Countdown to Black Friday: Best GPS deals

Black Friday is the busiest day of the holiday shopping season and with the state of the economy, a number of stores are offering great discounts and deals on a number of popular items. In fact, some are so anxious, they are offering door-buster-grade deals well in advance of the official sales holiday.
From the deals we’ve discovered, portable navigation systems (PNDs) have come down considerably in price and many of our top-rated models are now more affordable than ever. Some are basic models that will get you easily from point A to point B, but increasingly affordable mid-level models offer added features such as a wide screen, spoken street names, and traffic capability.

Whether buying a gift or for personal use, consult our GPS buying advice to learn about key features, then check the Ratings, which will soon be updated with three new models—the Garmin 1690, Magellan RoadMate 1700, and TomTom XXL 530. There is a convenient product selector to help sort and filter the GPS Ratings based on the features that matter most to you. (Ratings and selectors are available to online subscribers.)

The best GPS deals

We have scoured the brand-name retailers who have historically offered good GPS deals and pulled together a list of standout deals. Last year we saw new, smaller brands challenge the market giants with low-cost (and often low-rated) units. Still sore from the 2008 bruising, Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom have come out this season with aggressive pricing on good devices, effectively reclaiming the space in sales flyers and door-buster status.

Below is a list of GPS deals available for Black Friday, November 27th. Better pricing may be available at other retailers, particularly Web-based stores. Availability and pricing may change at any time, so it’s a good idea to confirm all the details with the individual retailers. As of today, a number of companies including Amazon.com, Buy.com, and Circuit City have not yet announced their Black Friday sales, but we’ll bring you more GPS deals next week.

Remember, ordering online may save you from the harried competition and waking up at the crack of dawn. You can compare prices from with our GPS model pages by using the Price & Shop function, tapping in approved stores, each listed with a user rating.

Definitely check the ratings before buying. In the list below, there are two and even three product generations represented from the manufacturers. In many cases, buying a newer unit will be the right move, as it will have more advanced features and fresher maps. (Older units may well have been sitting on a warehouse shelf for a long time.)

Happy shopping!

Garmin Nuvi 205W
$99.99 Best Buy

Garmin Nuvi 205
$89.99 Sears

Garmin Nuvi 255WT
$129.99 Best Buy

Garmin Nuvi 255W
$119.99 Staples

Magellan RoadMate 1220
$89.99 Sears

Magellan Roadmate 1440
$119.99 Sears
$119.99 Kmart

TomTom One 130
$77.99 Office Depot
$79.99 Kmart
$79.99 Sears

TomTom Go 630
$169.99 Office Depot
$169.99 Sears

TomTom GO 730
$174.99 Best Buy

TomTom XL 340S
$97.00 Target

TomTom XL325-SE
$89.00 Walmart

For more information on portable automotive GPS navigation systems, see our Ratings, first looks, and buying advice and watch our video guide. Discuss GPS devices in the forums.

—Liza Barth

Audi, MIT develops dashboard robot AIDA as a mobile assistant

Lots of people talk to their cars—even if few admit it. So far those conversations are pretty one-sided, with the exception being a voice-recognition navigation system. That may one day change. Exploring the potential for future man-machine interaction, Audi has teamed with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop an interactive robot that not only talks back, but can also learn your driving habits, help you navigate, and even warn you of danger approaching.
 
Nicknamed AIDA, for Affective Intelligent Driving Agent, this robot  sprouts up from the top of the dashboard, smiles, frowns, and tilts its “head” to convey emotion. It is like having your own in-car Wall-E. So if the MMI isn’t enough of a distraction, here comes AIDA.
 
Researchers at MIT say that within a week of driving AIDA will learn where you live, where you work, and the route you take in between. If that route is congested, it will suggest alternate routes. If the car is low on gas, it will suggest you travel through the cheapest gas station along the route. Within a month, it will learn where you like to shop, and can route you by the grocery store.
 
AIDA can be more than a frivolous companion, though. Using forward radar, electronic stability control and other sensors, AIDA can warn of possible collisions and advise you on how to avoid them. The system’s virtual eyes merge into a cyclops – a single circle of dots surrounding a red warning triangle. And by choosing the shortest routes and avoiding traffic, it can save gas.
 
