Garmin stated today that their Nuvifone would not be delayed, and would still make their first half of 2009 projected shipping date. The phone was unveiled just over a year ago, and though it initially turned heads, it remains to be seen if it can compete with the G1, iPhone 3G and others. The price was announced at around $500 last year. There has been no word if that would be lowered upon launch.

Garmin International Inc. has introduced a new line of big-screen multi-function displays (MFDs), designed for use in larger
yachts and powerboats — the GPSMAP(R) 5X15 series and the GPSMAP 4X10 series.

“These new MFDs are as powerful as they are pretty to look at,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “Their vivid, big, and bright displays catch the eye, but they boast plenty of cutting-edge, market-leading innovations as well.”

The GPSMAP 5X15 series has a 15-inch diagonal XGA sunlight readable touchscreen display. Garmin offers two models in this series — the GPSMAP 5015 with an enhanced worldwide satellite imagery basemap; and the GPSMAP 5215, which includes detailed U.S. coastal charts and Explorer Charts for the Bahamas.

The GPSMAP 4X10 is the 10.4-inch model with a conventional alphanumeric keypad and a row of soft keys. Again, there are two choiuces within this series: the GPSMAP 4010, with an enhanced worldwide satellite imagery basemap and the GPSMAP 4210, which comes pre-loaded with U.S. coastal charts and Explorer Charts for the Bahamas.

Garmin is about to turn your phone into a great GPS. They are coming out with a new set of microSD cards preloaded with its navigation software and standard maps of the US or Europe. Called the Garmin Mobile XT, it will act like a "real" GPS with turn-by-turn directions, route planning, and voice prompts. At a price of $99, and no additional fees, it seems an attractive alternative.

Garmin’s lower-end Nuvi 2XX line has always been attractively priced and well-featured, except for the one missing feature: text-to-speech. Well, Garmin’s rectified this deficiency with the Nuvi 260, which now provides spoken directions and offers everything else in the Nuvi 2XX line. Coming soon at $499.99.

If you’re tired of tirelessly hacking your navigation system in order to get the features you want up and running, Garmin is making things a good bit easier, by opening up a developer website that gives users free access to a plethora of APIs, toolkits, and web services. Put simply, the idea is to give customers the ability to "make their website, applications, and data content compatible with Garmin navigation systems." Currently, the six core offerings include the Communicator Plugin, MotionBased Web Services, Content Toolkit, PeerPoint Messaging System, LBS Toolkit, and Fleet Management Interface." Of course, you can’t take advantage of the niceties until you put those coding muscles to work, so be sure to hit the read link and flip a coin to see which application deserves first dibs on getting your attention. See the site for yourself at GPSReview.