Garmin, one of the largest manufacturers and popular brands of GPS (Global Positioning System) units announced yesterday a product recall that affected a few models in the Garmin Nüvi series. The cause of the recall according to the company were bad batteries that were produced by a specific manufacturer that had the potential to overheat and lead to a fire hazard when used by a certain Gamin Nüvi model with a specific PCB (printed circuit board) design.

This recent product recall involves the following Garmin Nüvi models: 200W, 250W, 260W, 7xx and 7xxT (where xx is a two-digit number) and involves around 1,250,000 million units, 750,000 of which were sold in the United States. According to the company, so far there have only been 10 reported cases of the overheating problem and none have caused any injury or damage and that the product recall is just a precautionary measure. I guess Garmin just wants to make sure that it doesn’t lead to any of that or any lawsuits before they do something about it and fix it.

I bought a Garmin Nüvi 260W early last year so when I found out that the model was involved in this recall, I immediately checked if the unit I had was one of those affected. Fortunately, the one I have isn’t involved in the recall and doesn’t have the defective battery.

If you own a Garmin Nüvi that belongs to any of these models: 200W, 250W, 260W, 7xx and 7xxT, you can check if your unit is affected by visiting this link – nüvi Battery PCB Recall.

Anyone own a Garmin Nüvi GPS device that’s affected by the product recall? Did you have any experiences of it overheating?

This is my new toy, the Garmin nüvi 260W a portable GPS navigation unit for my car.

Previously, whenever I needed directions to a certain place or address I relied on MapQuest or Google Maps to get me there. In most cases, it worked. However, there were times when it gave me the wrong directions — I got lost and/or I missed an exit or street because the directions I had were confusing or outdated so I couldn’t get to where I needed to go and ended up going back home.

Back in the Philippines, its easier to go to or find a place you don’t know as long as you have the address because you can stop anytime and ask for directions. But here in the US, its difficult especially if you’re driving on the freeway because you can’t just stop anywhere and when you do stop and ask for directions, you’ll be lucky if you find someone who actually knows the place or how to get there. Sometimes, the nearest exit, gas station or rest area could be 5 miles away so you’ll have to go that far before you can stop and ask for directions. With that, me and my wife decided that we needed to buy a GPS device for our car.

I searched for a good deal online and saw that Amazon had very good prices for the GPS units, what made it even better was that I had an Amazon Prime account that qualified me for 2-3 day free shipping. We needed a simple GPS unit but I made sure that it had one important feature which is text-to-speech (street names are spoken). So after browsing through the different GPS brands and models, comparing specs and reading all the customer reviews, we decided to buy the Garmin nüvi 260W.

Physical & Performance

• Unit dimensions, WxHxD: 4.8″W x 2.9″H x .8″D (12.2 x 7.4 x 2.0 cm)
• Display size, WxH: 3.81″W x 2.25″H (9.7 x 5.7 cm); 4.3″ diag (10.9 cm)
• Display resolution, WxH: 480 x 272 pixels
• Display type: WQVGA color TFT with white backlight
• Weight: 6.1 ounces (172.93 g)
• Battery: rechargeable lithium-ion
• Battery life: up to 5 hours
• Waterproof: no
• High-sensitivity receiver: yes
• RoHS version available: yes

Maps & Memory

• Basemap: yes
• Preloaded maps: yes
• Ability to add maps: yes
• >Built-in memory: internal solid state
• Accepts data cards: SD™ card (not included)
• Waypoints/favorites/locations: 500
• Routes: 0

Features

• Voice prompts (e.g. “Turn right in 500 ft.”): yes (internal speaker
• Speaks street names (e.g. “Turn right ON ELM STREET in 500 ft.”): yes
• Voice-activated navigation (operate device with spoken commands): no
• Lane assist (guides you to the proper lane for navigation): no
• 3-D building view (displays buildings in 3-D): no
• Auto sort multiple destinations (provides most direct route): no
• Auto re-route (fast off-route and detour recalculation): yes
• Choice of route setup (faster time, shorter distance, off road): yes
• Route avoidance (avoid highways, tolls etc.): yes
• Bluetooth® wireless technology (connect to your phone for hands-free calling): no
• MSN® Direct compatible: no
• FM traffic compatible: no
• XM® Navtraffic & Radio for U.S. compatible: no
• Speed limit indicator (displays speed limit for most major roads): no
• Where Am I? (find closest hospitals, police & gas stations, nearest address & intersection): no
• Garmin Locate™ (marks position when removed from windshield mount): no
• Qwerty or ABC keyboard (choose keyboard layout): no
• Custom POIs (ability to add additional points of interest): yes
• Garmin Garage™ vehicles compatible (download car-shaped icons to your device): yes
• Garmin Garage™ voices compatible (download custom voices to your device): yes
• Photo navigation (navigate to geotagged photos): no
• World travel clock, currency & unit converter, calculator: yes
• Picture viewer: yes
• MP3 player: no
• Audio book player: no
• FM transmitter: no
• Headphone jack/audio line-out: no
• Remote control: no
• Garmin Lock™ (anti-theft feature): yes
• Touchscreen: yes
• Dead reckoning: no
• Motorcycle-friendly: no
• Geocaching-friendly: no
• Additional: This USB mass storage device is compatible with Windows® 2000 or later and Mac® OS X 10.4 or later.

