For Palm Treo smartphone users and GPS enthusiasts, Palm announced the Palm GPS Navigator Smartphone Edition, featuring new TomTom NAVIGATOR 6 software. Drivers using the new GPS Navigator with their Treo smartphones can rely on voice-guided, turn-by-turn directions to easily find their destinations as well as millions of points of interest, including gas stations, restaurants, parks, airports and more.

Palm's new Bluetooth enabled SiRFstarIII GPS receiver, which features a sleek design and easier-to-see LED lights, seamlessly pairs with Palm Treo 650, Treo 700w and Treo 700p smartphones. The product is simple to set up, thanks to a 1GB memory card preloaded with maps. Travelers simply pop the memory card into their Treo smartphone and pair the GPS receiver to access highway and street-level maps covering the United States and Canada. No desktop syncing or downloading of maps is required. Using the smartphone's high-resolution screen, TomTom's NAVIGATOR 6 software automatically shows the receiver's (and hence, the car's) current location.

"The convergence of portable navigation devices is growing in the United States," said Jocelyn Vigreux, president of TomTom. "Palm's bundle offering with TomTom's new NAVIGATOR 6 software reflects our joint efforts to continue providing customers with essential smartphone solutions. The Treo smartphone series provides an ideal platform for portable navigation."

The Bluetooth technology-enabled receiver identifies the car's position using satellites. By communicating with the GPS receiver via Bluetooth, the Treo smartphone obtains real-time location information and displays 3-D maps on the Treo smartphone's high-resolution screen. After a destination has been programmed, TomTom NAVIGATOR gives voice-guided, turn-by-turn instructions in one of more than 30 available voices. It will also automatically recalculate a route after a wrong turn, avoid roadblocks or circumvent traffic congestion.