Having your car look after you, however, strikes some as “nannying.” Further, depending on how well AIDA can keep secrets, there may be a way for others to know where you’ve driven, including a spouse or car thief.
 
Should mobile assistant technology advance, those old jokes about the car knowing its own way on familiar routes may become all too true. However, AIDA is unlikely to appear on production cars any time soon.
 
Would you want AIDA for a copilot? Share your thoughts in the comments.
 
—Eric Evarts

Review: Motorola Droid with free Google Maps Navigation

Navigation options continue to expand, with cell phones and smart phones providing alternatives to traditional portable navigation devices (PNDs). The latest such option is Google Maps Navigation, included in beta form on Android 2.0 devices. While Google Maps has long been available on the iPhone, this latest version offers true Google turn-by-turn directions for the first time on a mobile device. (Read our Android 2.0 navigation preview.)
 
The free Google Maps Navigation launches on the Motorola Droid phone with Verizon service. The Google service will expand to other phones and smart-phone platforms running other operating systems.
 
We tested the Google navigator on the Droid, a slider-style phone with a full QWERTY keyboard. The Droid has a 3.7-inch screen, giving it an advantage over the 3.5-inch iPhone screen. It also has the ability to run multiple applications at once, unlike the Apple phone. Perhaps the greater advantage is that it is on the Verizon network, rather than AT&T, which as been higher rated in our national cell phone surveys. (See our iPhone navigation app reviews.)
 
Verizon has the exclusive on the Motorola Droid, which is priced at $199, after a $100 rebate. Nationwide cell-phone voice plans begin at $40 a month, with e-mail/Web data plan adding at least $30.
 
Like other cell-phone navigators, Google Maps Navigation is server based—meaning it downloads maps and points of interest data as needed, rather than storing a large database on the device. Consequently, a data plan is required to use it. In addition, a cell signal is needed—limiting its usefulness in some remote places. In areas without a 3G network, downloading maps and recalculating routes can be slowed. An upside of this approach is that there is no need for map upgrades.
 
Test findings
As a navigator, Google Maps Navigation has common features, including spoken street names, and provides adequate routing. However, it does not include some features found on mid-priced PNDs and even some iPhone applications, such as reality view and lane assistance.
 
On the other hand, the free, bundled Android application has some of the more enticing features found in the online version of Google Maps. For example, a user can layer additional information on the main map screen, such as real-time traffic patterns, selected POIs, and satellite imagery of the actual landscape. “Street view” provides a photographic street-level representation, with the ability to zoom and pan the area. This could potentially be helpful when identifying a destination. All navigators indicate “you have arrived,” though this can theoretically literally show your destination.
 
These innovative features are novel, but the practical use when driving is limited. The satellite layer makes it more challenging to interpret the map at a glance, and street view can be confusing, as we found it often wasn’t accurate.
 
Following the connected trend among navigation devices, Google Maps Navigation taps users to supply traffic information, to provide user reviews for POIs, and to share their current location with Google Latitude.
 
Basic route guidance is adequate, providing turn-by-turn directions. Address entry is mixed. Some users found the onscreen menus to be less intuitive than those found on a traditional PND, and the touch-screen operation is less intuitive. The slide-out keyboard provides an alternative method to entering data, but its keys are small and closely placed. We found using it to be more difficult than with other competing devices. However, the Droid does have plain-speech voice recognition, allowing for verbal data entries in a more natural way than premium PNDs with voice recognition. We found this worked well.
 
The application sometimes feels more like using Google.com via a handheld, than an integrated solution. For example, a query from the main menu leads to Google.com, which can be confusing. To get results like on traditional PND, a user must be on the map screen (or navigation) then perform a search.  This will drop pins on the map and a user can select a pin to navigate too. The user can view the results in a list, as well, by tapping an icon.
 
When receiving a call, the screen changes and the map is no longer visible. This effectively negates the Android’s multitasking capabilities, whose chief in-car benefit would be to use the phone and navigation simultaneously.
 
