Garmin Nuvi 260

Today, Garmin has announced a new model of the Nuvi 260: a device with the function "text to speech", which is expected to go on the shelves at a very small price. The device fills a gap in the 200 series of Nuvi and is essentially the next step in the fight against persistent competitors, offering very high-quality goods for a reasonable amount. The main rival of the novelty is likely to be the Nuvi 350, which is still a very popular navigator, despite its submissive age, and its price in the network is about $ 365.

For the Nuvi 260, the manufacturer’s suggested retail price is $ 499, which, of course, cannot be compared with the price (with a lot of discounts) on the Nuvi 350. Although at first it might seem that the cost of the Nuvi 260 and Nuvi 350 will be relatively the same, especially considering that online prices for the Nuvi 250 (North American cards and without the text-to-speech feature) hover below $ 300.

The novelty will be pleased with the presence of maps of North America, 6 million POIs and everything necessary to easily fix the navigator on the windshield of the car.
')

Some excerpts from the official press release:

Like the rest of the 200 series, the nuvi 260 offers all the convenience of premium embedded systems at an attractive price. Unlike the other 200 devices, the novelty can pronounce the names of the streets being passed (for example, “Turn right onto Projected passage” instead of the usual “Turn right after 100 meters”). This feature helps the driver to better focus on the road and not be distracted by looking at the cards.
The nuvi 260 includes a built-in gps antenna, making it look very compact and very easy to install in a car. Special “hot” buttons on the welcome screen allow the driver to quickly find a specific street or building or even determine the target for a specific category. In the case of skipping the desired turn, the navigator automatically rebuilds the route so as to return to the planned route, pronouncing the names of all the nearest streets. The nuvi 260 already has maps of the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, as well as about 6 million POIs already pre-installed.

In addition to navigational delights, the novelty also features image viewing functions, a calculator, a currency converter and units of measurement, as well as world time. For greater safety, the device has a patented Garmin Lock function, which will not allow using the navigator without entering a 4-digit pincode or being in a “key” place.
The only button on the device is on / off, the rest of the space is given to the 3.5-inch touchscreen: nothing extra. Of course, not forgotten and a slot for SD-cards.

It is expected that the nuvi 260 will appear in August 2007 at a recommended price of 499.99 dollars. Included are a mount, car charger and user manual.

GARMIN