The AVIC-F10BT isn’t just an in-dash satnav – it’s a complete in-car entertainment system. On top of its 7-inch touchscreen display, the AVIC comes with dedicated cables installed into your glovebox for connecting an iPod or USB device, a DVD player and SD card behind the screen and built-in stereo Bluetooth. There are so many different elements to this product that the only real way to review it is to break it down into sections.

Entertainment
In the glovebox of the car is an iPod cable. It’s quite long, so you could run it all the way to the back, although you probably wouldn’t. Once you plug in your iPod or iPhone, it starts charging and all control goes through to the AVIC system. And it’s a very familiar interface – you get most of the same menus as your iPod, album art and a big “clickwheel” (although it’s really just a big four-way button on the touchscreen that looks like a clickwheel. It’s not a complete translation of your iPod though – there’s no support for Genius or Genius mixes, which is a bit of a shame.

But that’s made up for by the fact that the AVIC supports video. Sure, for safety reasons it’s restricted to when you have the handbrake on, but just the fact that you can play back video from your iPhone on your display is fantastic. If you have rear screens in your car, you can use the AVIC to send video from your iPhone to the rear seats while you use the satnav.

Of course, there’s also the built-in DVD player which will do the same thing, as well as play back CDs (both audio and MP3). The SD card also plays back music, and although I didn’t get to test it, the specs say it’ll play back DivX and H.264 files via either the SD or DVD slots.

There’s also the ability to play stereo Bluetooth through the system, and if your car has steering wheel audio controls, you can get them wired up to control the AVIC, although the car I was driving didn’t have them.

Being a Pioneer car, the audio playback was pretty awesome, but most of that was the speakers. In terms of controls, the touchscreen managed most of it, although there are dedicated volume and track forwards and back buttons on the bottom of the screen.

Bluetooth
The Bluetooth functionality is a godsend. My last car had a Motorola Bluetooth hands-free kit installed that used the car’s speakers, and despite being valued at a few hundred dollars, it had nothing on the AVIC’s Bluetooth. For a start, the AVIC has a screen, which lets you see details a more traditional Bluetooth system could only dream of. Once you’ve paired up your phone, you can see your signal strength and your network on the screen. But the killer is the ability to copy your contact list from the phone over to the AVIC’s 2GB of internal storage, which means you can easily call anyone on your contact list with a few presses of the touchscreen. You also get missed calls, recent calls and a shortcut to your home number easily located on the phone’s main screen.

Considering the legal implications of using your phone while driving these days, this is almost worth the price of admission in itself. OK, not quite, but it’s still the best implementation of installed Bluetooth I’ve played with.

Satnav
There’s a lot to be said for navigation on a seven-inch screen. It’s easy to view, easy to control and, well, that’s pretty much it. Considering I’ve long been lamenting the fact that satnavs tend to be fairly stagnant in terms of new features that are actually useful, having a device with such a big screen was quite refreshing. It uses the latest WhereIs maps, which shows off things like golf courses on the screen as you drive past them. It’s also big enough that it can display your music track information (and album artwork) on the screen at the bottom, even with the satnav running.

There are a couple of other noteworthy aspects to the satnav – first off, it’s a learning device, so if you like to take a particular shortcut, it’ll start directing you that way when you next take that route.

The other big thing is a result of the device been installed – the device will actually track your position when you drive through tunnels. No beeps and messages about lost satellite reception. No confusion about underground exits. In other words, proper navigation wherever you are. And that’s awesome. It really is.

The AVIC-F10BT comes with SUNA traffic, although I have no idea where the TMC antenna is. It’s certainly not running along the bottom of your front windshield, and doesn’t need to be plugged in each time you want to use the satnav.

The Menu
The touchscreen interface is simple. The Home screen gives you the option of Music, Satnav or Phone. But if you press the home button again on the home screen, there’s a customisable page of shortcuts to key functions of the device. Things like navigate home or launching the FM radio. That means you’re no more than three presses from all the key functions of the device, and it doesn’t get much better than that.

There’s a dedicated button on the bottom of the unit that switches between satnav and music control. That may sound like an obvious inclusion, but it’s only when you’re using it that you realise how much sense it actually makes.