Bottom line
The power and potential of Google Maps Navigation has captured the attention of the GPS industry and tech enthusiasts, but this service has a way to go to be compared among the best solutions for GPS navigation. That being said, if you decide to buy a phone with Google Maps Navigation preinstalled, it is adequate and would eliminate the need to pay for GPS and traffic services. But don’t let this software be the leading reason to purchase an Android 2.0 phone.

As we have seen with iPhone applications, software can advance rapidly. Clearly, Google Maps Navigation has promise. Consequently, competitors will likely redouble their development efforts, ensuring consumers have better navigation choices down the road. For now, we favor the better iPhone applications such as Navigon, Tomtom, and MotionX offerings for the combination of software and hardware.

For frequent use, a dedicated portable navigator remains the best choice.

 —Jeff Bartlett and Frank Spinelli

Also read:
Droid vs. iPhone: A 10-round bout
Our first impressions of the Motorola Droid
Garmin Nuvifone G60 navigation review

See our reviews of AT&T Navigator, iGo My Way, Gokivo, Navigon Mobile Navigator, Sygic Mobile Maps, TomTom iPhone application, and X Road G-Map for iPhone.

Images courtesy Motorola and Google.

2011 Ford Explorer: Inflatable, seat-belt air bags to protect rear-seat passengers

Ford announced today that it will offer inflatable seat belts in the back seat of its 2011 Ford Explorer. The new safety feature will provide additional protection for kids and elderly passengers—common second-row occupants that are especially vulnerable to injury.
 
The belts will reel in and out like regular belts, but they will have air bags built into the webbing that will inflate upon impact. The inflatable belts will spread the load of the impact across about five times more body area, Ford says. Since rear seated passengers don’t have frontal impact air bags to help protect them in a crash, the seatbelts are their main source of crash protection during an impact. With regular safety belts, the force of the impact is spread only across the area of the body that is in contact with the belts. This can lead to neck and chest injuries in severe crashes, especially for young or small passengers who don’t fit in the belts as well as average-sized adults. (This is why children under eight years old should always ride in a child seat, to ensure the belts lay cross the strongest bony structures in their bodies.)
 
Ford claims the new belts will reduce those injuries and have been designed to still be used to safely install a child safety seat. The company says the technology protects even if passengers are sleeping with their heads resting on the belt.
 
The bag-equipped belts will start out as an option on the new 2011 Explorer, Ford says, then availability will expand to other models. Similar technology is available in some light aircraft.
 
The air bags sit inside the fabric of the seat belts and inflate in 40 milliseconds using a cool, low-pressure gas from a cylinder housed under the rear seats of the vehicle. This inflation rate is much slower than traditional air bags to reduce the potential for injury from the air bags themselves.

In surveys the company has conducted, it says 90 percent of respondents have deemed them as comfortable to wear as regular safety belts or more comfortable, because they are slightly wider and softer than standard belts. Ford hopes this will encourage more rear seat passengers to wear the belts. Currently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that 60 percent of rear seat passengers wear their safety belts, compared with 83 percent of front-seat occupants.

Visit our guide to car safety. For more on child safety, see our kids and car safety guide.

—Eric Evarts

Auto X Prize Finalist: West Philadelphia Hybrid X team

It doesn’t take a major automaker, or even an established company to build a credible competitor for the Automotive X Prize. It turns out, it doesn’t even need a team run by grownups.

The West Philly Hybrid X team consists of a group of inner-city high school kids who do their work as an after-hours club. This volunteer effort has many benefits to the participants, including teaching teamwork and engineering essentials. Life skills and inspiration alone would make being involved in the program worthwhile, but the high schoolers and mentors can take pride in having both entries accepted as finalists in the competition. One is an Alternative Class car that uses a diesel hybrid drivetrain installed in a widely available sports-car kit. Their Mainstream Class entry (which requires four seats, four wheels, and a 200 mile range), made a visit to New York City as part of an event to announce the 43 finalists. (Read “Automotive X Prize finalists announced.”)

