Navman has unveiled its latest range of GPS navigation units and dash cams as it fights for relevance in a market being sucked away by modern smartphones and in-car navigation systems.
Once a cutting edge replacement to paper maps and street directories, the stand alone GPS navigation system has been largely relegated to specialist markets such as long haul truckers and off-road adventurers.
But Navman is quick to stress its range of GPS navigation systems are still relevant and necessary to drivers, citing statistics that 60 per cent of the 1.5 million new cars sold last year didn’t have navigation systems from the factory, and those that did had systems that lacked features, were less accurate, and harder to update.
The company also said “mobile phones have not killed sat-nav” because of heavy fines and demerit points for drivers caught using their phone at the wheel, but most states and territories allow mobile phone use for navigation if the phone is held in a cradle.
Navman claims the new range of sat-navs are “better than ever” and that its sales “remain strong” due to them having more, better features than mobile phone navigation, including data-less navigation out of mobile range.
The standalone sat-navs feature speed limit information, speeding and safety camera notifications, landmark and point-of-interest information (such as nearby petrol stations, hospitals etc), and records of trip data which the company claims works better than free mobile navigation apps such as Google Maps, that also include similar features.
One area where the Navman devices gain advantage over their smartphone rivals is in driver safety through alerts such as fatigue warnings and ADAS safety features like safe stopping distance and lane departure warnings, though these warnings are restricted to the higher priced models with dash cams built-in.
Navman is also bringing out a new range of standalone dash cams, which the company claim are a “must have accessory” for drivers because almost half of insurance claims are submitted with dash cam footage.
The company said it’s “little wonder” sales of its MiVUE brand are growing strongly due to technological advancements.
The dash cams use ultra-wide glass lenses and Sony’s STARVIS CMOS sensors that Navman claim give its dash cams better low-light performance than its rivals.
Entry level models record in 1080p while more expensive models go up to 2160p recording for greater detail.
Four of the six models are supported by Navman’s EZYShare app, which is designed to make it easy to share dash cam footage in the event of a crash.
Footage is recorded to SD cards, with the cameras supporting capacities up to 128GB.
Files are also GPS-location tagged, and an in-built 3-axis G-Sensor records information about the direction and impact to help prove fault in insurance investigations.
Information on Navman’s full range of dash cams and GPS navigation units are below.
Sat-Navs
Dash Cams
