April/May 2008

A satnav system claiming to be the world's first to providing a photo mapping system has been launched by Portuguese supplier N-Drive. It is available in the UK through EasyDevices.

The company's G280 and G800 feature what it terms real life photo images, which it contrasts with the traditional 1D/3D maps found on other devices.

The photo mapping features five different perspectives - four diagonal perspectives plus a bird's-eye view. The system chooses the best perspective for the driver automatically, but a specific perspective can also be chosen manually.

The aerial photography has been supplied by Blom Group, a Norwegian specialist in geographic information systems, aerial photogrammetry, airborne laser scanning and terrain modelling.

The stand-alone N-Drive devices have a host of other standard satnav features such as visual and audible speed camera alerts, and in Britain the devices are supplied with UK and Ireland Tele Atlas Q1 2008 maps, which are stored on an 8GB memory card.

European maps are also available on plug and play memory cards and feature photo mapping of major cities throughout Portugal, Spain, France and Italy.

The devices support audio, video and photos, all of which can be transferred via the SD card slot or USB. The G800 version also features Bluetooth functionality and an FM transmitter to play music and navigation instructions through the car stereo speakers.

Retail prices are £199 and £315.