Called the West Philly Hybrid X EVX Focus, the Mainstream entry is a Ford Focus converted to hybrid-electric power, using a 60-horsepower electric motor coupled to a 1,300 cc, 80-hp Harley-Davidson motorcycle engine. The electric motor is powered by a 10.2 kWh lithium-iron phosphate battery pack. The team says the Focus will maintain all its five-passenger cargo capacity and have a 13.8 cubic-foot trunk. Mileage is estimated to be 110 to 120 mpg equivalent, using gasoline and electricity. 

The team focused on using all-American technology, well, make that North American: The Focus is made in Mexico, and the Harley-Davidson engine in Wisconsin. The team has also explored having the car built locally in Philadelphia.

X Prize teams have to have a viable business plan to produce and sell 10,000 of each of their cars. The West Philly Hybrid X team plan factors buying Focus chassis as “gliders”--sans engine and transmission-- from Ford, to keep the total price under $20,000.

Regardless of the final results from the Auto X Prize to be determined next year, clearly the West Philly team is made up of winners.

Learn more about the Automotive X Prize competition. And find out more about driving green in the Consumer Reports special fuel economy section.

—Eric Evarts with Jeff Bartlett 

Free Google navigation for Android 2.0 phones

The mobile navigation offerings continue to evolve and expand, with Google announcing that it will offer Google Maps Navigation in beta form for Android 2.0 devices when they hit the market next week. Previously Google Maps on cell phones, including the Apple iPhone, had limited-functionality indicating just current location on a map. Starting next week, Google will be able to provide turn-by-turn guidance, along with several other features that will add unique appeal.
 
The Droid has a 3.7-inch screen, giving it an advantage over the 3.5-inch iPhone screen. It also has the ability to run multiple applications as once, unlike the popular Apple phone. Perhaps the greater advantage is that it is on the Verizon network, rather than AT&T, which as been higher rated in our national cell phone surveys. (See our iPhone navigation app reviews.)
 
Verizon has the exclusive on the Motorola Droid, and it will be the first phone using Google Maps Navigation when it goes on sale November 6th for $199, after a $100 rebate. Nationwide cell-phone voice plans begin at $40 a month, with e-mail/Web data plan adding at least $30.
 
Google claims its app does seven things you may not be able to do with your current device:

Search in plain English, rather than stick with specific points of interest categories and specific addresses. Google allows these, as well as approximate addresses and business name, and it can resolve misspellings.
 
Voice recognition allows the user to speak the address, or query a specific search such as ask for the museum with a certain exhibit. Android is able to perform the search online, as you would with Google at your desktop, and integrate the findings into the navigation app.
 
Live traffic data is displayed with green, yellow, and red overlaps on the route. Android can provide alternative routes.
 
Points of interest can be found along the route, though this function is common among current portable navigation devices (PNDs).
 
Satellite view as popularized online is available to provide the context for routing, though this may not be the preferred mode when driving.
 
Street view gives a photo-based take on reality, overlaid with the colored route guidance. When you arrive at your destination, the address may be shown with a photograph, when available.
 
Car dock mode reacts when the phone is put in a mount to provide easy access to voice command and navigation.

Whether these nifty features hold up against the ease of use and travel information provided by other applications and dedicated portable navigation devices remains to be seen. Both our telephone and GPS experts will evaluate the Droid and this software for a full report in the coming days.

The Droid will also face competition from the Garmin Nuvifone G60.

  —Jeff Bartlett

See our reviews of AT&T Navigator, iGo My Way, Gokivo, Navigon Mobile Navigator, Sygic Mobile Maps, TomTom iPhone application, and X Road G-Map for iPhone.

For more information on portable automotive GPS navigation systems, see our Ratings, first looks, and buying advice and watch our video guide. Discuss GPS devices in the forums.

Images courtesy Motorola and Google.

Automotive X Prize DASH+ student dashboard contest

The Automotive X Prize competition is underway with the recently announced list of 43 teams advancing to the next stage in the race to build a 100-mpg car. The program has sparked interest from companies around the world, but for the next generation of innovators and engineers out there, the X Prize, in connection with the U.S. Department of Energy has another contest. The DASH+ competition is a challenge for national high school student teams use science, math, technology and engineering to design a vehicle dashboard for the future. The best dashboard design should incorporate feedback mechanisms and supports behavior change to help drivers maximize fuel efficiency and reduce environmental impact.