Verdict
This device costs $2999, plus installation. It’s the top of the range Pioneer AVIC system though, and offers the ability to control rear screens and audio output if you have a truly kickass speaker setup in your car. It also works with a reverse camera, which can be installed as an optional extra.

But despite all that, $3K still seems pretty steep. But there are a couple of things to consider – if you’re buying a new car, you’re likely to pay that much to get a satnav option, but you’ll probably miss out on the whole Bluetooth and iPod functionality. The other thing is that Pioneer have a cheaper option, which has a smaller screen and fewer functions, but maintains the core aspects of the device (iPod, Bluetooth and satnav) selling for under a grand (plus installation). Considering top of the line satnavs cost almost a grand, that’s incredibly good value. You do need a double DIN free in your car, but if you can spare it and the cash to get it installed, I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending this system. It’s a complete solution for most of your in-car needs, and well worth the price of admission.

[Pioneer]

Sure, it’s not just a suction cup with an iPhone jack in it – this thing has its own GPS receiver, a built-in loudspeaker and microphone, and an auxilliary out for playing music through your car stereo.

But the truth is that you can pick up an (admittedly entry-level) dedicated satnav for that price. Plus, the cradle doesn’t actually come with the TomTom software, or even a code to download it. Which kind of makes this a rather expensive option.

[TomTom]

The app includes:

Best routing and maps
· Navigation software including fast route planning and clear voice instructions
· Automatic re-routing if a turn is missed
· Route demo or map of route when trip planning
· Choice of the latest maps for Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada or Western Europe.

Easy to use and personalize
· User interface fully optimised with iPhone.
· Multiple display options including landscape and portrait navigation view
· Night and day color mode for optimised screen visibility in varying light conditions
· User interface available in 18 languages2
· Change view settings (2D or 3D map display)
· Easy to download from iTunes App Store

Complete phone and map integration
· Multi-touch gestures such as tap, swipe, pinch and zoom to operate the application and zoom in and out of the map
· Navigation to contacts in address book
· Points-of-interest search and call capabilities from iPhone

The press release states that the TomTom iPhone carkit that we saw a little while ago will be available later this year, as will a version specifically for the iPod Touch.

The app is set to sell for $99.99, which includes Navteq maps for all of Australia. But it will be selling at the promotional price of $69.99 before August 15, so you should definitely pony up the cash sooner than later to get your hands on the app. That’s the kind of saving that would make even the cheapest of cheapskates take notice.

It hasn’t gone live on the Australian itunes Store just yet, but the developers promise it will sometime today.

Look at it this way – TomTom’s top-of-the-line Go 930 satnav launched with an RRP of $849. Sure it had maps for the entire world inside, but the Pioneer AVIC system – for just a few hundred dollars extra – adds a proper Bluetooth car kit solution and iPod/iPhone music controls to your car. It includes an AM/FM radio tuner and will also offer you comprehensive reports on your fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and acceleration and brake data.

Sure, you need a car with a couple of spare slots in the dash and you’ll have to pay for installation on top of the hardware, but for the convenience of an all-in-one unit, this is a pretty enticing product.

Pioneer releases a new in-dash multimedia solution with GPS for the car
Celebrating 35 years of world-firsts in both car audio and navigation, Pioneer unveils a new in-dash multimedia solution with advanced GPS for the car. Combining an intuitive 4.3 inch touch screen navigation system with hands-free Bluetooth mobile phone control, MOSFET 50W x 4 amplification power and leading iPod/iPhone connectivity, all at a suggested price of $1,199, Pioneer’s AVIC-F310BT addresses three major concerns of motorists today:
1. How do I navigate to where I want to go?
2. How do I maintain hands-free mobile phone communication whilst driving?
3. How do I continue to listen to and control my music?

A sleek, stylish in-dash solution, the AVIC-F310BT not only avoids the dashboard clutter we are now seeing in cars courtesy of portable GPS units, Bluetooth carkits and iPod cables, but also enables navigation, communication and entertainment features to be operated simultaneously and seamlessly.

