GPS for Weather Lovers

GPS systems are getting wackier and wackier. They play movies and music, show photos, and more, so here's the newest twist from the show floor at CES: the Bushnell Weather Tracker GPS. It'll access GPS, XM Satellite Radio's 170+ channels of music, sports and entertainment, and real-time XM WX Satellite Weather information. It's designed for outdoor enthusiasts, boaters and hikers.

Here's the cool stuff. The weather screen provides daily and multiday forecasts, and you even enter in an point of where you're going to be and check the weather there against where you are now—great for things like hiking to higher elevations. It's waterproof with a ruggedized rubber armor covering. And coolest of all is that things like storm warnings as well as Doppler radar can be superimposed on the GPS maps.

The problems? The unit is big and bulky, in part because it has two antennas, one for XM and one for the GPS satellite. I also have to wonder about outdoor enthusiasts and how they'll use the product. I'm not too sure that hikers want to be listening to XM Radio on the trail (maybe in the evening inside a cozy tent?). And I think boaters need Coast Guard and small-craft advisories, not your ordinary weather forecasts. You control the device with a directional toggle switch, but I think you'd prefer a touchscreen. But hey, I'm just being picky.

It's an interesting new mix that might appeal to XM lovers on their various trails in life, and it's great to see the combo of weather and GPS in a unit. What do you think?