Philips CARiN 520 Interactive Car Navigation System Enters the Automobile Aftermarket
25 August 1997
Philips CARiN 520 Interactive Car Navigation System Enters the Automobile Aftermarket
-- Easy to install system, easy to use features move
vehicle navigation to mass market --
ATLANTA, Aug. 25 -- CARiN 520, Philips Car Systems'
interactive car navigation system, is now available to the automobile
aftermarket. Easy to install and use, CARiN 520 expands consumer access to
digital vehicle navigation technology previously available only through luxury
automobile accessory packages.
The system, including navigation computer, LCD monitor, remote control,
and installation components, retails for $1,999 plus installation and CD-ROM
mapping. CARiN 520 will soon be available through a major national consumer
electronics retail chain and can be installed by a professional automotive
electronics aftermarket facility in as little as two hours.
"We believe CARiN 520 will energize the vehicle navigation market, which
is estimated to reach $3 billion by the year 2000," said Mark Stephenson,
Philips Car Systems' vice president of marketing. "CARiN's easy-to-use remote
and route selection, automatic alternate routing, CD-ROM mapping and emergency
features add up to an accessory that helps make driving both fun and safe."
Philips' CARiN 520 is one of the only systems that employs dead reckoning
as its primary navigational tool. Dead reckoning uses an integrated gyroscope
and Philips' patented CD-ROM database to pinpoint the vehicle's location, and
then checks itself with the Global Positioning System (GPS) for accuracy.
This differs from other units that use GPS as its sole basis for navigation.
Through this leading technology, CARiN eliminates problems caused by
interference in places such as urban canyons or when a user is caught between
satellite links.
LCD MONITOR
Philips Car Systems, a division of Philips Electronics N.V., the
co-developer of CD-ROM, united Philips' global technology resources to create
a state-of-the-art vehicle navigation system that is operator friendly.
Drivers receive both visual and audio directions through a five-inch LCD
color display. Features include:
* Option of a male or female voice in one of six languages (American
English, French, Spanish, Italian, German or Dutch).
* Optional flexible stalk mount, which allows placement in several
locations within the cabin of the vehicle and is easily repositioned when not
in use or to accommodate another driver.
* Background monitor colors that can be changed from orange-red to green
to blue, depending on individual preference.
GPS SYSTEM
About the size of a vehicle CD player, the navigation computer is
sufficiently compact to mount under the rear deck, in the trunk, beneath a
seat or on the floor of the cargo area. The computer features an
eight-channel GPS receiver and integrated gyroscope, thus enabling the unit to
determine the vehicle's location virtually anywhere. A GPS sensor mounted
within the line-of-sight of at least three of 24 geosynchronous GPS satellites
provides the navigation computer with tracking information about the vehicle's
location and direction.
REMOTE CONTROL
CARiN 520 is controlled by an infrared remote that may be hand held or
placed in a permanently mounted holder. The heads-up remote is illuminated
for night use and controls:
* Destination entry * Selection of function options
* Function confirmations * Alternative route selection
* Volume control
ROUTE SELECTION
To input a destination, the driver can use the keyboard function; locate
the destination using the map and cursor; or call up the destination from a
data bank that includes up to 40 destination categories (hotels, restaurants,
museums, etc.) stored on CD-ROM. A personal destination memory can store up
to 100 favorite addresses. The most recent 10 addresses are stored
automatically. Once the destination is entered, CARiN 520 provides vocal and
visual directions with plenty of advance notice. The user may customize the
route selection by using major highways or avoiding major highways.
ALTERNATE ROUTES
If there is a traffic jam or construction, CARiN allows the user to choose
an alternate route at the touch of a button, or simply reconfigures directions
as soon as the driver leaves the selected route.
CD-ROM MAPPING
Seven regional CARiN CD-ROM road maps are available for the United States.
Together, the maps offer nationwide coverage of major highways and county
roads and complete, detailed mapping of 38 metropolitan cities from Boston to
San Diego and Detroit to Miami.
EMERGENCY USE
CARiN 520 can even tell the user where he or she is in an emergency. The
screen provides location of the vehicle, local emergency numbers and
personally-stored roadside assistance numbers. With this, help is just a
phone call away.
Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is among the world's largest
suppliers of electronic systems and products to the automotive industry. Its
global automotive capabilities include vehicle navigation, car audio systems
and components, electronic and mechanical systems and components,
semiconductors, lamps, road lighting and traffic control. Quoted on the NYSE,
London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges, it is also a world
leader in lighting, color television sets, electric shavers and recorded music
(PolyGram).
Philips Car Systems has global headquarters in Wetzlar, Germany, and has
U.S. offices in Farmington Hills, Mich., Cheshire, Conn., and Atlanta, Ga. As
a unit of Philips Electronics N.V., Philips Car Systems has access to the
resources of one of the world's largest digital technology corporations with
262,500 employees in more than 60 countries and worldwide sales of
approximately $41 billion in 1996.
SOURCE Philips Car Systems
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