We've got a couple car-related news items for you tonight.

To start things up, here's an in-dash model of Sony's "XYZ" navigation system with a hard drive. We previously covered the XYZ line when it was first announced, but these were "affixed to the dashboard of A/C vent panel." Not exactly the most convenient place for a navigation system.
I guess Sony realized this, because they've announced an in-dash version of the system. They've also added a couple features, such as MPEG-4 support, and simple operation of movies/audio with just a fingertip.

Sony will release a new in-dash type model of their "XYZ" hard-drive car navigation system, the "NV-XYZ88," o­n December 10th. The system can connect with PCs, and also supports the playback/transfer of MPEG-2 movies. Though it is officially listed as Open Price, the estimated retail price is around 200,000 yen.

This is a hard drive navigation system that can easily be removed from a car and be linked with a PC. It contains a 30GB hard drive, and can be installed in either the "Car Station" while in the car, or the "Home Station" connecting to a PC while at home. Video (MPEG-1/2/4), audio (ATRAC3/ATRAC3plus/MP3), and still images (JPEG/BMP/TIFF/PNG/GIF) can be transferred from PCs using the connection supplied by the Home Station, giving the unit to not o­nly act as a navigator inside the car, but also playback videos, audio, etc..

Although 3 models of the XYZ series (the XYZ77, 55, and 33) were released in June, all of these were o­n-dash types. The NV-XYZ88, o­n the other hand, offers the Car Station that is able to fit inside of the dashboard itself, giving the XYZ series the ability to act as a typical in-dash car navigation system.

Other specifications, at least o­n the hardware end, are the same as the NV-XYZ77. Not o­nly are the Car Station and Home Station included, but the "Expansion Station" (providing TV tuner, 4 diversity antenna connections, 1 composite input, 1 analog audio input, 1 reverse camera input, 1 video output, 2 audio output) is included (it was sold separately from the XYZ55 and 33 for the cost of 36,750 yen), and attaches to the Car Station. With use of the Expansion Station, just connect a DVD player or other device, and it can be watched o­n the display of the XYZ.

Also, new functions have been added by an upgrade of the internal software. o­n the AV side, MPEG-4 file playback is now supported, and GIF file support has been added for still images. Also, thumbnails of MPEG-1/2 files can now be displayed o­n the navigation screen.

Another addition is support for "Gesture Commands," which can control various display/playback functions of video files, TV, and audio by simply drawing o­n the screen with your finger. When playing a video, drawing your finger from the middle to the right/left will fast-forward/rewind. Channels can be changed by drawing the finger up or down when in TV mode, and left/right will select tracks or up/down will select albums in audio mode.

The PC application has also been upgraded, in that the "XYZ Video Manager" video transfer software now supports videos recorded with "Do VAIO." Also, the audio software has been changed from the "SonicStage Ver.2.0" of the XYZ77/55/33 to version 2.1, enabling the transfer of album art. Transfer is still conducted with USB 2.0, but Sony has said that the efficient transfer speed has been increased.

Furthermore, users can now partition the XYZ's internal hard drive from their PC. The video storage area can be increased and so forth; users can divide up the 30GB of space as they see fit.

On the navigation end of things the "Simple Closest Search" function has been added, which can choose from 6 categories: parking, convenience store, gas station, fast food, restaurant, and ramen. Two maps can be displayed at o­nce, the zoom o­n intersections has been improved, and it can now be connected to the "its-moNavi" PC map software. PCs and the XYZ can also exchange location information.

The newly added Gesture Commands can also be used o­n the navigation screen. Drawing a "V" o­n the screen will display the "Decision Menu." Other capabilities include changing map views, menu navigation, and skipping certain routes.

A software upgrade service is also planned for users of the XYZ77/55/33. Details of how to upgrade "will be announced in the middle of December" (Sony).

The display is a 6.5V widescreen VGA, and the monitor has external dimensions of 204 x 49 x 104mm (W x D x H) while weighing about 720g. The in-dash station is 178 x 137 x 50mm (same) and weighs 1.3kg. The Expansion Station is 191 x 81 x 28mm (same) at 424g, and the Home Station is 141 x 75 x 43mm (same) at 95g.




Inspired by:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20041112/sony1.htm

Product Information:
http://www.sony.jp/products/me/xyz/