June 21, 1999

Garmin® Announces Mapping Made Easy

Leading GPS manufacturer packs cartography into two handy and affordable CD-ROMs

OLATHE, Kan. – Garmin International, the leading manufacturer of consumer GPS products, introduces a streamlined way to bring additional map data to compatible Garmin GPS. Garmin announces the creation of U.S. Topo MapSource® CD and the MetroGuide® U.S.A. MapSource CD-ROM.

Both CD-ROMs are designed to provide Garmin users with the most mapping data available in one easy-to-use and cost effective format.

"We've really taken our customer's needs into consideration when designing these two products," said Gary Kelley, director of marketing, Garmin International. "By storing map data on CD-ROMs, we are able to offer our customers a larger quantity of information at a very affordable price."

Both U.S. Topo and MetroGuide U.S.A. join an impressive line of MapSource CD-ROMs that includes U.S. Roads and Recreation and WorldMap. The topographic maps featured on U.S. Topo provide terrain contour and elevation information, which is often used by hikers, skiers, hunters or any outdoor enthusiast. The U.S. Topo CD includes digital topographic map data that shows highways, roads, trails, elevation contours, point elevations, streams, rivers, geographic names, summits, churches and schools. What's more, with U.S. Topo, mariners can view navigation aids such as daybeacons, radiobeacons, RACONS, fog signals, lights and buoys. The CD-ROM information will even display locations of wrecks and obstructions.

With MapSource, you can zoom in and out for additional detail. Once you've identified your geographic area of interest, simply highlight the region and either download the information to your GPS or save it for future reference.

The MetroGuide U.S.A. CD-ROM is designed for use with Garmin's StreetPilot® GPS and StreetPilot GPS ColorMap. With this product, Garmin has taken the street-level detail, addresses and points of interest information currently found on individual MetroGuide cartridges and loaded it onto one convenient CD, thus eliminating the need to purchase several city-specific cartridges. Once the information is downloaded onto your StreetPilot, you can look up points of interests such as restaurants, service stations and hotels, as well as specific addresses. Garmin will continue to manufacture MetroGuide cartridges for those customers who do not have access to a computer.

The U.S. Topo MapSource CD-ROM is currently available at a suggested list price of $129. The MetroGuide U.S.A. CD will be available in July 1999 at a suggested list price of $199 and will include a blank cartridge for storing data.