The German brand Blaupunkt is not a major player in the PND market, even though the company's history with regards to car navigation is already more than 30 years old. This does mean however that the company has a lot of experience in this area, and it also releases new versions of its portable navigation systems on a regular basis.Since last year, Blaupunkt has shipped the Travelpilot Lucca. This month, three new versions of this particular PND will be released. Compared to other brands the features of these new devices are not really noticeable, but the shape of the 3.5 edition sure is. The Blaupunkt designers have given this entry level model a round shape, which is probably a first in PND land.
Round
Why the new Travelpilot Lucca 3.5 edition, is such a rounded design is not entirely clear. It does not seem to have any practical use, so we’re guessing Blaupunkt is aiming for those folks who like special designs to stand out from the crowd. Certain features can be reached with speed buttons, which are located in the four corners of the touch screen, just like with the other Luccas.The design of this new Lucca 3.5 edition is certainly innovative, and may very well become a success. In a lot of cars which also feature round shapes, like the VW Beetle or the Mini Cooper, the Lucca would certainly fit nicely. The PND is 10.9 cm in diameter, which isn’t all that big, and makes the device very portable.
Screen
This round shape does have one disadvantage though, and that is that it limits the screen size to 3.5 inches. This may have been the standard up to last year, but since then 4 inch screens have become more common. To make things more confusing, Blaupunkt will also release another Lucca 3.5 (without the ‘Edition’) this month, which does feature a 4.3 inch screen, but also the familiar rectangular shape we known from other PND’s.
Ease of use
The Lucca 3.5 (edition) features new software compared to the previous 3.4 Lucca version. The main points of improvement were enhancing the ease-of-use, both with regards to the readability and the comprehension of the data on the screen.Another important addition is the inclusion of the TMC module. The Lucca software not only shows this traffic information whilst navigating, but also when no route is entered into the device.
Apart from the standard A to B route calculations, a few special variants have also been added. It’s possible to have the Lucca calculate not only the most economical route, but also the most ecological route, which is the most energy-efficient one. Finally there’s also the optimal route, which is a combination of the fastest and the shortest routes.
Map material
The Lucca 3.5 is based on Tele Atlas map material, release 2007.4. The PND is shipped with regional maps loaded, but also comes with a DVD containing the detailed maps of Western and Central Europe, and the major roads of Eastern Europe. It can also play various music formats like MP3, WMA and OGG, and show pictures in various file formats (JPEG, BMP, GIF).Lucca 5.3
The Lucca 3.5 editions are not the only PND’s Blaupunkt will release this month. There’s also the new Lucca 5.3. Compared to its small brothers, the Lucca 5.3 contains a few extras which should help motorists to reach their destinations easier and safer, like text-to-speech software, and it also supports handsfree phoning. The destination point can be entered with the help of voice recognition.NAVTEQ
The Lucca 5.3 comes with NAVTEQ maps, which is remarkable since the entry level devices all feature Tele Atlas maps. The maps are based on NAVTEQ’s 2007 Q1 release, and covers 40 European countries.These three new Blaupunkt systems are available in the shops starting this month. The introductory price for the Lucca 3.5 edition is ¤ 399.99, and for the Lucca 3.5 ¤ 349.99. The Travelpilot Lucca 5.3 will cost ¤ 449.99.
