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Changing the voice file on a Garmin or TomTom GPS these days has become something you can do in just a few minutes. It takes no longer than the time it takes to load up your iPod or MP3 player with your choice tunes.

So if you’re going on a road trip with the guys maybe you’ll want some entertainment on the way. You can get that with some new Politically Incorrect GPS voices from P.I.G.Tones.

Now that GW Bush’s term is just about over you will be hearing from him a lot less. Not that I personally have a problem with that but some of you out there just might be fond of the little guy after the eight terribly long, almost unbearable years he spent in office… Well, if you find that you do miss him you can download and have him right there as a little, electronic voice.

Just as if he were in office using his veto powers against the will of the majority of the people he was supposed to be serving - he can STILL be telling you WHERE TO GO!

It looks like Amazon.com has had a shipment of the new Garmin Oregon GPS devices because they’ve updated their delivery time from 1-2 months to 1-2 days!

This is excellent news for all of us that want a heavy-duty buttonless GPS that’s waterproof and has a special sunlight-readable touchscreen.

Here’s our original article on the Garmin Oregon GPS.

If you waited on the iPhone because you knew that Garmin was coming out with a new device that would offer some real competition to it you’re going to have to wait a little bit longer.

Garmin had originally scheduled the buttonless, touchscreen nüvifone to come out about this time but has delayed the release due to cellular network preparations taking a little bit longer than expected. Garmin has pushed the nüvifone release to sometime in the first half of 2009.

Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO says that, “The nüvifone is an all-in-one device offering unmatched integration of utility and function in a single mobile device, this is the breakthrough product that cell phone and GPS users around the world have been longing for - a single device that does it all.”

He’s totally right on that one! But I think what we’re all looking for as well as network choice and the ability to use the device the way that we want to unfettered by the need to use a certain provider on a certain type of network - One of the great downfalls of the Apple iPhone.


The nüvifone obviously has mobile phone capability with an internet browser, data connectivity, personal messaging, and personal navigation functions in one device. What really sets it ahead of the iPhone in terms of GPS Navigation is that Garmin includes their own turn by turn voice prompted navigational software while the iPhone still has to rely on a speachless Google Maps GPS interface which you also have to use a data connection for.

Since the nüvifone is a real mobile device it has an intelligently design docking mode - when the nüvifone is docked onto the vehicle mount, it automatically turns on the GPS, activates the navigation menu, and enables hands-free calling. When you take the nüvifone off of the vehicle mount it automatically marks the location of your vehicle - so you’ll be able to get back to it no matter how big the parking lot.

The nüvifone includes a built in camera that has geotagging capabilities - this means that the image has the latitude and longitude information stored inside the picture so programs can read the information and map it in a geographic location. Of course the NuviFone also features a built-in video camera, MP3 and MPEG4/AAC capability.

So let’s hope that this one won’t be locked onto any specific network and we’ll all be able to use the device as if it were our own.

Additional information about nüvifone is available at www.garmin.com/nuvifone.

*** UPDATE!!! - The Garmin Oregon Models are available and in stock on Amazon.com NOW!

Garmin has really done it this time with their Oregon series of GPS devices targeted to those who really like the outdoors.

I’ve always found that the elements take their toll on electronic equipment and that includes GPS devices. These electronic devices are used in rugged environments so they should be able to take what mother nature can dish out.

Garmin has finally answered the call of nature and now produces a buttonless, waterproof line of GPS devices named Oregon. Without buttons there’s a lot less areas for dust and moisture to get into your electronics and wreak havoc on its’ functionality. You don’t have to be scared when you’re hiking in the rain either when you pull out your Oregon GPS because it’s waterproof.

If you’re not having enough fun hiking through rough back-country in a torrential downpour you can do it on bright sun-lit day too because the Oregon features a “sunlight readable” touch screen.

“The Oregon series plays well with others, as the 400t, 400c, 400i and 300 allow for wireless exchange of tracks, waypoints and geocaches between other Oregon units and Colorado models. Each of these models is equipped with a barometric altimeter and electronic compass and is compatible with Garmin’s heart-rate monitors and speed/cadence sensors.

