Garmin is introducing a new series of handheld GPS units for outdoor lovers which matches a touchscreen with rugged design. It is called the Oregon series and pricing will range from around $480 to $640, depending upon the model.

Garmin said these new outdoor mapping handhelds are waterproof and sport “a high-resolution, color 3-inch screen that reacts as users tap or drag through menus and options.” They all make use of a “HotFix” feature for calculating and storing satellite information for later pinpointing a position without waiting for new satellite interaction. Each of the models is detailed a little after the jump and all will be available later this year.

For you hunters out there needing to track Fido in the field to make sure he isn’t eating your dead duck, Garmin has a new GPS collar to add to its Astro GPS Dog tracking system. It is called the Garmin DC 30, and you’ll find it pricing standalone around $200 or as part of a complete kit with GPS receiver at around $650.

The Garmin DC 30 is mainly designed for hunting dogs, but you could probably tag this bad boy on your pooch to track him around the dog park as well. It is “weighted to sit below the dog’s neck, while a small, low-profile GPS antenna is integrated into the collar strap and positioned on top of the dog’s neck, providing a clear view of satellites with minimal rotation.”

Garmin is out today with word of a new GPS system targeted at pilots. It is known as the Garmin GPSMAP 495 and pricing is set at around $1,595.

The Garmin GPSMAP 495 is designed to help get pilots the information they need to flight safely from start to finish. The unit incorporates a high resolution terrain database and offers options like “terrain and obstacle alerting, pop-up alerts, and customizable minimum clearance limits that give audible terrain alerts at specified altitudes.”

It really sucks when you get lost and it’s even worse if you happen to have a wife or significant other in the car at the time to tell you that you should have stopped for directions. The easy way to avoid this is to get a navigation unit, but for some the thought of cluttering up their car with a navigation unit is unbearable. Kenwood’s new products that feature built-in navigation in-dash may be just the ticket.

Garmin and Kenwood announced today that they were extending their relationship. Gamin will be the exclusive navigation supplier for Kenwood’s new 2008 line of in-dash automotive electronics. Garmin and Kenwood also say that they will work together on advertising for the new Kenwood products featuring Garmin navigation.

Garmin grew its family of nuvi GPS navigators by four today as it introduced the 2×5 models. These models – the nuvi 255, 255w, 205 and 205W – are considered entry level models by Garmin and part of its nuvi 200 series.

Garmin’s new 2×5 nuvis offer up, according to Garmin, “improved mapping and routing features, faster satellite acquisition, navigation by photos, FM traffic updates or dynamic content from MSN Direct.” They make use of 4.3-inch or 3.5-inch touchscreen displays with a new shaded elevation map display and include support for download of one’s choice of millions of geo-located photos from Google for use as a more visual navigation guide.

Today in an unexpected announcement Garmin, makers of all types of GPS devices, threw their hat into the cell phone market ring with the Garmin nuvifone. The nuvifone’s cornerstone is still as a GPS device but it is also a full-on GSM HDSPA smartphone with a large 3.5-inch touchscreen and modes for calling, searching and viewing maps. It even sports an internet browser with Google local search built in.

Like other Garmin GPS devices the nuvifone carries pre-loaded maps of North America or Europe, a media player, millions of points of interest and voice promted turn-by-turn directions. But with this one there is much more. Ever forget where you parked your car in the parking lot? When you take the nuvifone out of its mount it will take note of where its at and help you find it later.

A “Where am I?” feature gives you quick access to the nearest address, intersection, closest hospital or just your latitude and longitude coordinates whenever you need it. Hey, you never know when you’ll need them to properly set up your telescope. A built in camera comes standard and of course it will geo-tag your photos, and Garmin Online brings real-time traffic, stock info, sports action and news right to the device. And of course don’t forget email, text and instant messaging.

Garmin has a new exercise gadget debuting at CES this year called the Forerunner 405, designed for runners to aid in training and track routes. The new 405 is also a little more stylish than previous models with similar functionality, keeping the size to a minimum so the gadget doesn’t look like such a gaudy chunk of electronics on your wrist.

