July 6 - 11:25am EDT   Magellan this morning officially unveiled its first significantly redesigned GPS unit in recent years. As seen at the FCC, the Maestro 4700 is significantly slimmer than most other models even with its larger 4.7-inch touchscreen. It's also Magellan's most advanced with 3D landscapes, Bluetooth calling and predictive traffic alerts that offers to reroute based on usual road congestion patterns. [full story]

June 9 - 11:05am EDT   Magellan today produced a quick but important hardware revision for its RoadMate line. The 1475T improves on the earlier 1470 with free traffic updates that help re-route drivers around congestion. Magellan's approach is ad-supported rather than subsidized and helps keep the GPS device's price down. [full story]

May 22 - 12:15pm EDT   Portable GPS system maker Magellan is likely to soon release its latest Maestro-series navigation device, the 4700, as it has just been spotted and passed tests at the FCC. Hard specs are still unofficial, but the user's manual (PDF) reveals it has a microSD memory card slot for adding multimedia content and a USB connection for charging and connecting to computers. The touchscreen is expected to be 4.7 inches in size, while Bluetooth connectivity with cellphones will allow for hands-free conversations while driving. [full story]

May 8 - 12:25pm EDT   Today's featured DealNN deal is on the Magellan RoadMate 1430 4.3-inch portable navigation system. It is regularly priced at $299.99, but for today only 6ave.com has reduced the price to $148 with FREE shipping. The RoadMate has a 4.3-inch color touchscreen display, turn-by-turn navigation, LIVE traffic capability, 6 million Points of Interest, text-to speech and more. [full story]

April 6 - 1:10pm EDT   Portable GPS unit maker Magellan at the CTIA show last week quietly showed off three new RoadMate devices with new features that were carried over from the flagship Maestro series. One of them, the 4.7-inch Magellan RoadMate 1470, is already available for purchase online at Amazon. This particular unit includes the company's OneTouch interface that provides shortcuts to favorite features and allows users to search for points of interest from the main display and not have to dig for them inside sub-menus. [full story]

December 15 - 10:05am EST   Personal GPS device maker Magellan Navigation announced on Monday that it will sell its consumer products division to MiTAC International, according to a report today. MiTAC is Magellan's competitor, as it makes its own GPS devices, including the Mio Knight Rider GPS. The deal is expected to close sometime in January, with more details as part of a more official, final announcement expected to be released before then, most likely at CES. [full story]

October 30 - 1:40pm EDT   Magellan on Thursday announced the release of its newest portable GPS navigation device, the Maestro 4350, with the company's new OneTouch interface meant to reduce driver distraction by allowing users to find the nearest favorite store or other point of interest with a single press of a virtual button. The 4.3-inch, 800x480 touchscreen device also uses Magellan's pedestrian mode, which helps users get to their destination on foot after having parked their car. [full story]

October 17 - 10:30am EDT   The Magellan Maestro Elite 4370 portable navigation device is now available on the company's website. The long-awaited GPS, which was originally promised to make its debut during the first quarter of 2008, features a 4.3-inch color touchscreen and includes what appears to be a new interface, with 3D buildings and a lane guidance system. The interface also includes a OneTouch function that can save searches, such as a favorite chain store, fast food place, coffee shop or gas station, then show users the closest one to their location with just one button-press. [full story]

January 7 - 4:20pm EST   Magellan this afternoon updated its GPS line with multiple new GPS units. As the beginner model, the RoadMate 1400 (pictured) is still noteworthy as the first widescreen, entry-level GPS: a 4.3-inch touchscreen helps see more of the road ahead and while typing out directions. It also keeps the 3D mode and (on the top-spec 1430) adds real-time traffic warnings with an auto-routing feature to duck around congestion. A basic 1400 model stats at $299 but climbs to $399 for the 1430. Similar 1200-series models with a 3.5-inch screen but similar features start out at $229. Launch dates for these models are unavailable. [full story]