Sony launches NV-U2 nav system in Japan

Like most manufacturers whose names are not Garmin or TomTom, Sony's had some trouble gaining a foothold in the already well-established GPS market, but that isn't stopping the jack of all trades from releasing yet another unit for the Japanese market. The NV-U2 is a 4.8-inch in-car PND with a 480 x 272 pixel touchscreen and MPEG-4 support, and improves upon the older NV-U1 by including the so-called "G Position Plus" chipset and shaving several precious millimeters off the depth. Pricing isn't immediately available, but unless your pocket is stuffed with yen, that probably doesn't matter much anyway.

[Mark @ Oct 10th 2007 4:10PM]

I'm guessing that Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba etc have a bigger foothold in the JDM than the American companies, c'est non?

[archie4oz @ Oct 10th 2007 4:48PM]

Much more so. Also a much higher percentage of cars there have navi systems.

[Matthew Hilario @ Oct 10th 2007 4:31PM]

nani? wirr it come in engrish?

[Bob_Woody @ Oct 10th 2007 4:58PM]

When are they going to give up on bigger (& more distracting) screens & concentrate on verbal instructions.

I think My Tom Tom is great - but I can turn the screen off over a set speed.

I think it's illigal to watch a TV while driving - but you can look at the sat-nav screen - whats the difference?

[Spinner @ Oct 10th 2007 7:12PM]

Some good points.

It's not illegal to look at the displays on your dashboard while driving either. The difference is that the content on your TV has nothing to do with the task of driving, and typically requires your continuous attention. Satnavs provide reference information to help you drive (ignoring the video playback functions, that is). Legally you shouldn't look at them either - have you ever read the disclaimers for your satnav device?

As for smaller screens, about a month ago Sony launched 4.3" models (NV-U53 and 73T) in Europe that are basically a scaled-down alternative to the 4.8" models (NV-U83 and 93T), should you prefer the smaller screen. Remember, though, that smaller screens typically mean smaller text, and when you're trying to read something whilst driving, bigger is better.

[Chuchichan @ Nov 22nd 2007 10:19PM]

Hi,

I live in Japan and do not have a navigator in my car. I don't want to spend $1500 to get an installed one either. This seems like a good option due to its portability.

I am very new to the GPS/Navi market, so I have a few questions that I was hoping that someone might be able to answer...

First off, I am ok in listening to directions in Japanese. That wouldn't bother me. Also, I can learn to enter an address or phone number in the system and program it.

What I was wondering is if this device comes with maps of Japan pre-installed or if I would have to download them myself. I was also wondering if I can bring this to the US and install US maps on it at some point in the future.

Any help or point in the right direction would be very helpful.

Thank you.