NEWS: Ooh! Ooh! Magellan turns GPS phone-sexy

Magellan has announced a brand new range featuring touch-screens, digital cameras, topographical mapping capability and integration with a new desktop application called VantagePoint. As if to reverse the trend of top-end phones poaching GPS technology, the latest 'Triton' range steals ideas from the latest phones, bringing a 2.7-inch QVGA touch screen, built-in 2 megapixel camera, SD card slot and voice recorder to the Triton 2000 top-end unit. The new GPSs are also completely waterproof. Prices range from $129 to $499 and all but the cheapest have upgradeable mapping. In the US Magellan has partnered with the National Geographic to offer topographical mapping for the first time on a dedicated GPS handset. Hmmm... camera, plus GPS: could this be the start of real-photo route-directions, via geo-located photos shared via the web? Details of the range, which hits the US first in September are:

Triton 2000 $500

* 2.7-inch QVGA color touch screen
* built-in 2MP camera
* built-in base maps
* uploadable maps using Magellan's new (free) VantagePoint software
* SD card slot
* electronic compass and barometer
* speaker and microphone
* LED flashlight
* waterproof to IPX-7 standards

Triton 1500 $400

* 2.7-inch QVGA color touch screen
* built-in base maps
* uploadable maps using VantagePoint software
* SD card slot
* speaker and microphone
* flashlight
* waterproof to IPX-7 standards

Triton 500 $250

* more compact-sized
* 2.2-inch QVGA color screen
* SD card slot
* uploadable maps using VantagePoint software
* built-in base maps
* electronic compass and barometer
* waterproof to IPX-7 standards

Triton 400 $200 (pictured)

* 2.2-inch QVGA color screen
* SD card slot
* built-in base maps
* pointer and compass screen
* waterproof to IPX-7 standards
* uploadable maps using VantagePoint software

Triton 300 $150

* 2.2-inch QVGA color screen
* built-in base maps
* waterproof to IPX-7 design
* pointer and compass screen
* uploadable maps using VantagePoint software
* 10 MB of memory for map storage

Triton 200 $130

* 2.2-inch QVGA color screen
* built-in base maps
* waterproof to IPX-7 design
* pointer and compass screen
* runs on two AA batteries

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