3D navigation plus enhanced multimedia playback capabilities

Jun 29, 2007 10:06 GMT  ·  By

The current trend among the manufacturers of GPS navigation systems is to incorporate as many multimedia functions as possible into their devices, thus turning them into all-in-one car navigation and entertainment systems. This "fashion" is extremely popular among the Korean companies involved in the GPS field, as they rarely launch simple and straightforward navigators.

And as Navigadget informs us, quoting the Korean website PMPInside, one of the best examples is the recently released iNavi G1, a device that provides users with enhanced 3D navigation functions as it is capable of rendering 3D maps including 3D buildings, as well as the night sky and even some landscape elements (mountains, for example). Moreover, the device also sports a geomagnetic sensor (g-sensor), which can prove to be extremely useful in those areas were the GPS signals are weak or can't be received at all (canyons, tunnels, between tall buildings etc.).

The iNavi G1 is powered by an RMI AU1200, MIPS 500 Mhz CPU and uses 128 MB of SDRAM for running the Windows CE 5.0 operating system, as well as the navigation applications. As most mainstream GPS navigators, the device incorporates a SiRF Star III GPS chipset and can be controlled either via the 7-inch touchscreen TFT LCD display (800 x 480 resolution) or via a remote control. It has no internal memory, but does incorporate an USB slot, as well as a SD memory card slot.

The navigation system also incorporates a media player that supports the most common formats currently in use (MP3, AC3, AVI, ASF, WMV, MPG, MPEG, WMA and OGG), as well as a picture viewer, a few games and some sort of "car log" application that allows users to make various notes regarding the car's behavior, expenses etc. Moreover, since DMB is so popular in Korea, the device also features a receiver for digital multimedia broadcasts.

However, the strangest feature offered by the iNavi G1 is the built-in karaoke software that can instantly turn this thing into a karaoke machine. This might prove to be quite interesting for the passengers, but potentially fatal for the drivers, since they will have the tendency of keeping their eyes on the display rather than on the road.

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