: GPSMap 695 and 696. The two new GPS systems can already be bought and have a price tag of $2,700 and $3,300.

Both systems have a 7-inch screen that can be read even on the sunlight, which means that you can easily use it during the sunny days or on the dark nights.

Garmin GPSMap 696

Considered the flagship GPS system for aviation, it boasts XM radio and XM WS Satellite Weather that only works on the US. This functionality is able to provide plenty of weather information related to aviation, such as terminal aerodrome forecasts, temporary flight restrictions, lightnings, winds, turbulence, and other details.

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With all the hype going to the newly released iPhone 3G, news and development of other mobile (and more useful) devices have been overshadowed. Garmin quietly released two new nuvi models with preloaded maps of Mexico. This is perfect for those who wants to have their vacations down south.

The Garmin nuvi 200 Mexico includes pre-loaded maps of the lower 48 states, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Mexico, but does not include a text-to-speech function while the Garmin nuvi 260W Mexico includes everything plus a text-to-speech function.

Units sold in the U.S. are bi-lingual so, you don’t have to worry about translations and misunderstandings. The Mexican maps use NAVTEQ data, and are the same ones that you find with City Navigator Mexico NT, which have around 12,000 points of interest.

via: gpstracking

A GPS that does it all? Well the new Garmin Nuvi 500 is a decent candidate. No matter if you are traveling or just enjoying a relaxing walk in the park, the Nuvi 500 will deliver what’s expected of a GPS device. It has routing capabilities, improved mapping and water proof hardware to brag about. (more…)

Garmin’s first entrant into the cell phone world was caught showing off its wares in Singapore during CommunicAsia, and I can’t help but like that really slick interface! Being a navigator first and a cell phone next, the Nuvifone focuses more on GPS and other GPS-oriented applications, but the big non-multitouch 3.5-inch screen should be perfect for browsing and video watching too. There’s no information on whether it will have some kind of an operating system running but let’s hope it does, or it won’t have a good chance to compete against the other big guns and their touchscreen phones.