The AVIC-F310BT builds upon Pioneer’s in-car navigation experience with a powerful processor that offers performance and features beyond those found on typical navigation systems, said Paul Baddeley, product planning at Pioneer Electronics Australia Pty Ltd.”

How do I navigate where I want to go?
Utilising a full-colour 4.3 inch WQVGA detachable touch screen display, 2GB of flash memory and 2D or 3D mapping, the fast and easy-to-use AVIC-F310BT features voice guidance of directions and text-to-speech technology that enables the unit to provide verbal prompts to specific street names.

By detaching the screen and connecting it via a USB cable to your PC, users can personalise their AVIC-F310BT, find and add Points of Interest to the maps well as analyse their journeys and driving.

The Pioneer-exclusive AVIC Feeds PC application, enables users to import local information and contacts directly from your computer to the AVIC-F310BT.

Enjoy the flexibility of being able to create your own Point Of Interest’s (POI).
Virtually any location, such as camping grounds, ski resorts, stadiums or tourist destinations, can be created as points of interest. You can simply browse Google Maps or Whereis® mapping and push a search result through to AVIC Feeds, which automatically converts the data into a new POI on the AVIC-F310BT. Create driving reports, particularly useful if you need to calculate your travel expenses in a given period, this application will keep track and provide you with an overview of all the journeys you’ve made and the number of kilometres travelled.

You can also see how economically you have been driving. ‘Eco Report’ and ‘fuel consumption’ gives you an evaluation of your acceleration and brake data and also calculates your CO 2 emissions. You can then view a graphical representation of this data on your PC.

How do I maintain hands-free mobile phone communication?
The AVIC-F310BT is equipped with built-in Bluetooth for convenient and safe wireless connection, using a Parrot Bluetooth phone interface. After pairing a compatible Bluetooth enabled cell phone and using the “phone book transfer” function to transfer a cell phone’s contacts/phone-book into the navigation system users can have quick touch-screen access to their contacts/phone-book. All conversations are clearly relayed through your car’s speakers. Three phones can be registered in the system with 400 contacts available per user.

How do I listen and control my digital music collection?
The AVIC-F310BT fulfils the high-quality audio and convenience expected from Pioneer with enhanced playback of MP3, WMA and iTunes AAC music files. The USB interface located at the rear of the unit provides a connection to compatible portable media devices including thumb drives, flash memory devices, and iPod/iPhone music players.

Music files on compatible iPods/iPhones can be accessed quickly using various methods including:
• Alphabetical Speed Search – users can scroll through their music lists by the first letter in the name.
• Link Search – users can recall similar content to what is currently playing by artist, album and genre.
• Passenger Control – allows passengers to directly control the iPod/iPhone device.

The AVIC-F310BT fits into a large number of vehicles with a 2-DIN dash opening, and with 32,768 customisable illumination colours available users can find a colour match for virtually any interior. The unit is also loaded with Pioneer’s legendary Supertuner IIID AM/FM tuner,
two RCA pre-outs, a built-in 50 watt X 4 high-power amplifier and an auxiliary input.

The AVIC-F310BT will be available in August 09 for a suggested price of $1,199.

Interesting factoids to reveal themselves during the interview is the drive of Suna into smartphones and the somewhat missed opportunity of digital radio. Adam also talks about upcoming features, like partnering with parking stations for realtime updates to the number of spaces available at any given time.

But enough from me. Head on over to Lifehacker to read all about it yourself.
[Lifehacker]

The press release isn’t exactly clear as to what maps are included with the unit – which costs a whopping $1,200. It says that it comes with “a worldwide basemap and accepts optional comprehensive street maps, topographic maps and BlueChart®g2™ charts”, but there’s no indication on whether or not there’s even Australian mapping included n the price.

What is mentioned is that it has the same UI as Garmin’s nüvi range, and a whole heap of useful marine features that only people who own boats would get any benefit out of. And as I don’t own a boat, it means nothing to me.

If you do own a boat and want to know more about this all-in-one satnav, the press release is below. Oh, and I hate you. Just kidding – can I come fishing with you some time?

