PN-60w and SPOT Communicator: Question and Answer…

January 19, 2010

There have been a lot of great questions posted since our announcement at CES: DeLorme and SPOT—Handheld GPS Meets Satellite Communication. I’ve gone through our blog, our forum, and a few other locations writing answers and providing more detail. Sometimes it can be hard to keep track of all the information, so I thought I’d bring the answers back here to our blog to keep everyone informed.

Differences between the PN-40, PN-60, and PN-60w…

  • All the devices in the PN-Series line are built with the same form factor so don’t worry about your existing mounts, batteries, cables, or other accessories—they’ll still work.
  • The PN-Series devices all use the same screen and the same GPS chipset so expect the same daylight readability and fast acquisition times.
  • The PN-60 and PN-60w have an ambient light sensor to control the screen backlight and help with power management.
  • The PN-60 and PN-60w have 3.5 GB of internal memory compared to the 500 MB in the 40.
  • A PN-60wse to be sold directly from DeLorme will offer 8.0 16.0 GB of internal memory.
  • Improvements have been made increasing processor speed and USB transfer rates.
  • The PN-60w is the only device with a wireless antenna and the ability to connect to the SPOT Communicator.

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DeLorme and SPOT—Handheld GPS Meets Satellite Communication

January 6, 2010

Since word of our upcoming announcement is already trickling out, I thought I’d share a few details along with the press release that will be available at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

SPOT Communicator

As you may have heard, DeLorme has partnered with SPOT to release a new PN-Series GPS device that will use the SPOT satellite system to communicate text messages from remote locations where cell phones don’t have coverage. The PN-60w will connect wirelessly to the SPOT Communicator and be able to send free form text messages to friends and family as well as to websites like Twitter and Facebook. We’re also working closely with the folks at Groundspeak to deliver some very exciting geocaching features, including the ability to log finds directly from the field!


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