GPS Navigator + Digital Camera + AV Player + Kitchen Sink = Altina A680

It's quite a common trend among the manufacturers of personal navigation devices to throw in all sorts of extra-features in their latest models, thus hoping that they'll get somewhat of an advantage over their competitors on this already over-crowded market. However, from time to time, they do go a bit too far and that's exactly the case with the A680 model launched by Altina, as this thing incorporates just about everything you might expect (or not) from a GPS navigation device.

Thus, as any modern navigation unit, this thing sports a 4-inch LCD display, but also a digital camera module with a 2 megapixel-sensor. Moreover, the device doubles as an MP3/MP4 player, but also sports a FM transmitter unit, so that the users can play their favorite songs directly through the car's audio system.

The device incorporates what could be considered rather standard components for a GPS navigator. Thus, besides the 480 x 272 touchscreen LCD, the A680 sports a Samsung 2440, 400MHz processor, 64MB NAND RAM and 128 MB of SDRAM, as well as 1350 mAh rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery. Moreover, as most of the similar devices currently available on the market, the device from Altina includes a SiRF Star III GPS chipset and a built-in antenna.

However, what's really interesting about Altina's PND is the fact that it sports a large assortment of connectivity options, including a 3.5mm jack as well as an A/V input jack that can be used for connecting this thing to a DVB-T receiver, thus turning it into a portable TV set. Moreover, the A680 sports an SD card slot (for loading either navigation maps or multimedia content), as well as its own set of stereo speakers.

There's no pricing information available as of now, but we sure do hope that Altina's device will make it out of Taiwan, as it might really represent quite a tough competitor for some of the big names in the business.

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