Geocaching is even easier with the Oregon, which quickly downloads online information for every cache, such as location, terrain, difficulty, hints and description, so that you don’t have to tote printouts with you. Cachers and collectors will be hunting for a limited-edition Geocoin minted to commemorate the launch of the Oregon series. Oregon users can experience Wherigo™, the newest GPS-based activity from Groundspeak, the people who made geocaching a worldwide phenomenon. WherIGo is a toolset for creating and completing adventure games, historical tours or other innovative activities in the real world.”

Order yours today and be ready to hunt for the limited-edition Geocoin when the Oregon series launches!

Sometimes even really big companies make small mistakes that allow you to get their stuff for free and Garmin isn’t above doing that.

We’re not sure on how long Garmin will leave the door open on getting their MapSource for free with no cracks or hacks so you’ll want to do this as soon as you read it.

The first part (more…)

There’s a few places on the internet that offer FREE (as in beer) user generated maps for Garmin GPS owners. Of course nothing replaces a comprehensive map database but if you’re planning on traveling to foreign lands check out these maps to see if they’ll get you around to where you want to go - it might save you a few bucks in buying a whole map disc that you might not even use.

First here’s a couple of sites with a lot of maps:

Map Center
Free Garmin GPS Maps

Here’s some more sites with specific location maps.

Australia - Tracks for Australia
Canada - Canadian ‘eh’ Topo Maps
Caribbean - This maps site has maps of Japan, Bermuda and Antarctica too.
China - Yunnan Explorer
Greece - Greece GPS Maps
Morocco - Maps of Morocco
New Zealand - The New Zealand Open GPS project
South America - Argentina and Uruguay with some more countries on the way.

If you don’t have it already you’ll need a utility to help you get your .img files to your Garmin GPS you can download Img2GPS to help you along with that.

Don’t forget that a lot of these projects are all driven by public contribution, if you think you can help the project in some way don’t be too shy to send them an inquiry.

There’s now a 2009 North America Map Update available for Garmin GPS Navigators. The DVD contains full coverage for the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

The DVD comes jam packed full with almost 6 million Points of Interest too! With the latest maps you’ll have no problems finding businesses, coffee shops, lodging, attractions and more entertainment than ever before.

Get your 2009 City Navigator Map Update for the Garmin GPS Navigator now and be on your way in confidence with the latest interstates, highways and streets all up to date and available when you need them. The security of knowing you’ll have the latest maps and the enjoyment of the most up to date Points of Interest for your next road trip is less than $60 - RIGHT NOW.

Pretty cool that both the TomTom and the Garmin let you change the voice files at your every whim if you want to. It’s so easy to do that you can have someone different tell you where to go every day (Like that doesn’t happen at work already right?).

You can learn how to change your GPS voices with these tutorials:
http://www.sourcegps.com/2008/04/21/change-your-garmin-gps-voice/
http://www.sourcegps.com/2008/03/08/changing-and-creating-tomtom-voices/

However - I’m going to have to say that Garmin is the front-liner though when it comes to customization and total tweaking control because not only do they allow you to have the ability to change your voice files but you can have some real control over your vehicle icon too. Garmin has a garage (actually a web site) set up just for storing cars to share with the planet. There’s over 50 vehicles in the garage to choose from like the blue RC Buggy pictured on the left.

Some of you knowledgeable people are going to say “TomTom lets you change theirs too!” - but the cheezy little vehicle bitmap icons that TomTom utilizes don’t even come close to comparing to the vehicle icons that are available for the Garmin GPS Navigators.

Garmin says their vehicle icons will work for the Nuvi series, the Zumo series and the StreetPilot c510, c530, c550 and the c580. You can download the vehicle icons from The Garmin Garage.

Check back at SourceGPS in a little while and we’ll have a tutorial on how to make your own custom icons for the Garmin series of GPS Navigators.