Give the Gift of Time

'Tis the season to give. And what's the one thing everyone wants? If you guessed "time" then you're on the same page as this blogger. We don't have a GPS device that can turn back the clock, but we do have several that will help you save minutes by routing you around traffic. NPR recently reviewed a nüvi 1390T with lifetime free traffic and compared it to a smartphone navigation app. According to them, "Friday night I was driving home from the airport. Before I even realized there was a traffic jam ahead, Garmin adjusted the route and suggested I stay to the left and take a different freeway. A minute later I saw that my normal route was totally backed up. This was an impressive time saver, and completely automatic. It excels compared to Google Nav..."

When you're looking at our automotive product line, make sure you consider products with a "T" (that stands for traffic), such as the nüvi 1260T, 1350T or 1490T. Each of these nüvis come with free, lifetime traffic with no monthly fees or maintenance costs. Traffic coverage is available in most major cities and this coverage map will show you if your stomping grounds are covered.

Garmin Forerunner "has taken my running to a different level"

This note landed in our inbox last month. We waited to publish it because we had a good feeling about Gary, who shared the story of his steady improvement and credited his Garmin Forerunner. Here's his note, with an update at the end.

I just started running in this spring. I ran one marathon in 2007 but did not know what I was doing. My friend suggested that I buy a Garmin Forerunner 205. I got one in April. I tacked on 900 hundred miles on the watch before I started having problems with it. I sent it back to Garmin and they sent me a new one 2 weeks before the Steamtown Marathon. I got the new watch 5 days before Steamtown, it worked awesome. It has worked awesome every since. I ran a 3:32:19 for Steamtown. It was a PR by 57 minutes. Amazing. I missed Boston by 12 minutes but on Sept 13, I qualified for NYC Marathon. I am doing Harrisburg Marathon on November 8th. I am going to see if I can make my goal time and PR again.

I really want to thank Garmin for giving me a new watch. It helped me mentally. I love my watch. It has taken my running to a different level. I was lost without it. I keep a blog of my running at sweat365.com. My name is Brooksrunner. Thanks again, Garmin

UPDATE: We kept an eye out for Gary at the Harrisburg Marathon, and we were thrilled with his results. You can read his in-depth race report, but we'll spoil the ending by saying that Gary's training with his Forerunner paid off with a new personal-best of 3:20:29 and a spot in the Boston Marathon. Congratulations, Gary, stop by our booth in April and say Hi!

Peg’s Posts: Explore more.

Signs of my addiction: Packing for a long weekend getaway to Phoenix, the first items to go in the suitcase are my running shoes, shorts, running shirts, socks and water bottles (for cycling and running). Not to mention three Forerunners and a nüvi. Now I’m set for a relaxing vacation. My husband has finally come to terms with my addiction and knows that when it’s just the two of us on vacation, we’re going somewhere warm and recreation-friendly. And by recreation, I don’t mean go-carts or golf carts (no offense to Caddy Carl), though we were surrounded by plenty of lush courses during our stay in Scottsdale. I prefer recreation that requires "me" power — biking, hiking, running. My husband picked the perfect place for us to stay in Scottsdale. We were less than a mile from a multi-use trail, which was ideal for some morning runs and even a short bike ride.

nüvi 1690: One of My Favorite Things

For the die hard Black Friday shoppers, this weekend is all about scouring the web and making a game plan for where they'll be at o' dark-thirty the day after Thanksgiving. Savvy consumers know they should also cross reference the ads with product reviews so that they're sure to get the biggest bang for the buck.

GPStracklog.com recently posted a review of the nüvi 1690 and according to them, "They (Garmin) is the first manufacturer to get the connected personal navigation device model right, giving two years of free service and then keeping it to a low $5 per month.This replaces the 765T as my favorite model in the nuvi lineup. Like all nuvis, it's intuitive and a joy to use. And having access to Google Local Search is a definite plus."

Read the full review here and visit our minisite for a full 1690 product demo.

