Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced the GPSMAP 640 – an ultra portable and rugged touchscreen navigator that comes preloaded with a comprehensive set of street maps and marine charts. Garmin also introduced the GPSMAP 620, which shares the same intuitive interface and is designed for markets outside the United States.

“Blending the best aspects of our popular portable marine units with the intuitive user interface of our automotive flagship line of nüvi® navigators, the GPSMAP 600 series is the perfect tool in the boat and on the road,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales.

Portable and powerful, the GPSMAP 600 series features a high-sensitivity GPS receiver and boasts an intuitive, waterproof (IPX7) super-bright 5.2” WVGA touchscreen display (800 x 480 pixels) that reacts as users tap or drag through intuitive menus and options. The GPSMAP 640 comes preloaded with comprehensive street maps of North America and worldwide shaded relief mapping in addition to detailed U.S. coastal BlueChart® g2™ charts. When placed in its included marine mount, these new portables will automatically start up in marine mode, presenting chart features such as shaded depth contours, port plans, wrecks, restricted areas and more.

With optional BlueChart g2 Vision™ technology, the GPSMAP 640 provides a true 3-D “mariner’s eye view,” for a navigation perspective above the waterline, and a “fish eye view” for an underwater 3D bathymetric contour perspective. Mariners will also benefit from the auto guidance technology the g2 Vision data card enables that suggests the best navigational route. In addition, photo references give detailed aerial views of points of interest (POI) such as ports, marinas, waterways and landmarks.

When boaters are ready to pack up and hit the road, the GPSMAP 640 effortlessly snaps off its marine mount and, when placed in the automotive mount, quickly transitions into a robust automotive navigator. On the road, this device gives voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions, advising you to “Turn right on Main Street.” In planning a route, users can search for a local bait shop or the best resorts around town and the GPSMAP will lead the way. With the GPSMAP 640, users can also create custom POIs and set up proximity alerts for the ultimate in driver awareness.

Additionally, with the GXM 40 antenna (sold separately), the GPSMAP 640 can graphically display XM WX Satellite Weather™ data directly on the unit’s display.