The art of Garmin’s Masterpiece

The new Garmin nuvi 3790LT navigation device, launched today in Johannesburg, would not look shabby alongside an iPhone, and in fact includes some distinctly iPhone-type elements, from design to capacitive touch-screen that allows tap- and pimnch-zoom. Gadget will review it shortly but, meanwhile, see what Garmin has to say about it.

Garmin Distribution Africa has introduced its own interpretation of art combined with navigation technology in the carefully crafted nüvi 3790LT GPS navigator.

The nüvi 3790LT is introduced as the automotive GPS with style, substance and personality. This new blade like design is just 8.77mm thin, making it the thinnest portable navigator on the market.

The n√ºvi 3790LT is packed with features like a gesture-controlled multi-touch capacitive screen, myTrends technology which predicts routes based on user’s navigation behaviour, voice-activated navigation, 3D buildings and terrain, Lane Assist and Junction View (where coverage exists in South Africa), City Navigator South African NavTech maps with 60-day n√ºMaps guarantee, hands-free calling and subscription-free Lifetime Traffic alerts (for the lifetime of the device or service provider). Dual-orientation capabilities mean you can choose how you see the route ahead ‚ simply flip the n√ºvi from portrait-to-landscape while walking or in the car to view any way you want, the display is a smooth glass design with a crisp 800×480 pixel LCD.

With the capacitive multi-touch technology, a first for Garmin, allows users to ‚slide‚ , ‚tap‚ and ‚pinch‚ to zoom in and out and browse surrounding areas just by dragging a finger on the gesture-controlled screen.

Voice prompts while driving are delivered crisp and clear due to a secondary speaker located on the powered mount, offering the highest sound quality.

Experience nüRoutes navigation with this ultra-intelligent GPS, tailored to the needs of the user enabling them to find the best route available. With myTrends advanced routing capabilities, nüvi memorises your driving habits and recognises your favourite destinations to predict where you‟re going. This saves time manually activating a route on repeat journeys and refines your route-planning based on previous trips. So whether you‟re driving to and from work or to a regular weekly event, your nüvi 3790LT will help you get there on time.

Experience a completely voice-controlled navigation from the word ‚Äûgo‚Äü. Simply set your own custom ‚wake-up‚ command to activate speech-recognition mode and the n√ºvi 3790LT acts on your spoken instruction for a totally hands-free navigation. Give the n√ºvi 3790LT a name, tell it where you want to go and it will design a route specifically for you.

Navigate tricky junctions with Lane Assist and Junction View (where coverage exists in South Africa) for upcoming exits and junctions on your route. The n√ºvi 3790LT indicates the correct lane choice of what is up ahead. See generic road signs with arrows guiding you to the correct lane for your onward journey. Flip n√ºvi from landscape-to-portrait to see Junction View in split-screen for exceptional clarity. Combined with n√ºvi 3790T’s 3D terrain detail and contours, buildings, landmarks and the road ahead has never looked so vivid.

Drive safely and legally with Garmin‚Äüs unique Cyclops safety cameras which are built in, giving real-time, reliable and accurate alerts, over speed warning and speed limit information as you approach one of hundreds of fixed, mobile, variable limit and temporary safety cameras. New or moved cameras are constantly tracked and the central database is updated by Cyclops regularly for subscribed users.

The nüvi 3790T marks your parked position as a point on the map when removed from the car mount to guide you back there on foot. It also finds the nearest parking to your location for the ultimate convenience. Increased safety features include the Garmin Lock anti-theft protection system that uses GPS to lock the unit to a secure location of your choice.

Make Hands-free Calls with the integrated Bluetooth wireless technology by means of a built-in microphone and speaker letting you make hands-free calls while giving the road your full attention. Simply dial numbers on the touchscreen or tap the display and speak into the built-in microphone to take incoming calls. Enjoy convenient one-touch dialling of your phone book contacts and Points of Interest (POI), all with enhanced sound quality though the dedicated car mount loud speaker.

Steer clear of traffic with the integrated traffic receiver and subscription-free, Lifetime Traffic updates (for the lifetime of the device or service provider). Receive alerts about traffic delays that lie ahead on your route, then simply touch the traffic icon on the map screen to view traffic details or detour around the problem area.

The n√ºvi 3790LT has an intuitive interface that greets you with two simple questions: “Where To?”” and “”View Map.”” Touch the capacitive colour screen to easily look up addresses and services and get voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions with spoken street names for extra route awareness with no need to look at the screen. Garmin‚Äüs new Trip Planner feature provides a multi-route preview so you can visually compare the available routes before selecting your preferred journey. With n√ºvi 3790LT‚ s enhanced user interface, you can slide your finger to conveniently scroll between screens and with HotFix satellite prediction n√ºvi calculates your position faster to get you there quicker.

Besides the advanced features you’d expect from a flagship Garmin GPS, n√ºvi 3790LT goes beyond navigation. The ecoRoute petrol-saving feature calculates a more fuel-efficient route, tracks petrol usage and enables expense reporting through Microsoft Excel. The n√ºvi 3790T is packed with travel tools including a JPEG picture viewer, world travel clock with time zones, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator and more.

The Garmin Master nüvi 3790LT retails for R 4 315

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