Jake's Journal: Custom Maps another reminder to keep software updated

A lot of people ask me for freebies. Here you go: Go get your Garmin. Update the software right now. You're at a computer - unless you're reading this on your phone, in which case I'll try to keep it short - so you don't have any excuses. Even if you just bought your Garmin yesterday, had it for years or will be opening it a month from now, our engineers may have been working on new software while it sat on a shelf, in your house or under the tree. Updating your software through my.Garmin.com is free, it's fast, it's easy and it makes your Garmin even better than before without costing a dime. And with as much as our engineers are able to pack into a software update, it should really be called a product upgrade. 

Take, for example, this week's news about Custom Maps. Simply by updating the software on your Garmin Oregon, Dakota or Colorado and following a few simple steps, you can now transform existing paper and digital maps into downloadable content to overlay onto your device. Visit garmin.com/CustomMaps to learn more about this process that maximizes the potential of your product. To get an idea of the other aspects that can be added or improved upon through software updates, check out the newest post at GPSFix.com. While it focuses on Custom Maps, the entry also rattles off the other new benefits of the latest software updates. And it's not just outdoor handhelds that show how great products can be made even better. My fellow bloggers Carl and Peg have shown how recent software updates can improve the Approach G5 golf GPS or the Forerunner family of fitness watches. And many of these improvements are based on customer feedback, so whether you're talking to clerks at a retail store, my colleagues at a trade show or me during a race (that's how I passed a couple miles of the Chicago Marathon last month), your feedback is being heard. But enough from me, you're supposed to be updating your software. You can thank me later.

Cyclists around the world ride faster, farther with Garmin Edge 705

Time to check in with cyclists across the globe who are relying on Garmin's Edge 705 to get the most out of their training, touring and racing. While Team Garmin-Slipstream enjoys a brief offseason, American sprinting sensation Tyler Farrar just wrapped up a meet-and-greet at Cycle University in West Seattle, near his hometown of Wenatchee. We'll be announcing another chance for fans to meet Tyler, so stay tuned. Many of Tyler's fans are in the Washington State Bicycle Association, and we had a chance to sponsor more great cycling through the WSBA's Garmin Series for CAT4 women. "I was this year’s winner for the 2009 Garmin Series," wrote Jennifer Hamilton, pictured at left, "and I believe that because of your generous sponsorship, it helped to get more women out racing more often this year. I'm proof of that, I ended up racing a total of 30 races this year. The Garmin 705 is a wonderful new addition to my cycling gear and I’m amazed at all of the features it has. Thank you again for your investment to our women's racing community. It's because of you that the WSBA can continue to develop and support new bike racers and improve the quality of women’s bike racing in the Pacific Northwest." Congratulations, Jennifer, and thanks for sharing the highlights video from the races!

Garmin's work with women's cycling obviously goes far beyond Washington, as our technology is on the handlebars of the world's best in mountain biking. German cross-country cyclist Sabine Spitz, the 2008 gold medalist in Beijing and 2009 world champion, has been busy with her Edge 705. Sabine, pictured above right, tracks her training on Garmin Connect and shares her data on Twitter. But don't think that Edge 705 is just for racing. Our friends Mollie and Geraldine at BikesandBiscuits.com and Conde Nast Traveler used their 705's mapping and navigation features to plan an awe-inspiring two-month bike tour of the south, fueled by curiosity and motivated by culinary delicacies. Read their blog, and join us in envying their adventures.

Wish List Wednesday: Best Gifts for Pilots

There are only five weeks left until Christmas and if you haven't begun your shopping yet, it's time to start. Don't panic. We're here to help. Every Wednesday between now and December 25, we'll give you a few ideas for those you love who need a sense of direction -- pilots, boaters, runners, cyclists, golfers, hikers, drivers, geocachers, cell phone users, and hunters, just to name a few. This week we're focusing on those who have caught the flying bug.

If you're looking for the ultimate aviation gift for under the tree, now is the time to upgrade your favorite pilot's airplane avionics. Every pilot would be thrilled with a new G600 all-glass retrofit flight deck or the GTS 800 traffic receiver. Since we have a rebate on these and other products of up to $7000, you can give this ultimate gift without breaking Santa's bank. 

If the pilot in your life already has a fully equipped plane, we recommend our newest touchscreen handheld, the aera, which will take pilots from the plane to the car. The aera 560 is our top of the line model and it has advanced features like XM WX satellite weather, SafeTaxi, AOPA Airport Directory, street mapping with turn-by-turn voice prompted directions and traffic support in automotive mode. Watch the video to learn more. If you want a bigger screen than the aera, check out the 696, which also has a rebate between now and the end of the year. 

