Hasta La Gadget!

TomTom GO 740 LIVE: Directions? Check. Live traffic? Check. Google Search? Weather? Voice recognition? Check, check, check. (http://tinyurl.com/orhawa)

We haven’t seen anything new from Mio in the U.S. since parent company MiTAC purchased Magellan in December, 2008. Last we heard, in fact, was in April, when the company responded to a GPS Business News article that it was leaving the U.S. market by insisting that no, it wasn’t. Today we see proof of that, as Mio releases two new navigators for North America.

The Mio Moov S401 will offer a 4.3-inch screen, a 4 million POI database, and list for $179.99; the Mio Moov S501 will have a 4.7-inch screen, a 12 million POI database, and go for $199.99. Both will offer the company’s new Spirit software which is designed to make search and navigation simple. These two can navigate to geo-tagged photos and will support keyword POI search, for when you don’t know a destination’s exact name.

These look like smart additions to the lineup, offering big screens and useful features at bargain prices. Buyers have shown they’re mostly interested in low-cost GPS navigators. While the U.S. market has grown increasingly competitive (Navigon just pulled out of the U.S. due to shrinking margins) we predict these units will find plenty of buyers when they’re released in June.

Fare thee well, gentle friend. Those of us who cover GPS devices knew something was up: Navigon PR visited New York City on April 20th for three days of press demos, but unexpectedly flew back to Chicago that night, cancelling most appointments. The inside word was that something big was happening, but no one was saying what.

That question was answered this morning when Navigon announced it was leaving the PND (personal navigation device) market in North America. Speaking to GPS Business News, Navigon’s CEO Egon Minar said, “Due to the difficult economic environment and the aggressive pricing we have decided to withdraw from the PND business in North America for the time being. We are however not closing down our Chicago office which will continue to serve our automotive and mobile phone businesses in North America.”

It’s a surprising end for a company that made a big splash in a short time. Navigon entered the North American market in September 2007 and quickly muscled its way into the number four spot thanks to attractive designs and envelope-pushing features.

North American buyers have increasingly gone after bargain-priced bare-bones GPS devices rather than premium models, and profit margins have become increasingly thin. As cell phone navigation picks up this summer, with turn-by-turn directions coming to the iPhone and Garmin finally releasing the Nuvifone, PND makers will have to battle for a shrinking audience.

Garmin has launched the nüvi 1490T, an ultra-thin nav unit with a 5-inch touchscreen. It includes free, lifetime, NAVTEQ-powered traffic alerts, plus a lane assist mode with junction view for navigating tough, unfamiliar intersections with multiple choices.

The 1490T also displays road signs and big arrows to indicate which path to follow. The device also supports multi-point routing for up to 10 routes, along with a time zone transition feature and a speed limit indicator for the current road.

Finally, the 1490T’s ecoRoute mode lets you choose the one that uses the least amount of fuel, as well as the usual options for fastest, shortest, and other choices. Most of the features I listed (with the exception of traffic alerts) aren’t yet available on cell phone GPS products, so at least they go a ways toward justifying the $499 Garmin wants for the 1490T. Look for it in stores beginning in July.

For $200 you’d expect to get from Point A to Point B–and that’s about it. TomTom’s One 140-S (http://tinyurl.com/c6todl) makes it okay to expect a lot more.