IranMap

If you recently updated your Garmin Firmware and i essentially killed your GPS, the fix is here. Garmin has posted fixes and FAQ’s all over the place to get you back and running via “Mandatory” updates; shouldn’t have let that first one out the door, but hats off to Garmin for getting a fix out quickly. The good news is that for many, it’s a simple update, the bad news for some is that you need to send the unit back in for repair. From Garmin’s Blog:

“Garmin nüvi 7×5 series products that are no longer able to acquire a GPS satellite signal may download a firmware update immediately that will correct the software issue. This firmware update may be downloaded using Garmin’s WebUpdater.

Garmin nüvi 7×5 customers who are no longer able to power on their GPS device will need to visit www.garmin.com/support, and select the first FAQ titled “My nüvi 755T, 765T, 775T or 785T is giving me the message ‘Updating GPS Firmware’ or will no longer power on…” Customers will then need to follow the instructions to request a return authorization so that the device may be repaired under warranty. ”

If you are having trouble, start a the Garmin Blog, then move to the proper download or FAQ page.

Garmin has now introduced the Garmin Zumo 660 Satellite Navigator especially for motorbike users. This compact sat nav has a dimension of 13.5 x 8.4 x 2.3 cm and a weight of 270 grams. It provides a wide 4.3-inch touch screen display with a resolution of 480×272 pixels. The Garmin Zumo 660 Motorbike Satellite Navigator is powered by a removable rechargeable lithium-ion battery that offers a life of 5 hours. It is waterproof, provides IPX7 standard.

Its internal antenna is integrated with a highly sensitive receiver. Although, it has an internal solid state memory, it provides microSD card compatibility that can be used to increase the memory capacity.

Garmin Zumo 660 Satellite Navigator includes the basemap of Europe and provides the facility to add more maps. It allows you to save 1000 waypoints and 20 preplanned routes. Navigational guidance offers timely voice directions and spoken street and junction names. The major landmarks and buildings are displayed in 3D formats. Routes can be calculated for multiple destinations in one go. You can also compute route to avoid tolls and highways. Though it comes with preloaded points of interest, you have an option of adding customised pois. Its lane assist function guides you through the correct lane on a highway. The speed limit indicator alerts you on exceeding the specified speed of the region.

Garmin Zumo 660 Portable Satellite Navigator comes with Bluetooth compatibility that allows you to make and receive hands free calls. Its multimedia features include an MP3 player and a picture viewer. Thus this GPS unit can be converted into a portable music player and photo viewer while you are not using it for navigational purposes. The Zumo 660 box consists of a motorcycle mount, a carrying case, a battery pack, an automotive suction cup mount, a USB cable, an automotive power cable, a dashboard disc and a quick start user’s manual.

Persian (Farsi) added to Google Translate. This means you can now translate any text from Persian into English and from English into Persian — whether it’s a news story, a website, a blog, an email, a tweet or a Facebook message. The service is available free at http://translate.google.com.

We feel that launching Persian is particularly important now, given ongoing events in Iran. Like YouTube and other services, Google Translate is one more tool that Persian speakers can use to communicate directly to the world, and vice versa — increasing everyone’s access to information.

As with all machine translation, it’s not perfect yet. And we’re launching this service quickly, so it may perform slowly at times. We’ll keep a close watch and if it breaks, we’ll restore service as quickly as we can.

We’ve optimized this service for translation between Persian and English. But we’re working hard to improve Persian translation for the additional 40 languages available via Google Translate. If you see something you think is incorrectly translated, we invite you to click on the “contribute a better translation” link and we’ll learn from your correction.

The web provides many new channels of communication that enable us to see events unfold in real-time around the world. We hope that Google Translate helps make all that information accessible to you — no matter what language you speak. So please visit Google Translate and try it out.

Franz Och, Google Principal Scientist