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Magellan RoadMate 3065 gets a jump on traffic

The RoadMate 3065 Commuter is the flagship model of Magellan's 2010 line of GPS navigators. With its RDS traffic receiver with free lifetime traffic updates and Bluetooth hands-free speakerphone, it's already one of the most fully featured units in Magellan's current lineup.

However, the 3065 truly distinguishes itself from the rest of the line--and from any other GPS device we've tested--with its Traffic Wakeup feature. Once set, the RoadMate 3065 will attempt to capture a more complete snapshot of the traffic on your morning and afternoon commutes by booting itself ahead of time to download its … Read more

Hands-on with Magellan's waterproof, shockproof ToughCase for iPhone

Consider for a moment that the upcoming iPhone 4 is like the Iron Man of the mobile phone world: sleek, sexy, and powerful. Then an iPhone 3GS wrapped in Magellan's ToughCase would be akin to Iron Man's buddy War Machine: based on slightly older, but still powerful, technology and substantially upgraded with third-party features. OK, so the ToughCase may not add guns to your iPhone or iPod Touch, but that doesn't make it any less ready to tackle almost anything you can throw at it.

Just looking at the ToughCase, it's obvious that this accessory adds considerable bulk and heft to the enclosed iPhone. At just less than 2 inches thick and weighing in at 7.5 ounces, you can all but forget about cramming this case into your pocket. Fortunately, Magellan will ship the ToughCase with a belt clip. There will also be an array of handlebar, windshield, and universal mounts available.

For the increased heft, the ToughCase adds weatherproofing, an extended battery, and--because this is a Magellan product--a more accurate GPS receiver to your iPhone. Starting with the shell itself, the ToughCase is shockproof and IPX-7 waterproof, which means it can be submerged in up to 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes without damage to the enclosed device. We tossed an iPhone encased in a preproduction example of the ToughCase down a flight of stairs and found no damage upon recovery. We were unable to test the waterproofing claim of the preproduction unit, but rest assured we'll be dunking the retail version when it becomes available.… Read more