The good news for consumers: Small, portable satellite-based guidance units are getting much more capable. Our most-recent tests and Ratings of GPS units show that many will do more than just guide you from point A to point B. For example, the Magellan Maestro 4050 (Click on image at right to see a close-up.) responds to a driver's spoken commands. Watch our video (Adobe Flash required) to see the Maestro in action.

Our colleagues who cover Cars for Consumer Reports have discovered at the recent SEMA trade show even more snazzy GPS units that are either already in stores or coming soon. Some examples:

• The Panasonic Strada CN-GP50U, which features a built-in, 2-megapixel digital camera.


• The TomTom 920, which can call for emergency help, just like the OnStar service on GM cars.


• The Garmin Nuvi 700 series, which remembers where you parked your car.

As these and other GPS units hit the store shelves at even cheaper prices than last year's models, portable navigation devices could become hot ticket items for this year's holiday shoppers.

—Paul Eng