As usual, the rumor mill is hard at work with the release of the second-gen iPhone in July.  According to Engadget’s source:

• The first thing people will notice: the 2nd gen iPhone will be about the same size and shape as the first gen.
• It will, of course, have 3G. And proper GPS!
• The most noticeable physical difference is back of the phone is no longer metal — the whole thing is glossy black, from top to bottom. The volume buttons are now chrome.
• Because it’s got a little less metal to deal with, it doesn’t have quite as many angular edges. The battery is (still) not removable.
• The phone itself will be slightly thicker than the first gen device.
• The headphone jack will no longer be recessed, and will finally be flush with the body.
• The device itself uses roughly the same size and resolution screen as the first generation product.
• No solid word on battery life or storage capacity.

I did an extensive comparison between all the high-end Garmin models and think that the nuvi 680 is the way to go. Its a steal at Costco. List was around $900 and the lowest price I found online was around $600. Then I found it at Costco for $479.99. Done. Purchased it. I have an Apple iPhone and was amazed how well the 680 integrated with the iPhone. The call coming in is very visible. The Bluetooth functionality on the 680 is great and when you incorporate it with the FM transmitter, its makes the iPhone experience that much better. It comes with a free 1 year subscription to MSN Direct which adds realtime traffic, weather, gas pricing, and movie times to the nuvi 680 with its built-in MSN Direct antenna in the car charger. For full details on all the specs and images of the Garmin nuvi 680, check out their site.

Tags: 680, garmin, nuvi, gps