It doesn’t happen very often in the navigational world that something truly innovative is released. But Blaupunkt has now managed just that. At the IFA fair, the company displayed the TravelPilot 500 and 700, which both use a camera for real-time images of the route.Normal
At first sight, the TravelPilot 500 and 700 seem like normal SatNavs. The devices feature a 4.3 inch touch screen with a 480 x 272 pixel resolution, 8 GB flash memory for the storage of the supplied European map data, Bluetooth for handsfree phoning and they both run on a 500 Mhz CPU. For additional data, a SD/SDHC/MMC card can be used. Quite standard so far…Both TravelPilots become something special however, once the supplied 2 megapixel camera is attached to the front of the car. This camera provides images to the navigational system, after which the Blaupunkt software puts route pointers onto the original video footage. For those who would like to see how this works with their own eyes: Blaupunkt has posted a small promotional movie HERE. But you can also watch this movie below:
This device can also recognise road signs along the roadside, and put this information onto the touch screen. (eg. the maximum speed of the driven road). And what about the so-called ‘Curve Warning’, with which the system warns you about upcoming sharp turns, based on this video footage!
Multimedia
But that’s not the end of it. Blaupunkt has also added some multimedia functions to the TravelPilot 700. The device can receive digital television broadcasts via DVB-T, supports WiFi and contains a browser and email client. Also, Word, Powerpoint, Excel and PDF files can be read without a problem.The TravelPilot 500 is almost identical to the 700, but lacks the possibility of reading Office documents, voice control and DVB-T.
Blaupunkt expects to ship these new devices in our region by November. Prices have not yet been announced.
We have already been promised a review sample of these new devices, and it’s expected to arrive by the end of October. We can hardly wait!...
