Magellan earned an "Editor’s Choice" award from Popular Mechanics magazine for Magellan’s Maestro Elite 5340+GPRS auto navigation unit featuring Google Local Search that enables users to get deep, location-specific information on the go. The Maestro Elite 5340+GPRS was chosen by Popular Mechanics editors as one of the top 20 products at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), where Magellan is previewing the unit this week.

Accessible on the Maestro Elite 5340+GPRS connected navigation device is Google's real-time local search enabling users to search the Web for businesses in a specific neighborhood, providing detailed, Internet-based information about those businesses. Through the new Maestro Elite 5340’s wireless GPRS connection, Magellan delivers real-time traffic information, local weather forecasts, and makes it possible for users to wirelessly send addresses and notes to the GPS device directly from a PC with an internet connection.

Popular Mechanics said in its coverage of CES on http://www.popularmechanics.com, “The Maestro Elite marks a milepost in the development of location-based computing, filtering the near-infinite information available online to give you exactly what you need, where (and when) you need it. The same sort of functionality is destined to come to handheld devices, and soon. Further, the ability to email the unit addresses from home provides a way around the most frustrating step in employing most GPS devices.�

Popular Mechanics’ technology reporting team selects the Editor’s Choice winners from among the 2,700 exhibitors at CES. Editor-in-Chief James Meigs presented Magellan with its award at a private ceremony at the Las Vegas Convention Center yesterday.

“We are honored to have been recognized by Popular Mechanics magazine as having one of most outstanding products at CES ’08,� said Christian Bubenheim, vice president of marketing, Magellan. “The Maestro Elite series reflects the next generation of personal navigation devices, where connectivity to the most updated maps and access to the richest pool of information – the Internet – is delivered in a way that’s relevant to people on the move. Our new, OneTouch user interface, the ability for people to send messages to and track the location of the GPS device directly from a PC, the enhanced local search feature, integrated live traffic service, and our proprietary routing engine make the Maestro Elite 5340+GPRS an ideal navigation option for demanding for consumers this spring.�

The Maestro Elite 5340+GPRS is scheduled to be available at retailers in spring 2008 for an estimated MSRP of $1,299.

Source: Magellan press release