And there was much rejoicing. Magellan announced today that it has released a new version of its VantagePoint software, the program its Triton handheld owners use to manage their devices. The company also says that it is offering a number of enhancements to said Triton units via VantagePoint. Among the improvements are better North American basemaps with “more roads, more detailed locations, and better map displays,” Magellan says.

Other changes to what Magellan is terming the Triton “user experience” include:

• improved communication between a user’s PC and their Triton;
• improved access to general systems settings via the Settings Menu;
• the ability to customize the unit’s interface and gain quicker access to various features with a single click of the enter key;
• the ability to turn various pages on and off;
• a new elevation and coordinate entry user interface;
• the ability to access the Main Menu from any navigation page.

Other new features on Tritons include low battery notification; the ability to reduce backlight to conserve the batteries; the ability to clear the active track line after the user decides to save a trail; custom coordinate systems; and calculation of area based on active track, saved trails, and saved routes. Magellan also says it has expanded the export and display abilities of the units beyond National Geographic TOPO! Maps; users can now display aerial and hybrid quad maps, as well having a single way to activate all National Geographic maps on the Triton or a Secure Digital flash memory card.

As far as the VantagePoint software, Magellan says it has given this a new user interface and included a function called VantagePoint Lite for automatic software update alerts, as well adding GPS logging, improvements to map displays, detailed map legends, map layer customization, improved track playback, and the ability to edit tracks. The company says further updates will be coming in the following months.

So it looks like everyone worried that Magellan’s new parent company Mitac was going to forsake its handhelds can rest easy. The new VantagePoint software is available at Magellan’s website; if you already use VantagePoint, you can upgrade from within the program itself. As a Triton user myself, I’ll be certainly checking this out, and will report accordingly here on GPS Maniac.

Want to learn more about the Triton? Check out the review here.

Update: Didn’t want to say so until I was sure, as Magellan’s press release was a bit vague — but this is as I suspected; it’s more of a firmware upgrade for the Triton handhelds than anything else. In fact at first glance, I don’t spy anything noticeably different in VantagePoint (but then I haven’t tinkered with it yet).

The biggest difference is the basemap on the handheld; as Magellan says, there are a lot more roads on the handheld. It’s still pretty basic, but then it is a base map, after all. Anyway, once VantagePoint upgrades itself to version 1.6, hook up your unit, if you haven’t done so already, and it will prompt you in VantagePoint to upgrade its firmware. When I upgraded my Triton 500 it warned me that it could take as long as 30 minutes, but it was more on the order of 10 to 15 minutes.

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