NaviGadget

Clarion MiND – now a lot cheaper

Jul 31, 2009 gps navigation 2 Comments

Clarion MiND – since we last visited – has it’s own page now showing off its features. And even though it says you can grab one as low as $500, Amazon is not taking any chances and is willing to get rid of them for $250.

What do you think of this price? Are you willing to spend $250 for a WiFi enabled device with a 4.8″ screen and 4GB of flash memory? It is also bluetooth enabled which is good – but it is only way to get wireless internet when you are not close to any WiFi hotspots. You’d have to pair it up with your phone to get connectivity. Anyhow – what can Clarion MiND do for you? GPS navigation, play your tunes, new traffic updates service, and Google Local search.

Clarion MiND – now on Amazon

Jan 31, 2009 gps navigation 1 Comment

We found a few new shots of the Clarion MIND in their press release kit – one of which unveils the user interface of the GPS navigation system feature. This image is slightly different than the one Amazon has on their site (oh did we mention – it is already on Amazon for $649: Clarion MiND) and misses the little icon on the top menu that says “DUN” which is dial-up networking – usually using a bluetooth device. The specs on Amazon claims Clarion MiND can connect to the internet using your phones bluetooth and data service – so hopefully this is not an issue.

Here are the specs for MiND:

• 4.8 inch WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) LCD Display with touch screen
• Intel Atom Architecture (800 MHz)
• 512MB DRAM
• 4 GB solid state drive (SSD) flash memory
• Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
• Bluetooth 2.0+EDR with DUN (Dial-up Network) profile
• SiRFstarIII GPS module with 20-channel GPS receiver
• Li-Ion battery (Small Battery: 2 hours, Optional Large Battery: 4 hours)
• Built-In amplifier and speaker
• 3.5mm external headphone connector
• 2 USB ports
• microSD card slot
• Docking Station
• RDS-TMC Traffic Ready (lifetime subscription; optional car dock required)

dmedia WiMAX G5W GPS navigation system

Jan 22, 2009 gps navigation 23 Comments

Ever seen a standalone GPS navigation system with WiMax connectivity? No? Neither have we (Clarion MIND, or Nokia N810 does not really count). Well, people at dmedia decided this was the future and designed one called G5W.

We’re not sure if this is still at prototype level or actually something you can pick up from a store in Hong Kong but here are the specs you can expect from dmedia G5W GPS navigation system:

• 5″ wide touch screen
• bluetooth connectivity
• FM transmitter
• GPRS/EDGE modules

Wouldn’t this be great if we had free WiMax coverage in our cities? Start a browser and bring up Google Maps with traffic information and maybe a few bookmarked traffic web cameras on our way and you can avoid traffic like no other.

Clarion MIND finally

Nov 26, 2008 gps navigation Leave a comment

We’re really happy to see ClarionMIND finally hit online stores since to be honest we’ve had enough coverage for this device on Navigadget since January: See here, here, and here.

It is now selling at exclusively at Crutchfield for $650, available in black, red, and white.

If this device had WiMax it may have been worth your money but with only WiFi all we can say is to get one of those new netbooks with your money at spend the extra cash on a GPS receiver with a mount… Read More …

ClarionMIND

Aug 20, 2008 gps navigation, umpc 7 Comments

ClarionMind just made another appearance at Intel Developer Forum and apparently this is the production version – unlike other Clarion Mind’s we talked about before.

It looks like the device got smaller as sources now say the screen size is 4.8″. Of course some of the most important features never made it to this model such as WiMax and 3G connectivity. You’ll have to make do with a wimpy Wi-Fi antenna, which means you can browse the internets while you’re still in your garage. The device runs on Linux, has a 800×480 pixel resolution touchscreen, and support various media files as well as offering bluetooth features.

If the navigation system software is good enough this maybe a good alternative to a few brands that we are always used to see. ClarionMiND is expected to ship later this year… Read More …

Clarion MiND

Jun 8, 2008 gps navigation, umpc Leave a comment

Clarion MiND made an appearance at Computex in Taiwan last week and the first shots do not look like what we reported earlier this year.

MiND stands Mobile Internet Navigation Device which pretty much is just a UMPC with integrated GPS… the kind we like.

Here are some features and specs we could gather for Clarion MiND:

• integrated GPS
• 5.2-inch WVGA 800 x 480 touchscreen
• MS Office access
• bluetooth
• Wi-Fi
• various media players

It looks like this is still a prototype device but when it comes out in US before Xmas this year you can expect to pay about $700… Read More …

Clarion MiND

Jan 16, 2008 CES 2008, gps navigation 1 Comment

Clarion just introduced a next generation GPS navigation device called MiND which stands for Mobile Internet Navigation Device.

Clarion MiND is based on Intel’s Menlow platform which is pretty much an UMPC, allowing users to connect to the internet from their navigators using Wi-Fi, and play various kinds of multimedia files. Clarion MiND is also equipped with bluetooth which means you can pair up your bluetooth enabled phone with the device. Alternatively the same bluetooth connection can be used to connect to 3G networks when Wi-Fi is not available.

Here is the full list of those impressive specs:

• 5.2 inch WVGA (800×480) LCD Display with Touch screen
• Intel Menlow (Based on Silverthorne processor and Poulsbo Chipset)
• 256MB DRAM
• 4GB Flash Memory for Storage
• WiFi
• Bluetooth 2.0 EDR
• CMOS Camera
• 3G Data Module (Future Capability)
• Mobile WiMAX (Future Capability)

Read More …

Clarion MAP560 and MAP360

Sep 4, 2006 gps navigation Leave a comment

MAP560 is the latest navigation system from Clarion. When designing MAP560 engineers always had the portability in mind and they managed to pack a long list of features into something that it barely longer than 10cm’s (that’s about 4 inches) and weighs about 180 grams. Another selling point Clarion likes to brag about is their HMI (Human Machine interface) which promises the control of MAP560 to be extremly obvious and simple.

The only difference between the MAP560 and MAP360 is the amount of memory and consequently the map coverage. 560 covers all of Western Europe plus Greece with 2GB flash memory, but with 360 you have to choose one of nine zones so it fits into 512MB.

MAP560 costs £370 and MAP360 costs £280.

We were able to get the full list of specs off of Clarion’s website but to see some live pics you can visit aving.net.

Specs

• Display: 3.5″ Colour TFT LCD
• Memory: 512MB / 2GB Nand Flash ROM
• Antenna: Communication SiRF GPS III module built-in 15×15 mm Patch antenna with extended antenna jack Retraceable
• Connector for extended antenna
• Operating System:Microsoft Windows ® CE .Net 4.2 Core version
• Battery: Lithium. 4.5 hours autonomy in full power mode
• Dimension / weight (approx.): 113 mm x 78 mm x 25 mm / 180 g.

Input / Output:

• Touch panel Control
• Sun light protection
• On-Screen Keyboard
• Built in loud speaker
• Slot for MMC/SD cards
• TMC mini USB (For Free to Air Service Only).
• USB 1.1

Package Contents:

• Car Mount Kit
• Car Charger
• USB Cable
• AC Adaptor
• Carrying Case (MAP560 Only)

Optional Accessories:

• BMK001: Bicycle Mount Kit
• GPA001: External GPS antenna
• FM9: TMC RDS / TMC Free to Air Receiver (Check Countries for Coverage)

Oh, we forgot to metion: If you are in the U.S. you may just want to ignore this article because it doesn’t look like it’ll ever make it to that side of the ocean. But Clarion makes some other stuff just for US too. We’ll talk about that later.