Magellan, the world’s fastest-growing GPS brand, earned an “Editor’s Choice” award from Popular Mechanics magazine for Magellan’s Maestro Elite 5340+GPRS auto navigation unit featuring Google Local Search that enables users to get deep, location-specific information on the go. The Maestro Elite 5340+GPRS was chosen by Popular Mechanics editors as one of the top 20 products at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), where Magellan is previewing the unit this week.
Accessible on the Maestro Elite 5340+GPRS connected navigation device is Google’s real-time local search enabling users to search the Web for businesses in a specific neighborhood, providing detailed, Internet-based information about those businesses. Through the new Maestro Elite 5340’s wireless GPRS connection, Magellan delivers real-time traffic information, local weather forecasts, and makes it possible for users to wirelessly send addresses and notes to the GPS device directly from a PC with an internet connection.
Popular Mechanics said in its coverage of CES on http://www.popularmechanics.com, “The Maestro Elite marks a milepost in the development of location-based computing, filtering the near-infinite information available online to give you exactly what you need, where (and when) you need it. The same sort of functionality is destined to come to handheld devices, and soon. Further, the ability to email the unit addresses from home provides a way around the most frustrating step in employing most GPS devices.”
Popular Mechanics’ technology reporting team selects the Editor’s Choice winners from among the 2,700 exhibitors at CES. Editor-in-Chief James Meigs presented Magellan with its award at a private ceremony at the Las Vegas Convention Center yesterday.
“We are honored to have been recognized by Popular Mechanics magazine as having one of most outstanding products at CES ’08,” said Christian Bubenheim, vice president of marketing, Magellan. “The Maestro Elite series reflects the next generation of personal navigation devices, where connectivity to the most updated maps and access to the richest pool of information – the Internet – is delivered in a way that’s relevant to people on the move. Our new, OneTouch user interface, the ability for people to send messages to and track the location of the GPS device directly from a PC, the enhanced local search feature, integrated live traffic service, and our proprietary routing engine make the Maestro Elite 5340+GPRS an ideal navigation option for demanding for consumers this spring.”
The Maestro Elite 5340+GPRS is scheduled to be available at retailers in spring 2008 for an estimated MSRP of $1,299.
About Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics (www.popularmechanics.com) is a magazine that helps readers master the modern world. In addition to providing hands-on coverage of personal technology, cars and home improvement, PM reports in depth on the science and technology behind major issues -- including such stories as disaster planning, hydrogen fuel and other energy alternatives, military expenditures, and digital privacy. Each month, nearly 9 million readers turn for advice and news to the magazine’s editors and contributors, including the likes of Jay Leno, astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Tom Jones, and roboticist Daniel H. Wilson. In addition to its U.S. flagship, Popular Mechanics publishes 12 editions around the world. Popular Mechanics is published by Hearst Magazines, a unit of Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com) and one of the world’s largest publishers of monthly magazines, with nearly 200 editions around the world, including 19 U.S. titles and 20 magazines in the United Kingdom, published through its wholly owned subsidiary, The National Magazine Company Limited. Hearst reaches more adults than any other publisher of monthly magazines (74.1 million total adults, according to MRI, spring 07).
About Magellan
Magellan allows people to travel, work and play their way with leading portable navigation and positioning solutions across multiple consumer and business-to-business markets. Recognized as an industry innovator, the company is the creator of the award-winning Magellan RoadMate® series portable car navigation systems, Maestro, CrossoverGPS™, the Magellan Triton™ outdoor handheld navigation devices, the Hertz® NeverLost® car navigation system and ProMark™, the best-selling single frequency GPS survey product line on the market. Magellan is privately held and headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. For more information on Magellan, visit http://www.magellangps.com.