Santa never forgets stocking stuffers, and neither should you. All good flights  (even those with a sleigh and reindeer) begin with good planning and training. Make sure you don't forget to add Pilot My-Cast by Garmin and eLearning to your list. Pilot My-Cast lets pilots check the weather and file a flight plan directly from their cell phone. It's currently available with all major carriers and with the most popular phones, including the BlackBerry. It'll also be available on the iPhone before the holidays. Watch this Pilot My-Cast video to learn more. eLearning is an online, highly interactive training program that will help the pilot in your life make the most of their Garmin aviation equipment. Here's a video with more details.

If you want to see any of these products in person, you can always visit our Chicago Store or any Garmin aviation dealer.

Garmin Makes Custom Maps Free and Easy

It's free, it's easy and it lets you get even more out of your Garmin handheld. Custom Maps, a free, simple process compatible with Mac and PC, can transform the maps you currently have – in paper or digital form – into downloadable maps for your Oregon, Dakota or Colorado handheld.

“Free Custom Maps can be used by anyone wanting to bring their favorite locations to life,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “Potential users include new students on college campuses, experienced hunters on game areas, and the millions of visitors to zoos, amusement parks and botanical gardens.”

Through a few easy steps, Garmin’s Custom Maps can bring the details, labels and landmarks on a user’s existing paper or electronic map to a compatible Garmin handheld.

Give-a-Garmin holiday ads unveiled as Nutcrackers come to life

What happens to the toys when the shopkeeper leaves for the day? Now we know. One of Garmin's two new holiday commercials follows an outgoing Nutcracker set on going out. After a long day manning his post at the store, this lovable character with a huge head and even bigger personality uses his nüvi to navigate nightlife. But before this model of mobility could venture out into the world, he had to take shape in Santa's workshop - which for a few weeks outsourced some work to Garmin headquarters. In addition to creating the look and feel of all of Garmin's amazing GPS products, our design engineers were responsible for crafting the statues currently standing guard in Chicago at Garmin's only retail outlet on Michigan Ave. The Nutcrackers at the Garmin Store represent our various product lines - fitness, marine, aviation, outdoors, mobile and automotive - and they serve as reminders that there's a Garmin for everyone on your gift list. Our second holiday ad also displays the diversity in Garmin's product line, tracking the adventures of a knight to remember, a multi-sport leprechaun, a camera-friendly Yeti, a swingin Scot and a squirrel. Enjoy, and be sure to stop back often for gift ideas and interviews with this colorful cast.

Top-of-the-line MFDs, AIS 600 and more introduced at METS

METS - the world's largest exhibition of equipment, materials, and systems for the international marine leisure industry, kicks off tomorrow in Amsterdam, and our Garmin colleagues across the pond are going to be busy showing off tons of new Garmin marine equipment. First up, we just announced our new GPSMAP 6000 and 7000 series MFDs for the sport fishing and cruising yacht markets. These new top-of-the-line network chartplotters feature the smoothest, most detail-rich displays in Garmin's chartplotter lineup, and with Garmin's new G Motion™ technology, map panning and zooming has never been so smooth and seamless! Both touchscreen (7000 series) and traditional soft-key (6000 series) displays ranging from 8-15 inches will be available, and all units offer "plug-and-play" access to on-board sensors with NMEA 2000 and Garmin Marine Network connectivity. For a closer look these stunning displays, check out the online demo.

Garmin also announced the AIS 600, the company's first AIS transceiver for vessel tracking and collision avoidance. The AIS 600 features an active splitter that eliminates the need for two VHF antennas and also offers Garmin's new ClearTrack™ technology that ensures seamless interaction between the VHF and AIS. Garmin is proud to be the first manufacturer to bring this unique technology to the AIS market.

In addition to these new product announcements, Garmin is also excited to be a nominee for the METS DAME design award in the marine electronics category for the GPSMAP 620 - a rugged full-featured marine chartplotter that pulls double duty with an automotive mode that's ready to go as soon as you reach the shore.