PDD Briefs

By Staff On Aug 4 2008 - 6:00am

Garmin Plans Multiuse PND

OLATHE, Kan. — Garmin will ship its first multiuse personal navigation device (PND), which can be in driving, cycling, boating or walking modes.

Garmin joins Magellan among the top three PND makers by market share to offer multiuse PNDs. TomTom, also in the top three, does not.

The $499-suggested Nuvi 500, due in August, is based on the Nuvi 205 or 255 models but ships preloaded with street maps and topography maps of the continental United States, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. It also includes street maps for Canada, and users can load optional cartography maps for marine use and fishing.

The device features soft icons on the top of the screen to switch between usage modes. It also lets users import geo-coded pictures from Google Maps and navigate to those locations.

The Nuvi 500 may be used with optional traffic receivers from Clear Channel or MSN Direct.

Verizon Adds VoIP-PTT Phones

Basking Ridge, N.J. — Verizon Wireless announced a pair of phones that incorporate Motorola's EV-DO Rev.A push-to-talk (PTT) technology.

The first phone is the Motorola-made military-spec phone, the V750, available at $99.99 with two-year contract after $50 mail-in rebate. It meets the military's specs for shock, vibration, dust, solar radiation, high- and low-temperature operation and altitude. The clamshell model has a 2.2-inch internal display and 1.6-inch external display, and such features and services as turn-by-turn directions, stereo Bluetooth, external music keys, music downloading, video streaming, 2-megapixel camera and microSD slot.

The other phone is called the Boulder, but details and availability weren't provided at press time.

Sprint Nextel has rolled out a Rev. A-based PTT service using Qualcomm's QChat technology.