Las Vegas – Car electronics supplier Dual is turning the iPod touch into a portable navigation device (PND) that delivers turn-by-turn driving instructions.
The company plans February shipment of a windshield-mounted GPS-equipped cradle, which holds the touch and features an amplified speaker. It will be used in conjunction with a downloadable app that incorporates maps and route-calculation algorithm. The combination is tentatively priced at an everyday $179-$199.
The device delivers driving instructions by voice, offers lane assistance for many intersections, charges the touch, and pauses the touch’s music when the touch instructs the driver to make a turn.
Although Dual offers PNDs, the company has begun to focus more on installed in-dash navigation systems, and it is now supplementing that direction with the GPS cradle, said Dual president Jim Braun.
Dual’s GPS cradle joins a similar cradle unveiled late last year by PND supplier Magellan, which also offers a navigation app for the touch. That cradle can also be used as a full-duplex hands-free kit for use with any Bluetooth-equipped cellphone, thanks to embedded Bluetooth and built-in noise-canceling microphone.