Additional Photos:

One of the first things I did when I got my Garmin nüvi 260W was to register it at myGarmin. After I registered, I found out that I was qualified for a free map update so I updated my unit’s map to the latest version and after that I also downloaded vehicles (skins for the GPS unit vehicle) from the Garmin Garage. Btw, the Garmin nüvi 260W doesn’t come with a USB cable (mini USB) which you’ll need to connect to your computer to register and update your map. It also doesn’t have a carrying case so I bought one, a Garmin carrying case also from Amazon.

I’ve only used the Garmin nüvi 260W a couple of times and only within the same city but so far I’m loving it. It acquires the satellite signal quick, doesn’t take long to reroute and the street names and directions its giving are accurate. The only feature that I wish this model had is the speed limit indicator which is very helpful especially when you’re driving across different states where speed limits vary.

How about you? Do you use any kind of GPS device on your car to give you directions? Or do you use MapQuest or Google Maps and print the directions? If you own a GPS device, what kind is it and whats your experience using it?

HTC fans here in the US, especially those on AT&T have long been waiting for the newer version or successor to the popular AT&T Tilt aka HTC TyTn II. Several days ago, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, HTC announced the release of the HTC Touch Pro2.

HTC Touch Pro 2

Designed for business professionals, the HTC Touch Pro2 is architected with distinct style and strength while delivering the most powerful productivity experience available on a mobile phone. Leveraging HTC’s TouchFLO 3D, people-centric communication and Push Internet technology, the Touch Pro2 features a high-resolution 3.6-inch widescreen VGA display for an expanded viewing area and large finger-friendly QWERTY keyboard. With improved battery life, expandable memory, a touch-sensitive zoom bar as well as gravity, proximity and ambient light sensors, the Touch Pro2 is optimized for touch as well as heavy email use.

Specifications:

• Processor: Qualcomm® MSM7200A™, 528 MHz
• Operating System: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
• Memory: ROM: 512 MB, RAM: 288 MB
• Dimensions: 116 X 59.2 X 17.25 mm (4.57 X 2.33 X 0.68 inches)
• Weight: 175 grams (6.17 ounces) with battery
• Display: 3.6-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen, 480 X 800 WVGA resolution, Adjustable tilt screen
• Network: HSDPA/WCDMA: Europe/Asia: 900/2100 MHz, Up to 2 Mbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds
• Network: Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: Europe/Asia: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, (Band frequency, HSUPA availability, and data speed are operator dependent.)
• Device Control: TouchFLO™ 3D, Zoom bar
• Keyboard: Slide-out 5-row QWERTY keyboard
• GPS: Internal GPS antenna
• Connectivity: Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets, Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g, HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0, audio jack, and TV Out* in one)
• Main camera: 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus
• Second camera: VGA CMOS color camera
• Audio formats: AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, QCP, MP3, WMA, WAV, MIDI, M4A
• Video formats: WMV, ASF, MP4, 3GP, 3G2, M4V, AVI
• Battery: Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery, Capacity: 1500 mAh
• Talk time: Up to 270 minutes for WCDMA, Up to 419 minutes for GSM
• Standby time: Up to 454 hours for WCDMA, Up to 348 hours for GSM
• Video call time: Up to 150 minutes
• Expansion Slot: microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
• AC Adapter: Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz
• DC output: 5V and 1A
• Special Features: FM Radio, G-Sensor

Additional Photos:

The HTC Touch Pro2 is not only an improved version of its predecessor, the HTC Touch Pro but a combination of the TyTN II, Touch Pro and the HTC Touch HD with features like tilting screen, 3.6″ touch screen display and TouchFlo 3D.

With HTC’s Straight Talk technology providing crystal-clear sound quality/voice reception and built-in loudspeaker and dedicated noise-cancelling microphone, the HTC Touch Pro2 can make superior quality conference calls. Another cool feature in the HTC Touch Pro2 is the one that activates speakerphone when the phone is flipped upside down.

