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Magellan suspends development on Maestro Elite 5340 connected GPS
First comes the fallout at Dash, and now this. Apparently GPS manufacturers are finally caving to the realization that the vast majority doesn't want yet another monthly fee tacked on in the form of a connected GPS -- particularly when so many of the non-connected navigators work so well. TWICE has it that Magellan has "suspended development" on its Maestro Elite 5340 with Google Local search, noting that even though it "believes there is great promise in connected navigation, in the near term, consumers have shown an unwillingness to pay a steep price for PNDs, especially with the recent economic downturns." If you'll recall, we actually toyed with this very unit back at CES, and sadly, it seems those hands-on shots are as close as any citizen outside of the company will ever get to it.[Via GPSTracklog]
Hands-on with Magellan's new 5340+GPRS connected GPS device and others
Magellan really isn't kidding around when it says it's targeting flush boomers with its new devices -- although its reps wouldn't tell us exactly how much GPRS service would cost for the new $999 Maestro 5340, they did say it would be upwards of $40 a month. Sure, the service -- running on the device-only carrier Jasper -- looks nice, and the optional $100 GPRS cradle is kind of neat, but we're totally at a loss to see who would ever pay that much for Google Local access and the ability to email notes to the device. We also caught snaps of the new RoadMate 1212, the ridiculously expensive 5310, and the Maestro Elite 3270 -- which sure seemed like it had plastic around the screen to us, no matter how hard the reps insisted it didn't. Sure seems like there's a gallery down there -- you know the drill. %Gallery-12984%
Magellan pumps out eight new GPS devices, openly targets rich people
Magellan's brought a small army of GPS units to CES this year, dropping eight new units on us, including the new Maestro 5340+GPRS, which features Google Local Search and the ability to send addresses and notes to the unit from a PC. Magellan is also bolstering the low-end RoadMate 1200 series with the new $299 RoadMate 1212 and $329 traffic-enabled 1230, and introducing the similar 1400 series (pictured), which mirrors the 1200 series but ups the screen size to 4.3 inches. The Maestro 3200 series is joined by the Maestro Elite 3270, which completely eliminates the plastic border around the 3.5-inch screen and delivers about what you'd expect for 499: text-to-speech, voice control, Bluetooth, and three month traffic data subscription. The real action, though, is the new Maestro 5300 series, which debuts with two models: the absurdly-priced $699 5-inch 5310, which Magellan's press release openly targets at flush baby boomers (over $2 trillion in annual spending power!), and features a three-month traffic sub and text-to-speech, as well as built-in AAA TourBook travel guide info. The 5310 is joined by the somewhat less crassly-opportunistic 5340+GPRS, which adds in a GPRS cradle for all that live data action. It's not clear what service all those bits are coming down over or how much it'll cost, but we'll hit up the Magellan booth and get some hard answers soon.
Mitel releases 5330 and 5340 IP phones for the suits
If you've been looking for a nice, IP-based boringphone for your desk job, Mitel is releasing their new 5330 and 5340 VoIP phones that might be worth a look. The 5330 ($395) and 5340 ($495) both support Mitel's new Gigabit Ethernet and Wireless LAN stands for hooking into your network, and sport E-911, Mitel's MiNet protocol and SIP. Slightly more interesting is the 160 x 320 display (backlit on the pictured 5340) for softkey use, and the ability to use Dreamweaver or FrontPage to create your own interfaces and apps for use on the phone. We're thinking a text-based RPG should be doable, er, we mean, call-routing shortcuts to boost your productivity 15 percent!
