I think the standalone GPS device is all but dead – I’m a pessimist that way and I know that your parents and mine both use standalone GPSes but that’s because we never showed them how to use the ones on their phones – but Garmin is still churning out some nice-looking models.

The members of the new 3700 series, consisting of the nüvi 3790T, nüvi 3760T and nüvi 3750, have multi-touch gestures as well as better speakers. The 3790T, the big daddy in this little dystopian GPS underworld, has:

With a customizable “wake-up phrase” to initiate voice-activated navigation, nüvi 3790T lets you tell it what to do and where to go while you keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road.
• And the road ahead never looked so realistic, thanks to the unprecedented details of 3D terrain and 3D buildings. Whether you’re heading for rolling hills or urban canyons, the shaded topography and realistic landmarks provide unrivaled context and enhanced situational awareness.

Best of all, the devices also have a “predicted destination” system called MyTrends. The device looks at where you tend to be and then starts looking only in those areas unless you tell it otherwise. In this way it can predict where you’re going and, in the end, take you there without you knowing it.

No pricing yet.

via Garmin

One of the most frequent causes of accidents on the road is the use of cell phones or car phones, and this is because the use of a cell phone while driving is distracting, and research has shown that people cannot concentrate on driving and using the phone at the same time, because their brains have to switch rapidly between the two functions and when this happens it is hard to concentrate on both. That is why it is better to just tell someone that you will call them back or pull over and that way you will not be endangering yourself and everyone else in your car as well as other people on the road by trying to do two incompatible things at once. Eating is another danger because you will be distracted and one of the most important things that keeps people safe from potential accidents is awareness and reaction time, which is affected when you are trying to do more than just drive, which already involves a lot of activities. If you use your mirrors and don’t turn around you will be more aware and have faster reactions. Keep both of your hands on the wheel so you can react and turn faster too.