Garmin have announced the Garmin Mobile XT, a set of maps and software all squeezed into a microSD card. The Mobile XT is designed to turn smartphones with GPS into full blown Garmin Navigators. Of course, smartphone with GPS already have maps and navigation software built-in - what's the point of adding GPS if you don't supply the software to use it?

But where the Garmin Mobile XT aims to add value is by providing superior maps and navigation software, plus real-time traffic alerts and fuel prices.

In addition, the Mobile XT will also offer PeerPoints, which lets users send their position to any other phone and then provide a route to it.

The Mobile XT costs $99, but I'm not sure how well it will sell. The Nokia N95, a GPS-equipped smartphone, already comes with its own equivalent of PeerPoints, and the mapping database squeezed into the Mobile XT comes from Navteq - which Nokia has just bought!

The Mobile XT seems to be a way for Garmin to strike back at the mobile phone manufacturers who are encroaching on its territory. However, it also acts to blur the lines between mobile phones and GPS devices even further. Whether stand alone GPS devices will survive the onslaught of mobile phones into their market remains to be seen.

[Source: Navigadget]