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For over a year, Garmin International's iQue 3600 stood alone as the only PDA to integrate a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver right into the device. The Palm-based handheld brought satellite-based mapping and positioning to a handheld everyone could use.

Then back in July, Garmin introduced its second Palm OS GPS handheld, the iQue 3200, while competitors Navman and d-MediaSystems unveiled PiN (see Navman Pocket PC Gets You from Point A to B) and the In-View N-911, respectively—the first Pocket PCs to ship with integrated GPS receivers.

Today, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Garmin finally answered the Pocket PC challenge with a new handheld of its own, the iQue M5.

Garmin Director of Marketing Gary Kelley asserts, "The iQue M5 delivers the robust features of an in-car navigation system with the portable convenience of a powerful and lightweight Pocket PC. The combination of Pocket PC software, location technology and Bluetooth connectivity on the iQue M5 gives users the flexibility with a single device to stay on task and on course in their workaday world."

The iQue M5 features Microsoft's latest Pocket PC software, Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, which supports portrait and landscape viewing, especially useful for looking at maps. It runs on a 416-MHz Intel PXA272 processor and integrates 64MB of RAM, 64MB of ROM, and data back-up protection. Bluetooth lets users establish a personal-area network with computer systems and Bluetooth-enabled devices such as mobile phones, other PDAs, and printers.

GPS Features
Featuring a built-in basemap of North and South America, Garmin said the iQue M5 shows major highways, thoroughfares, railways, lakes, rivers and borders. The company includes its MapSource City Select CD, so users can download detailed street-level map data, look up more than five million points of interest (POI), and navigate to an address in the U.S. and Canada.

You can also add a European or Pacific Rim basemap from the installation CD. International versions of the iQue M5 will feature respective basemaps, mapping software and language support. The integrated Que applications let you see where you are on an electronic map, look up a point of interest and route to it, and follow voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions to a selected destination.

If you miss a turn, the iQue M5 automatically recalculates a new route to get them back on track. Advanced routing features include the ability to specify roadways to avoid and find POIs near the current route. You can even attach a "location stamp" to a profile in your contact database or appointment calendar and navigate directly to these addresses.

More Features
The GPS antenna on the iQue M5 folds flush with the back of the unit when not in use, making the 5.0 x 2.8 x 0.74-inch and 5.2 ounce device more compact. The unit's 240 x 320 pixel resolution, 65,536 color display measures 3.5 inches diagonally.

Garmin asserts the iQUE M5's 1,250-mAh replaceable lithium-polymer battery delivers 5-7 hours of continuous power. The company bundles a cradle, automotive mount with speaker, a 12-volt car adapter, and a flip cover in the package.

iQUE M5 should go on sale by the end of the month for $750.

How GPS Works
GPS gathers pulsed signals from as many of the two dozen or so GPS satellites orbiting the earth as it can lock in. Using triangulation -- by measuring and comparing the travel time of individual signals -- the receiver calculates its position, and it's accurate to within twenty yards or so.