Garmin’s 2011 lineup includes the GPS maker’s first track-anything device. With the GTU 10, you can track a child, pet, car, boat, etc.
The device is small (3 by 1.5 inches) and waterproof, with a rechargeable battery. You can query its location from a smartphone or computer. It gives you almost a week in battery life in “basic mode” and up to a month if used in “geofence” mode.
Garmin already offers a dog tracking collar, but the GTU 10 is its first device to track just about anything or anyone.
The GTU 10 ships in Q1 at $199.99 with a year of free tracking. The service fee then goes up to $49.99 per year. There’s an app that works with the tracker on both Android and Apple smartphones to let you see the device’s location.
Garmin is also offering its first GPS app for the iPhone. The new StreetPilot app essentially converts your phone to a portable GPS device with nearly the same user interface as a nuvi PND. Users get full featured turn by turn navigation, traffic and Google Local search plus other features including weather updates. The app went live on the iTunes App Store on Tuesday at a one time fee of $39.99.
At CES, Garmin announced it is shipping this month new 5-inch portable navigation devices (PNDs). A nuvi 2400 series will offer voice activation, hands free calling, and street name guidance plus maps of the U.S., Canada and Mexico starting at $249 for the nuvi 2450. The step up model adds lifetime traffic at about $279. And a separate model gives you lifetime map updates at about $299. Then a nuvi 2460 combines lifetime traffic and map updates at $310.
Also new is a dezl 560T truck PND that helps truckers track mileage and log hours of service to a computer. Its routing engine takes into account road restrictions for trucks and gives you free lifetime traffic alerts in most major cities.
Garmin Source: Garmin