Garmin today announced the nuLink! 1695 — a 5-inch touchscreen portable navigation device (PND) that connects drivers with relevant, online information from Garmin's nuLink! service, including links to online information like Google Local Search, traffic, weather, fuel prices, flight status, and other real-time, location-relevant content, plus it uses nuRoute technology with trafficTrends and myTrends to make your daily commute easier than ever. The U.S. version of the nuLink! 1695 comes with one year of free Garmin nuLink! services out-of-the-box, and is also the first device to offer the nuLink! Store where customers can purchase optional premium services.
The nuLink! 1695 has a comprehensive set of points of interest (POIs) search capabilities thanks to nuLink!'s Google Local Search and white page telephone listings. Google Local Search brings online POIs to customers' fingertips and lets them search for destinations by name or key words just like they are accustomed to doing on their personal computer. Detailed search results are displayed for many POIs, including a location description, business address, phone number and popularity rating. Customers can also use the nuLink!'s white page telephone listing feature to search for a person's street address by their first and last name or phone number.
In addition to the local search capabilities, Garmin nuLink! offers a plethora of other online services that will help you travel like a local. Convenient services like local events and movie listings help customers find interesting activities wherever they might travel. Real-time flight status takes the stress out of traveling to the airport with up-to-the minute arrival and departure information for major air carriers. Plus, the Garmin nuLink! traffic feature provides the best-in-class information from NAVTEQ, a world leader in premium-quality mapping, to help customers navigate in and around congestion. In addition to the standard included services, the nuLink! 1695 offers the nuLink! Store where customers can purchase optional premium services that offer information like real-time advanced weather with Nexrad radar and severe weather alerts, and premium safety camera alerts.
With nuLink! 1695 customers will receive efficient routing and realistic arrival times with trafficTrends, which recommends routes using historical data and recurring trends that Garmin has collected about traffic in your area at any given time of day. And making your commute easier than ever, the nuLink! 1695 remembers your frequent favorite destinations and uses myTrends to predict your destination without you needing to activate a route, displaying your arrival time and best route based on relevant traffic information. In addition, the nuLink! 1695 includes lane assist with junction view so drivers will see a realistic presentation of road signs and junctions along the route, as well as arrows that indicate the proper lane for navigation where available.
The nuLink! 1695 comes standard with ecoRoute, an innovative application that helps customers stretch their dollars and conserve fuel by creating routes that are optimized for using less fuel. When a user selects the “less fuel” option, the 1695 will determine a fuel efficient route based on fuel consumption rates, estimated driving speeds and vehicle acceleration data. Customers can then develop better driving habits by reviewing the results of ecoRoute's Fuel Report and Mileage Report. When used in combination with nuLink!'s fuel prices, customers can not only optimize their routes but also can choose their refueling locations in order to minimize the cost of vehicle operation.
The nuLink! 1695 also has Bluetooth® Wireless Technology that makes it possible to receive and place phone calls directly from the device. It can be paired with over 200 Bluetooth enabled phones, and a driver can retrieve and dial numbers using a supported phone's contact list, the phone's call history log, or the nuLink! 1695's preloaded points of interest database.
The U.S. version of the nuLink! 1695 has preloaded maps of North America and is expected to be available in September 2010 for a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $449.99. In the U.S., the first year of Garmin nuLink! is free, and after that, the subscription renewal price for data services is $5.00/month. Fuel prices in the U.S. are updated daily.
