
The name Harman Kardon is familiar to many of us as the name behind high-end audio devices. However at CES 2007 they made it official that they’d be entering the GPS navigation market with GPS500 - a portable navigation device that will be available as soon as March 2007 for $500.
Harman Kardon’s GPS500 is also multimedia player with an easy to use graphical user interface. Harman Kardon claims the device will not just throw in the music and video support as extra functionality but rather make it a part of the whole experience.
“Convergence of GPS and multimedia systems in a single device is of growing importance to consumers, but most combination GPS/multimedia systems on the market today lack many of the features — music-browsing control and capability, for one — found in a single device,” said Mike Giffin, president of the Mobile Systems Division for Harman Consumer Group. “The Guide + Play GPS-500 can be used while driving, working or relaxing, offering consumers ultimate mobility by enabling them to take their music collections on the road, watch movies on a plane or use the navigation system to find the nearest gas station or restaurant.”
Here are some of the features of Harman Kardon GPS500:
- Ability to integrate navigation and multimedia applications seamlessly (users may also set volume priority between the two functions)
- 4-inch widescreen WQVGA LCD display
- mini SD card support up to a 4GB capacity
- PlaysForSure, supports multiple multimedia formats including MP3, MP4, WMA, ASF, WAV and OGG.
- five hours of battery life
- 2GB of internal flash memory
- USB 2.0 high-speed interface
- pocket-sized portable windshield mount, carrying case, wall-mounted AC adapter, in-car cigarette-lighter cable included