The slide-out 5-row QWERTY keyboard looks really nice, the keys are not cramped and are well spaced out, numbers and special characters get their own dedicated keypads which makes it easier to use for sending emails or text messages. The HTC Touch Pro2′s keyboard has a close resemblance to Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X1‘s keyboard, which coincidentally was designed and manufactured by HTC for Sony Ericsson.

The HTC Touch Pro2 will be available in global markets, Europe and Asia by early summer. No word on when it will be available here in the US/North America or which carrier gets it, but hopefully they’ll release it here later this year and hopefully AT&T gets it.

[image source: HTC.com]

A couple days ago, Toshiba officially introduced the Toshiba TG01 smartphone. This mobile internet device looks like something that is geared to compete with the popular Apple iPhone 3G and Android powered G1. The Toshiba TG01 is only 9.9 mm thick but it boasts a 4.1″ WVGA full touch screen display (800 x 480 pixels). It runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 and comes with Internet Explorer Mobile 6 (full support for Flash). The Toshiba TG01 is the first device in the world to run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon platform (1GHz mobile CPU).

Toshiba TG01′s internal memory is only 512 MB but has a microSD card slot that supports up to 32 GB. It has support for DivX videos and unlike other WinMo powered devices, the TG01 doesn’t use RealPlayer as the default multimedia player but instead it uses CorePlayer which is considered the best mobile multimedia player around.

Specifications:

• Windows Mobile 6.1
• 1.0 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD2850
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
• 3G/HSDPA
• Bluetooth 2.0
• 3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels
• GPS/aGPS support
• Accelerometer
• 512MB internal, up to 32GB storage via microSD
• 4.1 inches (480×800 pixels) full touch screen display
• microSD slot

Additional Photos:

Below is the official video released by Toshiba. It gives us a closer look at the Toshiba TG01′s features including the custom 3D GUI and the on-screen keyboard.

The Toshiba TG01 comes in two colors – black and white and as always, our European friends will be the first to get their hands on it this summer. So far no word regarding which operator/carrier gets it or how much it will be sold. I hope they’ll also release it here in the US or North America.

Based on the photos, videos and specifications I can say that I’m very impressed with the Toshiba TG01 except for one thing, the striped custom Toshiba 3D GUI which I think is ugly. But overall, the Toshiba TG01 is a slim and sexy mobile device that packs a punch.

So what do you think of the Toshiba TG01? Is it worthy enough to compete with iPhone 3G or G1?

[via Engadget; video by MegaWhat.tv]

For folks like me who were expecting/hoping for the HTC Touch HD to be released in the US, this device might be a consolation. A few days ago, HTC revealed their latest release, the all new HTC Touch Cruise (09) which is a remake of one of their popular handsets two years ago, a GPS mobile device called the HTC Touch Cruise.

HTC Touch Cruise Specifications:

• Size: 102 x 53.5 x 14.5mm
• Weight: 103 grams
• Connectivity: WCDMA/HSPA: 900/2100MHz. HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
• Operating system: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
• Display: 2.8-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with QVGA resolution
• Control panel: HTC TouchFLO™, 4-Way navigation wheel with Enter and HTC Footprints™ buttons
• Camera: 3.2 MP, with fixed focus
• Internal memory: 512 MB flash ROM, 256 MB RAM
• Expansion Slot: microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
• Bluetooth: 2.0 with EDR
• Wireless: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
• GPS: GPS/A-GPS
• Interface: HTC ExtUSB (mini-USB 2.0 and audio jack in one)
• Battery: 1100 mAh
• Talk time: GSM: up to 400 minutes
• Standby time: GSM: up to two weeks
• Chipset: Qualcomm® MSM7225™, 528 MHz

Additional Photos:

For those of you who haven’t seen the predecessor or the first HTC Touch Cruise, here’s a photo:

The HTC Touch Cruise will be the first mobile phone to make use of the HTC Footprints button. What this application does is it lets users created and send digital postcards that contain images, sound and notes. Like its predecessor, the new Touch Cruise is also an in-car navigation system. All you need to do is place it on the car cradle (included in the package) and the HTC Touch Cruise becomes a touch screen GPS navigation device that provides turn-by-turn directions.

Like the HTC Touch HD, the Touch Cruise (09) features a full touchscreen user interface and doesn’t have a QWERTY keyboard. This might be a turn off for some users especially those who use their mobile devices for sending emails. Other than that, the HTC Touch Cruise (09) looks to be a promising mobile device and is definitely a prettier and better version than its predecessor.

The HTC Touch Cruise is scheduled to be released worldwide this spring. Good news for HTC fans here in the US, an unlocked GSM version will be available with a retail price of around $500-600.

[via BGR]