So WalMart let go of their iron grip on their Black Friday circular and revealed a TomTom centric day at their stores, at least as far as GPS units go.

WalMart

• TomTom ONE 125 SE - $59 - See My Full Review on the ONE 125
  
• TomTom ONE XL 325 - SE - $89 - More Information

While both units sport the "SE" moniker, they should perform quite well. Usually, these special models add or delete a small feature. For WalMart, TomTom may have just added the signifier to offer them the unique model and best price in the land.

See more Black Friday coverage

• Email to a friend • Related • •

Garmin has put out their 2009 Holiday GPS Commercials, and they are pretty good. Plenty of fun to be had in these short ads. Featuring the new connected Nuvi 1690, the Nutcracker finds things to do on his night away from the store window display. The Nutcracker will grow on me, but I still like going back to the "Got a Unibrow" ad and the "Bugs in her Grill" ad from last year.

Garmin also has the multi-product ad out featuring a Knight heading out to slay a dragon, but I like the Scot golfing only to find a squirrel playing a mandolin, which is a great little throwback to CaddyShack. I'm telling you the "pool, the pond, the pond would be good for you." Anyway, enjoy the ads, they're on TV for a short time, but a lot longer here and on YouTube.

• Email to a friend • Related • •

In a surprise hip, cool move, Magellan has launched an App for the iPhone adding their two cents to the party of Apps at the iTunes App store. I happen to be cruising over to the Magellan site for another reason, and saw the information on the App itself. It incorporates Magellan's One Touch menu - an easy way to get to several basic items with the touch of a single button, Text to Speech (Says street names), Highway Lane Assist (See what lane to be in at intersections), 3D landmarks, control of your tunes from inside the App, a pedestrian mode and more.

Not only did Magellan release the App for that navigation itch of yours for your iPhone, but the App will work with your iPod Touch, when you use the App and Magellan car cradle together. The Car kit is coming soon and will be able to grab the GPS signal, offer amplified commands back out, and also operate as a Bluetooth noise canceling speaker phone. In a stroke of genius, the car kit will work with any navigation application.

The application is available now, for a "Sale Price" of $79, which may head to $99 in the near future. The car kit will be priced at $129 according to Magellan.

From their website, they appear ready to launch segments of the US in modules - East and West, as well as a European App. This approach is interesting as it reminds me of when RAM memory was expensive and GPS makers had to price GPS units in the many hundreds of dollars as a result. The European market got a jump start on the US because the units were cheaper there due to the fact that they could be sold less expensively with smaller "regional" mapsets that required less memory. Maybe size and affordability will play into buying just US East or West? The All US one is about 1.3GB now.

More at Magellan GPS

and the Magellan RoadMate App (iTunes Link)

• Email to a friend • Related • •

BestBuy is selling the Magellan SE4 GPS for Black Friday as an exclusive item, making comparisons hard to the rest of the RoadMate line, but we'll walk through the features and the comparisons to map out what's going on for you. From comparing the Magellan SE4 to the Roadmate line, I believe the SE4 is based on the Magellan Roadmate 1420.

Magellan SE4 - 48 State + Hawaii+Puerto Rico, Text to Speech, 6 Million Points of Interest, One-Touch command, Multi-destination routing, and a 3-hour battery - More at BestBuy

Magellan RoadMate 1420 - 48 State + Hawaii+Puerto Rico, Text to Speech, 6 Million Points of Interest, One-Touch command, Multi-destination routing, and a 2-hour battery - also offers AAA Club Tourbook and AAA Roadside Assistance - More Info at Magellan's Roadmate 1420 Product Page

• Email to a friend • Related • •

TomTom has upgraded its iPhone App with some good solid additions to the capabilities - it's a Free upgrade for current users. The new additions include advanced lane guidance, text to speech - it will say street names, and a Help Me button - to help you out when you are in trouble. Full list and the press release are below. All good news and all free upgrades - like that. It should show up in the App store in a dew days.

Users of TomTom's popular iPhone navigation application will soon be able to enjoy even more advanced features, with a free update ensuring users always have the best navigation experience.

This update*, which is being submitted to Apple for review today and will be awaiting their approval, will bring significant and advanced additional features that TomTom fans around the world have come to appreciate. These are:

- Advanced lane guidance giving drivers extra clarity when navigating difficult junctions. For the first time this is in both landscape and portrait mode.

- Text-to-speech helping motorists to keep their eyes on the road by enabling street names and places to be read aloud as part of the spoken instructions.

- "Help Me" providing direct access to emergency numbers and directions to the nearest emergency providers.

- Updated map and safety camera database**.

- Customizable audio warnings when approaching safety cameras or driving over the speed limit, increasing driver safety and saving money.

- iPod player control ensuring drivers can conveniently control their music from within the application.

"The TomTom app for iPhone is a priority for us and we are committed to both its long term development and everyday improvements," said Benoit Simeray, TomTom's senior vice president, On-board Mobile. "Current and future customers of our application for the iPhone can count on more great updates from TomTom for free."

• Email to a friend • Related • •