To enter, the first step is to gather a team of between two and five students together aged 14 years or older and one adult mentor over 21. The team will then come up with a design of gauges, dials, and other audio and visual sensors that would help the driver participate in saving energy.

The next step is to come up with a technical plan as to how the design will display the data on fuel economy and environmental impact that would help encourage more efficient driving behavior.

And finally, the pitch should be made on video to encourage automakers and drivers to adopt your ideas to help people become more aware of energy use in vehicles.

Registration is open from now until February 1, 2010. All submissions are due March 1, 2010. Three semifinalists will be announced in May 2010 and voting will be open to the public. The grand-prize winner will be announced in June 2010 and the winning team will travel to Detroit in July to present their dashboard idea to representatives from the automotive industry. In Detroit they will have also the opportunity to check out the competing Automotive X Prize vehicles. This contest should inspire students to apply arts and sciences in creative ways, and hopefully inspire the next-generation automotive designers and engineers.

For more information on the contest see the Fuel our Future Now site.  Learn more about the Automotive X Prize competition. And find out more about driving green in the Consumer Reports special fuel economy section. 

—Liza Barth  

Garmin Nuvifone 2.0 – The road it should travel

The long-awaited Garmin Nuvifone has arrived, and it may be too late. When Garmin puffed out its chest a year ago that it was boldly entering the smart-phone arena with a touchscreen device that promised to navigate as well as a PND, it seemed quite exciting. After all, most cell phones offered just server-based navigation solutions for a fee that were wrought with compromises and the mighty iPhone did not have turn-by-turn navigation.. Oh, how the world has changed in the months since. (See our full Garmin Nuvifone G60 review.)
 
As we have chronicled over the summer, Navigon withdrew from the portable navigation device (PND) market in the United States to focus its efforts on software, and it delivered one of the first nav apps for the iPhone. TomTom diversified its portfolio with an increased emphasis on connected PNDs and the most ambitious iPhone nav solution to date, complete with a receiver- and speaker-fitted cradle. And Garmin? Oh, they are just bringing to market what would have been big stuff last year.
 
In fairness, Garmin continues to evolve its PNDs, but the Nuvifone is underwhelming and mistimed. We have completed our testing, and while the Nuvifone G60 provides excellent basic guidance, it is expensive and short on features. On the business side, the most unfortunate element is that it will be sold alongside the iPhone; both devices are sold exclusively through AT&T. Adding further insult, AT&T ranks low in most cities in our latest cell-service ratings.
 
At an AT&T store, a customer can choose from the $300 Nuvifone G60 (factoring a $100 rebate) with 4GB of memory or an iPhone 3GS with 16 GB for $200. For that price, the Nuvifone includes a mount and nav software. Both devices need a car charger. But the iPhone has the app store, with several good applications to choose from, with prices ranging from $5 to $100. And we have seen these apps improve rapidly, providing free upgrades to customers. Plus, there are a few thousand other cool apps readily available, as well.
 
The Nuvifone of tomorrow
What I’d like to see is Garmin rapidly move the Nuviphone into a unique niche, tapping its broad GPS-device experience and appeal to its core, active-lifestyle customer base.
 
My recipe for surviving in this obscenely competitive market:

• The Nuvifone needs to not mimic the basic Nuvi 265, but the Nuvi 885T. Aim high. Throw in all the software features like reality view, then go further with voice recognition.
• Having add-on maps for other countries is nice, but the core Garmin audience is in the United States. Port over maps for hiking with topography and blue water maps, as illustrated above.
• Offer a ruggedized version that is water and scratch resistant.
• Embrace geographic-based social networking with Ciao!, as on some other recent Garmin devices.
• Push geocaching to the next level, tying together the “guided tour” concept explored on other devices, with geo-tagging. Geocache instructions could include tagged images as clues, and the electronic treasure hunts can be larger in scale.
  
• Tie into sports, allowing data to be gathered, transferred, and shared with running, bicycle, and motorcycle-focused devices.
• Develop an add-on application for measuring automotive performance, such as acceleration and braking. Bonus points for an OBDII code reader, especially a wireless system that uses a Bluetooth transmitter.
• Sell the Nuvifone with other carriers with better service and thereby eliminate the side-by-side comparison with the iPhone in stores.