Sydney, 20 May, 2009 – Garmin, the global leader in satellite navigation, provides a GPS device for the most amphibian of creatures – an ultra portable and rugged touchscreen navigator which accepts not only marine charts but can also utilise street and topographic maps. The GPSMAP 620 comes with a worldwide basemap and accepts optional comprehensive street maps, topographic maps and BlueChart®g2™ charts, costs $1200 and is available now.
“Blending the best of Garmin’s products from the popular portable marine units combined with the intuitive user interface of our in-car nüvi® navigators, the GPSMAP 620 is the perfect tool to be used in the boat and on the road,” said Matt DeMoss, Sales and Marketing Manager for Garmin Australasia.
Portable and powerful, the GPSMAP 620 series features a high-sensitivity GPS receiver and boasts an intuitive, waterproof (IPX7) super-bright 5.2″ WVGA touchscreen display (800 x 480 pixels) that reacts as users tap or drag through intuitive menus and options. The GPSMAP 620 comes with a worldwide basemap and accepts optional comprehensive street maps, topographic maps and BlueChart®g2™ charts. When placed in its included marine mount and being used with the optional BlueChart g2 cartography, these new portables will automatically start up in marine mode, presenting chart features such as shaded depth contours, port plans, wrecks, restricted areas and more.
With optional BlueChart g2 Vision™ technology, the GPSMAP 620 provides a true 3-D “mariner’s eye view,” for a navigation perspective above the waterline, and a “fish eye view” for an underwater 3D bathymetric contour perspective. Mariners will also benefit from the auto guidance technology the g2 Vision data card provides, that suggests the best navigational route on the market. In addition, photo references give detail aerial views of points of interest (POI) such as ports, marinas, waterways and landmarks.
When boaters are ready to pack up and hit the road, the GPSMAP 620 effortlessly snaps off its marine mount and, when placed in the automotive mount, quickly transitions into a robust automotive navigator. When used with optional City Navigator or TOPO Australia, on the road, this device gives voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions, advising you to “Turn right on Main Street.” In planning a route, users can search for a local bait shop or the best resorts around town and the GPSMAP will lead the way. With the GPSMAP 620, users can also create custom POIs and set up proximity alerts for the ultimate in driver awareness.

The GPSMAP 620 has a Recommended Retail Price of $1200 and is available in stores now. As with all Garmin marine devices, the GPSMAP 620 comes with a two year warranty.

[Garmin]

The guys at KickingTires have put the TeleNav turn-by-turn GPS Navigator for Android and the G1 through its paces and have emerged feeling that the software is impressive, but overpriced.

Indeed, while they felt that the software scored well in major categories like ease of use, routing, map quality and accuracy, the value factor struck a major blow to the final verdict. After all, it’s hard to justify spending $US10 a month, $US99 a year or $US249 for four years on a service for your phone when quality, dedicated GPS devices can be had for under $US200. Still, if portability is a major issue for you, KickingTires is calling the Android TeleNav “the best turn-by-turn navigation system for a mobile phone available to date.” And it will be available on more and more Android devices in the near future. [Kicking Tires]

Outside of that, the 550 and 550t (the latter adds topographic US maps) appear to be the same GPS device that users have come to expect from earlier Oregon models. Obviously, it would be nice if a mobile phone was part of the package here, but keep in mind that this is intended to be a more robust GPS device for people mountain biking, climbing, hiking and otherwise travelling in the rugged wilderness—not those trying to find the nearest Starbucks.

Picture perfect: Garmin® Oregon® 550 with built-in camera
offers touchscreen GPS for all seasons, all reasons

OLATHE, Kan./May 7, 2009/Business Wire – Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced the Oregon 550 and Oregon 550t touchscreen handheld GPS devices, integrating a 3.2 megapixel digital camera, which creates geotagged images, and a 3-axis compass into the popular series of intuitive touchscreen handhelds. The waterproof Oregon 550’s easy-to-use interface and versatile features make it the ideal solution for customers looking for a multipurpose GPS device.

“As everyone looks for ways to do more with less, Oregon 550 and Oregon 550t can be the one GPS device you turn to for all of your activities, in any climate, on any terrain, at any time of year,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “Easy enough for beginners to master, Oregon will guide you in your adventures, capture the highlights and bring them back home.”

