In the last few months car navigation systems have seen a variety of enhancements, from aerial photography to 3d city modelling to live traffic data and internet connectivity. None, however, have done live video. The Travel Pilot N700 has a small camera stuck on the back of the windshield-mounted unit that feeds live video on which navigation instructions are superimposed. The unit also features voice control, live traffic info, WLAN and Bluetooth connectivity and the ability to read and warn of traffic signs with the integrated camera. The price is expected to be about US$740, but the N700 is exclusive to Europe, for now. Video demo after the jump. [Motor Authority via Navigadget]

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Nothing Earth-shattering here, but you might like to know that Sony has refreshed their Nav-U line of GPS units with the NV-U94T, NV-U84, NV-U74T and NV-U44. Their US$400 NV-U94T is the new top model, thinner than ever and sporting a 4.8" touchscreen with gesture recognition. Other features include stereo Bluetooth audio streaming (A2DP), hands-free calling with paired Bluetooth phone, photo viewing, and an accelerometer/barometer system known as Position Plus that tries to track your position even if the GPS suffers from interference (like when you drive through a tunnel). All of the new Nav-Us will be available this September. For more info on the complete line, we've pasted the press release after the jump.

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Navigon's upcoming 7200T GPS unit has some pretty high-end features: voice destination entry, photo-realistic 3D views of roads with lane guidance icons and 3D landmarks built-in. But its niftiest feature is free real-time traffic info updates with no subscription fees, for life. That's just got to be handy, and comes over an FM receiver from Clear Channel's Total Traffic Network. The 3D road rendering is designed to stop you making the mistake I made last night: mistranslating a GPS display onto the complicated road interchange I was trying to cross because the two looked different. The Lane Assistant feature even tries to give you advance warning of which lane you'll need to be in before a junction. It's due in October for US$449. Press release below.

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A "leak" at a UK online retailer's site reveals a whole bunch of info on TomTom's Go 940 Live GPS system: it looks like the system comes with a GPRS unit to give it live traffic and fuel-price info and the ability to Google search. Yep, alongside the IQ routing and intelligent lane advice that the Go 930 and the new Pro units have is a TomTom HD Traffic unit using GPRS to garner local traffic info, weather conditions, and lets you Google for whatever info you might need on the road. That traffic info is gathered "via anonymous mobile phone monitoring," but whether its these units that do the uploading, or a different system, is unclear. The unit's available on pre-order in the UK for around US$800, with the Live service likely to cost US$10-US$15 per month, but there's no data on when it'll hit the US. [Handtec.co.uk via GPSLodge Thanks, Jay!]

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Suunto has just added to its range of GPS watches with the new X10, but this gizmo doesn't just do navigation and time-telling. It's also got an altimeter function, barometer, digital compass and thermometer: Exactly the sort of equipment any self-respecting real tomb raider would find darn useful.

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Tomtom has just come up with a suite of GPS systems for the "mobile workforce" dubbed the Pro series. The first units are the Pro 4000 and Pro 8000, and while the hardware is essentially unchanged from non-Pro models, there are a few tweaks. Firstly the software has a "menu lock" option, that's supposed to lower distractions and improve driving safety, the maps come with a free update that's to be used within a year, and there's a PIN lock to protect your data. Secondly the support package comes with a two-year extended warranty and a dedicated customer service line. The 8000 also has advanced IQ navigation, which plans routes using actual average drive times, and voice address-input and Bluetooth handsfree calling. The 4000 is out for US$330 and the 8000 for US$460. [Navigadget]

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The normally navigation-focused guys over at Navigadget have spotted something interesting: The "low end" Easycar U7 GPS system heading for Korean drivers at the moment is basically a pretty high-end media player with a 7-inch touchscreen. As well as helping you navigate, the 1.9cm deep gizmo plays audio and video files, has a text reader, photo-viewer and accepts digitally-broadcast TV. Check out the gallery to see it in action, and go mad when you learn it costs the equivalent of just US$190.

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This tiny GPS system from Kapten shuns the current preoccupation for large, high-detail touchscreens... it has, in fact, no screen at all. There're a bunch of led-lit icons at the top, indicating car-, pedestrian-mode and so on, but that's it. All navigation requests and instructions are made by you talking to the Kapten and it talking to you. It's apparently aimed mainly at pedestrian users, and measuring 7.4 x 4.3 x 1.3 cm is small enough to slip onto a key ring. Somehow there's a Bluetooth chipset in there, alongside an MP3 player and FM radio, and it packs 4GB of internal memory. Sadly, the only instructions it'll utter will sound like "Tournez à droite, dans 100 metres" since it's being released in France next month for around US$220, and there's no info on whether it'll move outside the land of the moody pout. [Navigadget]

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Yesterday, the SUNA traffic channel officially went live in Sydney and Brisbane, joining Melbourne to offer real-time traffic updates for the East Coast capital cities (sorry Canberra, you're still to come).

But how do you get it? Thankfully, getting traffic updates isn't as tricky a process as you would think, even if you already own a satnav device...

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For a relatively small market, the Australian satnav scene certainly has a lot of players. Think about it: There's TomTom, Garmin, Mio, Navman, Pioneer, Uniden, Magellan... plus countless cheap Chinese manufacturers offering sub-$200 devices.

Well, as of today, the market is even slightly more crowded, with Navigon hitting Australian shelves through distributor Navigation Solutions. Typically, the release doesn't actually mention what models will be on sale, nor how much they'll cost. It also fails to describe whether any of the models available in Australia will work with the SUNA traffic channel. However, they do mention that the new models (whatever they are) will hit shelves at the end of August, and will use Navteq maps.

Hopefully we'll find out more soon. In the meantime, press release junkies can find this one - in its entirety - below the fold...

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