Where the iPhone benefits from the creative third-party software developers, Garmin can leverage its internal strengths. There is no larger consumer-focused GPS company in the United States. Garmin is the Microsoft of GPS, and the Nuvifone is its Zune (MP3 player). In this sector, Gamin runs the risk of being outdone by Apple in like fashion.

Well, that's my take. What do you think Gamin could do to compete?

  —Jeff Bartlett

See our reviews of AT&T Navigator, iGo My Way, Gokivo, Navigon Mobile Navigator, Sygic Mobile Maps, TomTom iPhone application, and X Road G-Map for iPhone.

For more information on portable automotive GPS navigation systems, see our Ratings, first looks, and buying advice and watch our video guide. Discuss GPS devices in the forums.

Auto X Prize Finalist: Zap Alias electric car

Arguably the most striking model on display when the Progressive Automotive X Prize announced its 53 finalists this week, the ZAP Alias is racing toward production in mid 2010.
 
By designing the Alias as a three-wheeler, the company is able to cost effectively develop the vehicle without going through the expensive certification process required for four-wheeled cars, thereby saving millions of dollars. That said, safety has remained an engineering focus, as evidenced by the roll cage within the composite body. Zap claims the car will exceed federal automotive safety standards, and the cost savings will be passed on to customers, with an expected $35,000 price. (Reservations are being accepted now.)
 
As he gave us a tour of the three-seat vehicle, Zap CEO Steve Schneider explained that the auto industry meltdown has opened up new partnership and supplier opportunities that are aiding his company, and likely others. He shared a quote, we suspect often used, that the three-wheeled, three-passenger Alias reflects a 25-percent cutback back over four-wheeled vehicles that is well timed in this economy. Clearly, there are practical benefits to design, though he claims the Alias is every bit as stable as a traditional car. 
 
The front wheels are driven by a 216-volt electric motor and energized by a lithium-ion battery pack with a claimed 100-mile range. Zap estimates the miles per gallon equivalent rating will be 150-165 MPGe. Top speed is 75 mph.
 
The design means it would be registered as a motorcycle, and in some states a motorcycle license would be required to drive it.
 
Zap has been developing the Alias for the past four years. (The company itself has been in the electric-car market since 1994.) When production begins next year, they will produce an estimated 10-15 units per month, with larger-scale production planned with a cooperative venture now being developed.

 —Jeff Bartlett

Learn more about the Automotive X Prize competition. And find out more about driving green in the Consumer Reports special fuel economy section.

Electric car leaders come together to form "The Business of Plugging In"

Here in Motor City, it is clear that Detroit is looking to possibilities offered by a new generation of electric cars. An electric-car infrastructure, including battery manufacture, could revive this city’s industrial fortunes.

To that end, a broad array of stake-holders have gathered in Detroit this week for a major conference, billed as the Business of Plugging In. Sponsored by the University of Michigan’s Center for Automotive Research, the conference now underway includes car manufacturers, battery makers, companies that build charging stations, the U.S. military, local and national politicians, and companies planning to get into the business in the near future.

Some observers have said that the competition between alternative fuels looks a lot like the competition between gas, steam, and electric cars in the early 20th century. But even within the electric-car advocacy movement, competing factions disagree on what the future should look like. Some are pushing for pure battery-electric vehicles. Others say that until a public car-charging network is built, electrics will need an on-board power-generating capacity. That’s where the plug-in hybrid comes in.

Electric cars’ biggest obstacle is that the current generation of battery technology is too expensive to gain wide acceptance in the market. Several competing ideas for how to reduce the cost to the consumer are under debate.

Concepts under discussion include

• Marketing electric cars by simply promoting their lower operating costs.
• Leasing the cars.
• Having utility companies buy the batteries and lease them back to consumers.
• Establishing specialized service companies that would own the batteries and swap them in and out of consumers’ cars. 

Will any of those ideas catch on? That’s what industry leaders in Detroit are trying to figure out this week. We’ll be sure to keep you posted on their insights.

—Eric Evarts