Here's Sanyo's new in-car navigation system, the "HD Gorilla." It seems to have a nice collection of features; 30GB hard drive, integrated TV tuner and FM transmitter, and what seems to be the new standard for navigation, 3D maps with realistic textures. It even rips CDs into everyone's favorite compression format, ATRAC, at 8x.
There's no mention of MP3 playback from DVD-R (though it can do CD), nor is there any mention of PC-side synchronization (like Sony's XYZ series).
Sanyo Electric Corporation will release a new model in the "HD Gorilla" line of DVD/HDD navigation systems, the "NV-HD550," on February 10th. The price is 220,500 yen.
This is a car navigation system with 30GB hard drive, DVD-Video player, TV tuner, FM transmitter, and 7V widescreen LCD monitor. Power can be supplied by either car cigarette lighter, AC adapter, or lithium ion battery (not included), meaning it can also be used outside of the vehicle.
An added function is CD ripping in the ATRAC3 format, as well as the inclusion of "Music Stocker" allowing the hard drive to be used as jukebox. Ripping functionality can only be operated when the unit is being driven by AC adapter; it cannot rip while sharing power from a lighter socket.
The NV-HD550 can record audio to the hard drive at 8x; a 60 minute CD can be stored on the hard drive in about 10 minutes and 30 seconds. Also, ripping at the same speed can be done while listening to the CD itself. Bitrates can be chosen from either 105kbps or 132kbps. It also contains a CDDB, so that artist name, album name, song name, and other items are automatically applied during ripping. Up to 3,000 songs can be stored in the hard drive, and about 400 CD titles can be stored.
As for a hard drive navigation system, newly added features include "3D Intersection Images" and "High Speed Town Approach 3D Image;" this is in addition to detailed maps of 1,425 town areas across the nation (Japan). With an increase in the speed of the internal CPU, the processing speed of scroll and route searching has been drastically increased.
The DVD part can playback both DVD-Video and Audio CD, and it supports the playback of DVD+-R/RW. Also, it supports the playback of MP3 files recorded on CD-R/RW discs. The LCD display uses a touchpanel setup, and can display navigation data, DVD-Video, and TV. In addition to a TV tuner, the unit is equipped with a 13 pin DIN terrestrial digital tuner jack, ETC unit jack, and Memory Stick slot. It supports terrestrial digital tuners to be released during 2005.
The screen can be divided into two parts and display both navigation data and DVD-Video at the same time. The unit also contains an FM transmitter, so that audio can be output to established speakers within a car or home audio systems in a home.
The external dimensions are 180 x 50 x 137mm (W x D x H), and it weighs about 1,000g. A remote controller with a joystick is included.
[1]
Inspired by:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20050119/sanyo.htm [2]
Press Release:
http://www.sanyo.co.jp/koho/hypertext4/0501news-j/0119-1.html [3]
