Garmin’s new Nuvi 3790T GPS device is thinner than an iPhone, has a beautiful 5-inch LCD screen, can run traffic directions in 3-D, and easily slips into your pocket, making it perfect for use in the car or while walking.
It’s arguably the coolest-looking GPS navigation device to date. But analysts who cover the two biggest navigation device companies, Garmin and TomTom, aren’t sure that’s enough. Within a few years, they contend, the GPS device will be overtaken by GPS apps in smartphones. Several models of phones with Google’s Android operating system now have free turn-by-turn directions. And many apps are available for the iPhone to add turn-by-turn directions at a cost that rivals the purchase of a stand-alone device.
So should consumers still invest in GPS portable navigation devices? The manufacturers say reports of their potential demise are farfetched, and they’re working hard to reinvent GPS with new models.
Take, for instance, Garmin’s 3790T. It’s meant for the car — but not always. “It’s for driving or walking,” Garmin Chief Financial Officer Kevin Rauckman says.
The new Nuvi will surely turn heads. But at $450, the price is much steeper than average for a GPS unit ($146 as of April, according to NPD group, down from $178 the year before).
Rival TomTom is reaching for the cost-conscious consumer with novelties. TomTom brought custom voices, including Burt Reynolds, Mr. T and Homer Simpson, to its line of GPS devices this year. Now it has matched forces with Darth Vader.
The villain from the Star Wars movies will tell you to turn left or right and that he’s recalculating if you make a wrong turn, on devices that begin at $99. Later this summer, additional Stars Wars voices — including C-3PO and Han Solo — will be available, at $14.99 a pop.
Beyond voices, TomTom, No. 1 worldwide…