A dedicated in-vehicle navigation system has been added to the Magellan range from Thales Navigation, and is being promoted as the first "plug'n drive" system of its kind.

The unit comes with a full colour LCD display, and looks something like a PDA mounted sideways. It is already available in the US, where it has benefited from development work by Thales on the Hertz NeverLost navigation system

For the European version it has gained detailed mapping of 17 countries, and an infra-red port so that address data can be transferred easily from a PDA. There is also a "Flex Address" feature to ease direct input of addresses.

Provision has also been made for the unit to pick up input from the radio data system/traffic message channel (RDS/TMC), amending proposed routes in real time to take account of traffic conditions. The dashboard cradle has also been enhanced.

 

The product is due to be available in May.

...and from TomTom

TomTom, the Dutch-based in-vehicle navigation specialist which has lately focused on PDA-based solutions, has now launched itself into the self-contained navigation solutions market with its TomTom GO product, which has much in common with dedicated solutions such as those from Magellan and Siemens VDO.

The in-vehicle unit features a 3.5 in 320 by 240 pixel TFT LCD touch screen, built-in GPS receiver and aerial, and incorporates software and Tele Atlas digital mapping on an SD memory card (as used in many modern digital cameras). It can be powered directly from the vehicle's cigarette lighter socket, or indoors via a mains adapter. The microprocessor is a 200MHz ARM920T unit.

Unusually, the TomTom GO uses assisted GPS, which means it should offer greater accuracy than standard GPS systems, and may work in tunnels and other locations where normal GPS signals are compromised.

Its expected price of around £450, though not cheap, is more affordable than that of many other systems of its kind.