Big-box stores and online retailers love to chop prices on consumer electronics as crowd draws for Black Friday, and GPS devices are in the mix this year. Walmart joined with TomTom to make news by breaking the $60 barrier, for the special edition TomTom 125-SE GPS with a 3.5-inch screen (shown here with its folding EasyPort mount), and $89 for the TomTom XL325-SE with a 4.3-inch screen. Keep in mind, though that neither of these has text-to-speech directions (as opposed to "spoken" directions, which don't give specific street names). Best Buy is busting the $90 and $100 barriers with the Magellan SE4 (with text-to-speech), and Garmin Nuvi 205W, both with 4.3-inch screens. Not be left out, Amazon.com has multiple models under $100, and if you're looking for a higher-end GPS, Amazon is chopping $100+ off many models. Expect big percentage cuts on handheld and other special-purpose GPS devices, as well. Not surprisingly, the consumer is in the driver's seat this Black Friday, and many retailers are extending deals beyond the big day. You may encounter out-of-stocks if you wait, though. Image © TomTom

More than 25,000 GPS devices are reported stolen from vehicles each year, making GPS among the items most frequently taken. Even worse, GPS thefts are often smash-a-window-and-grab style robberies, resulting in high repair costs and hassles for the vehicle owner. GPS thefts increase each year as the holidays approach. In short, the quick $25 to $50 street value of a stolen GPS is a very tempting target for thieves, and a problem for car GPS users. Read on for simple steps you can take to deter GPS thieves and enhance your safety.

Just a few short weeks ago, there were no GPS options for Apple's iPod Touch music-and-apps touchscreen device. Then Dual Electronics announced a GPS cradle for the Touch, and TomTom followed soon after with its new Car Kit for the Touch, shown here. The $99 Car Kit, to be available soon in the U.S., has a built-in GPS chip, charging dock, built-in speaker, and audio jack. The Car Kit mounts your Touch on the dashboard or windshield while it runs the $99 TomTom for iPhone turn-by-turn navigation app, which is now iPod Touch-compatible. The Touch will make a good navigation device paired with TomTom's software, since you download all maps and a points-of-interest database with the app. The Touch lacks always-on connectivity (when you're out of WiFi range, for example), limiting it to GPS apps that don't need a constant Internet connection. Image © TomTom

Screen size is one of the advantages of a dedicated GPS device over smartphone navigation apps. TomTom plays the screen size card to the max with its new, two-model XXL line. I road test, rate and review the TomTom XXL 530S, which features a 5-inch (diagonal) touchscreen. Image © TomTom

Magellan, the number three car GPS maker for the U.S. market, just jumped into the iPhone turn-by-turn navigation fray with its RoadMate 2010 North America for iPhone 3G and 3GS (intro price: $79.99). The new RoadMate features true text-to-speech directions, a customizable, one-touch favorites menu, lane assist, 3D landmarks, and in-app music control. RoadMate 2010 stores its NavTeq maps and points-of-interest database on the iPhone, so it is a 1.36 GB file. Check your available storage before you buy. Magellan will also be introducing a new car kit/windshield mount ($129) in December that includes a supplemental GPS chip, a speaker, and Bluetooth for hands-free calling. Image © Magellan

Smartphone turn-by-turn GPS navigation has quickly grown into a robust product category with lots of options for consumers. Should you invest in a smartphone navigation package, or go for a dedicated GPS device from a leading manufacturer, such as Garmin or TomTom? Here, we list the pros and cons for each technology, and provide you with five factors to help you decide.

Since iPhone nav apps for turn-by-turn navigation first hit the market, I've contended that they're not of much use without a charging windshield mount. There are a number of mounts on the market, but TomTom promised to exceed them all with a dedicated mount including a built-in supplemental GPS chip, speaker, charger port, audio line-out jack, and more. I've taken some test drives with the new TomTom Car Kit, and it delivers on the promise of superior performance. Read on for the test drive/review. Image © TomTom

I lamented the lack of built-in GPS with the introduction of the last two versions of Apple's iPod Touch, but understood Apple's reasoning. Many GPS apps won't work properly without the "always online" connectivity of an iPhone.

But that hasn't stopped user demand for iPod Touch GPS, and two companies recently announced GPS solutions for the Touch. The biggest news comes from a partnership of Florida-based gadget maker, Dual Electronics, and digital map maker Navteq. Dual's new, $179, XGSP300 GPS cradle for the Touch (to be available in "late November" 2009), pairs with a free NavAtlas app (not yet available in the App Store) to provide turn-by-turn directions, complete with text-to-speech, and on-board maps for the Touch. Also coming up from Dual is a car windshield mount and charging cable. This is an impressive package, and I like the fact that the GPS cradle doubles as a charge extender and speaker. Navteq will provide high-quality maps and directions, also. Check out Dual's XGSP300 site for more details and a video.

In another iPod Touch GPS announcement, PosiMotion has launched a new app called Navmii ($32.99, UK only so far, other maps "coming soon") that works with a G-Fi mobile GPS/router device. Image © Dual

Germany-based Navigon International pulled out of the North American GPS hardware market last year to focus on offering a "MobileNavigator" iPhone turn-by-turn navigation app. The app, which sells for $89.99 (North America version) has been well-received, but lacked real-time traffic detection and avoidance. That's been corrected in the just-released version 1.3.0 with the introduction of Navigon Traffic Live. Real-time traffic is selling as a $24.99 in-app purchase (limited-time intro price: $19.99). There will be no monthly fee in addition to the initial cost for traffic. Traffic Live includes on-screen alerts, color-coded traffic flow, and alternate routes. It also crowdsources traffic by gathering speed data anonymously from other Navigon users who have opted in. Image © Navigon

GPS capability is being added to an increasing number of devices, but is still rare in laptop and netbook computers. Dell offers a built-in GPS chip option in its Mini 10 netbook computer with its $499 "Travel Mini" version. What does GPS bring to the table, and is it worth having? I tried out and traveled with a Mini 10 to find out. Image © Dell