There’s no need to tote a separate camera in your pack or pocket as Oregon 550’s 3.2 megapixel autofocus digital camera with 4x digital zoom automatically geotags each photo with the location of where it was taken, allowing you to mark, remember and navigate back to that exact spot in the future. With this waterproof digital camera, you can take and view pictures in landscape or portrait orientation, and 850 MB of internal memory offers ample storage. These pictures can then be printed or stored and shared online, making every trip even more memorable. Once your Oregon 550 is connected via USB, you can use my.Garmin.com to detect Oregon’s photos, simplify the selection and uploading processes and then store those photos on Picasa, a popular online photo sharing community for friends and families around the world.

The built-in 3-axis compass and enhanced sunlight-readable touchscreen are two other key additions to the Oregon 550 and Oregon 550t (which features preloaded 100K topo maps for the entire U.S. in state-of-the-art 3D elevation perspective). The 3-axis tilt-compensated electronic compass shows your heading even when you’re standing still, without holding it level. And Oregon’s glove-friendly, colour 3-inch touchscreen display is brighter and easier than ever to read and use in all conditions, responsive to the touch of your finger, yet resistant to the forces of nature. Weighing only 6.8 ounces, the Oregon 550 and Oregon 550t come with two precharged AA NiMH batteries. These batteries provide up to 16 hours of life on a single charge and don’t lose energy when not in use. The included battery charger saves you money and reduces waste as batteries get recharged and reused. Also in the box is a carabiner clip and USB cable for high-speed USB connections. A microSD card slot provides even more storage for photos, mapping and memory and allows you to view pictures from other devices with Oregon’s picture viewer.

Highlighting its versatility, Oregon lets you customise five profiles – automotive, marine, recreation, fitness or geocaching – making the most useful features the easiest to access through shortcuts.

On the trail: With its high-sensitivity, WAAS-enabled GPS receiver and HotFix™ satellite prediction, Oregon 550 locates your position quickly and precisely and maintains its GPS location even in heavy cover and deep canyons. And you can store up to 2,000 waypoints, 200 routes, 5,000 geocaches and a tracklog of up to 10,000 points and 200 saved tracks. On the mountain: The built-in barometric altimeter tracks changes in pressure to pinpoint your precise altitude, and you can keep an eye on changing weather conditions by plotting pressure over time. On vacation: Explore with confidence, thanks to the detailed U.S. topographic maps preloaded in the 550t or the worldwide shaded relief basemap in the 550. On a mission: The simple-to-use touchscreen interface makes it easy to navigate efficiently and tackle your task quickly. In a group: With Oregon 550, you can share your waypoints, tracks, routes and geocaches wirelessly other Oregon and Colorado users. Out geocaching: Go paperless with Oregon, which can store up to 5,000 caches, by quickly downloading cache information from Geocaching.com. Oregon stores and displays key information such as location, terrain, difficulty, hints and description, so that you don’t have to tote printouts with you. (And lucky geocachers may even stumble upon a limited-edition Oregon geocoin.)

And Oregon does the work of several devices, just by adding various accessories to suit your activity or optional MapSource® microSD cards preloaded with detailed maps.

On the road: Optional City Navigator mapping provides detailed street maps, millions of preloaded points of interest and onscreen turn-by-turn directions to your destination, and an optional Auto Nav kit adds a suction mount and car charger. On a hunt or on a hike: Using a separate TOPO U.S. 24K DVD or microSD card brings you the highest level of topographic detail available, with maps comparable to 1:24,000 scale USGS maps, featuring terrain contours, topo elevations, summits, routable roads and trails, parks, coastlines, rivers, lakes and geographical points. On the water: Add BlueChart® g2 maps, which provide everything you need for a great day on the water, including depth contours, navaids and harbors. On the run or on a bike: Ideal for a trail workout, the lightweight Oregon is compatible with Garmin’s heart-rate monitors and speed/cadence sensors, and an optional handlebar mount makes it easy to track your speed, distance, elevation and location.

And wherever you are, whatever you’re doing and whomever you’re with, you’ll always have Oregon 550’s built-in camera to capture the moment, record the location and share the memories.

[Garmin]