Sep 5 2014
Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd., the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced the 2014 nüvi Advanced Series, combining 5, 6, and 7-inch multi-touch glass displays with premium Garmin navigation.
The 2014 Advanced Series is the first nüvi line that comes with Foursquare venues to help users explore new and popular restaurants, stores and more. Additionally, Direct Access is a new feature that makes it easier to find locations inside of complex destinations, such as malls and airports. To assist drivers on the road, the new navigators offer many advanced navigation features only available from Garmin, including Active Lane Guidance, Garmin Real DirectionsTM, photoReal and Bird’s Eye Junction View.
“With larger, multi-touch glass displays, the addition of Foursquare venues and Direct Access, the new nüvi Advanced Series offers an unparalleled navigation experience on the road,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales. “This new nüvi line combines the benefits of a standalone navigator, such as large displays, preloaded maps and premium navigation features, with crowd-sourced data from Foursquare to help drivers explore new places.”
The 2014 nüvi Advanced Series combines 5, 6, and 7-inch multi-touch glass displays with premium Garmin navigation. (Photo: Business Wire)
The 2014 Advanced Series features glass displays that are very responsive and support pinch to zoom. Larger screens allow users to view more driving-related information at a glance. For example, the map-centric interface presents features such as lane guidance and traffic in split-view windows next to the map. All Advanced Series models come with preloaded HERE Maps and points of interest that don’t rely on cellular reception. Also included are lifetime map updates1 and traffic2 avoidance.
Additionally, the new navigators feature millions of preloaded places from Foursquare to find and explore new and popular businesses, stores, restaurants or other destinations. "With information about tens of millions of places, Foursquare has built a location database based off of all the places where people actually go,” said David Rosenberg, International Business Development Manager at Foursquare. “We use this data to help power our personalized local recommendations and we are excited to partner with Garmin to help people navigate the world around them."
Users can easily search for Foursquare places using Garmin’s signature “Where to?” menu to get directions. Bluetooth-enabled nüvi models can connect to the Smartphone Link app3 to search for specific categories such as best places and trending places nearby. Smartphone Link also provides access to more detailed information from Foursquare, including ratings, price range and hours of service.
Direct Access is a new feature that helps users finds places that are located inside larger buildings or groups of buildings. Users can, for example, easily search for restaurants and stores inside a mall; or terminals, parking, and auto rentals inside an airport. The new navigators automatically guide drivers to the entrance that’s closest to their final destination and indicate where it is located. The nüvi will, for example, say: “American Eagle Outfitters® is inside, on the upper level.”
Only available from Garmin, Real Directions guide drivers in a natural and intuitive way. The feature uses recognizable landmarks, buildings, traffic lights and stop signs to give directions. For example, it tells drivers to “turn right after the Starbucks®” or “turn left at the traffic light.” To make sure drivers never miss a turn, Active Lane Guidance uses a combination of voice prompts and visual cues to prepare users to drive through an exit or interchange with confidence. It displays an animated graphic next to the map view that uses brightly colored arrows to indicate the proper lane needed to make a turn. Up Ahead appears alongside the driving map and constantly informs of nearby services, including restaurants, fuel stations and rest areas. Other navigation features include speed limit warnings, school zone warnings, photoReal and Bird’s Eye Junction View.
Some models include voice-activated navigation and Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free calling. Bluetooth-enabled models are compatible with Garmin Smartphone Link, an app for Android™ and iPhone® that provides live services to the navigator. Among other functionalities, the app lets nüvi users add live services3 to their navigation device, such as traffic camera images and weather, utilizing the smartphone's mobile data plan.
The 2014 nüvi Advanced Series is available now and suggested retail prices range from $199.99 to $349.99.
The 2014 nüvi Advanced Series is the latest from Garmin’s consumer automotive segment, the leading worldwide provider of portable navigation devices for automobiles, motorcycles and trucks. Garmin’s user-friendly navigation solutions have innovative features that provide time- and fuel-saving benefits to meet the demands of everyday driving.