The Forerunner 405 is GPS enabled and allows outdoor runners to keep track of their speed, distance, heart rate and location through the watch. This model also features a cool new bezel around the display that lets users navigate and change settings on the watch by simply tapping it and sliding their finger around the metal circle.

Garmin is showcasing at CES the new flagship for its popular line of nüvi GPS devices. This model is known as the Garmin nüvi 880 and it is set to price at around $1,070.

The Garmin nüvi 880 has a long list of features to make even the most picky GPS users happy. To start off, advanced speech recognition technology, communicated to the 880 through a push-to-talk wireless remote, lets you activate a variety of voice commands which correspond to most common tasks on the unit. The Garmin nüvi 880 also draws upon the MSN Direct network to provide a variety of on-demand information points, including traffic, fuel prices, movie listings and news/stocks.

Sure it’s nice to be able to get the same functionality of your electronic gadgets into a smaller package, but smaller isn’t always better for everything. Having a pocket-sized GPS mounted to your dash can sometimes be like an eye chart test for finding destinations and points of interesting while driving your vehicle in traffic. Due to this Garmin is debuting a larger line of GPS units with a big 5.2-inch touch screen, and is packing it with features.

The big screen makes viewing and interacting with the touchscreen easier at arms length, and since they had the extra room they threw in quite a few extra tools. For starters you still get the voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions, but it will also save up to 10 routes, keep track of where you have been, find points of interest as well as school zones and safety cams, shows terrain info and you can even have a little vehicle icon instead of the generic arrow representing your car. A couple of other pretty nifty features include an external video input which lets you have video connected to the GPS, such as a back-up camera on your big rig and an FM transmitter so you can listen to the MP3′s loaded on the device through the car’s FM stereo, not to mention the loaded games and audio books owners can take advantage of.

Garmin has released the nuvi 260 as another addition to their 200 series lineup and an upgrade from the nuvi 250 released a couple months ago. The major addition to the pocket-size 260 model is that it will actually speak the upcoming street names instead of just providing an upcoming distance.

Many GPS devices, including Garmin’s, give audible turn-by-turn directions but will announce a turn coming with a right or left direction in a specified distance. The nuvi 260 will not only give you the upcoming turn but will also give you the street name that you will be turning on, and I’m sure pronunciations may vary. According to Garmin this feature will make the turn-by-turn directional navigation even easier to use since users can focus more on the road and less at trying to see the street names on the device.

The …

Garmin introduced today two new widescreen GPS navigators to its nuvi line. The nuvi 200W and nuvi 250W are expected to be available in July and priced at around $500 and $550 respectively.

Both nuvis sport a 4.3-inch color touchscreen display which is viewable in the sunlight. They have a new design with a thinner GPS antenna to make it easier to mount in a car. Turn-by-turn voice directions guide you along to your destination and the nuvi can automatically recalculate your route if you get lost.

Other interesting features include a built-in picture viewer, unit converter, a theft prevention system and custom points-of-interest. The nuvi 200W includes preloaded mapping of the contiguous United States (lower 48), Hawaii and Puerto Rico while the nuvi 250W has preloaded mapping of the entire United States (including Alaska and Hawaii), Canada and Puerto Rico.

Garmin nuvi 200W …

Garmin recently announced the release of the nuvi 200 series GPS devices, offering a less expensive option for in-dash navigation systems with the nuvi 200, 250 and 270.

The nuvi 200 series works similar to most GPS devices, offering the ability to find destinations by address, business name or even by category, then offering voice-prompted turn by turn directions that automatically recalculate your route if you venture off the designated route.

The design of the GPS device has a built-in antenna and a slim design not much larger than a deck of playing cards, and comes ready to go out of the box with maps pre-loaded. The price conscious nuvi 200 also comes with the Garmin Travel Kit of handy applications and the Garmin
Travel Guide and SaversGuide content. This series of navigation systems also has some added security allowing the owner to lock the device, which can …