Clarion’s savvy satellite cab companion

With the launch of a revolutionary CV-dedicated portable satnav device, Clarion has cut a major path to providing better, more accurate road guidance for commercial vehicles on Britain’s roads, and in Europe.

Whilst the demand for plug-and-go portable navigation by the car-driving public has triggered significant product development, the lack of a competent CV-specific equivalent for the truck market, has done little to ease the drivers’ burden. But Clarion’s launch of the MAP690TRK CV portable navigation device - with its ability to designate routes according to the vehicle’s size, weight and other criteria – represents a considerable advance over present products on the market.

No stranger in the supply of in-cab audio, multimedia and navigation to CV manufacturers, fleet operators and independents, Clarion has designed and purpose-developed the product with functionality and ease-of-use at its core, including a unique, active cradle (AC709) with a 12-24 volt power input, stereo speaker output and built-in TMC antenna.

Route calculation takes into account bridge height, width and carrying capacity, tunnel height and width, road carrying capacity and water protection and/or hazardous materialtransportation limitations.

Trip assistance tools allow for the inclusion of loading and waiting times at pre-determined stops to be taken into account when calculating the ETA, whilst a travel time monitor tracks driving and rest times and alerts the driver when daily, continuous or break times are exceeded.

The MAP690TRK accommodates three different vehicle profiles, logging data on height, width, length, weight (actual and max.), weight per axle and trailer inclusion, whilst a mode of transport option allows use in the car as well as truck, making the new navigation device truly portable.

Two separate high-performance programmes – powered by a powerful 400MHz CPU – allow the MAP690TRK to display buildings both in the foreground and background.

Buildings close to the driver appear see-through as you approach them, so as not to obstruct the view of the next junction, whilst buildings further away are textured and solid, making them lifelike and easily recognisable as reference points while driving.

The new PND also uses digital elevation model data to draw height and depth features, with hills and mountains rendered in 3D while you drive, to create the most realistic view, at any level of zoom. Elevation information is also applied to the road network for rendering of shadows, to display roads and bridges at their correct height for a greater clarity of route guidance.

The MAP690TRK is pre-installed with map data for 44 European countries whilst voice guidance is offered in 38 languages. To cater for UK and European driving, the MAP690TRK utilises both a 5-digit and 8-digit postcode search function, to direct you more accurately to your destination, and with the addition of built-in RDS-TMC traffic information and numerous driver alerts, commercial vehicle users are kept constantly updated with changing conditions.

To cope with the demands for an ‘always-connected’ communications network, Clarion’s latest portable navigation device also makes the most of Bluetooth connectivity for handsfree operation of Bluetooth enabled mobile phones and PDA’s, including on-screen phone book and touch-pad dialling.

Entertainment features on the MAP690TRK include audio streaming (A2DP) via Bluetooth and MP3/WMA playback through a built-in USB music player, a movie viewer, allowing users to download up to 8GB of MP4 video via MMC or SD card, and a digital photo album that allows the user to upload pictures via SD card or the built-in USB port.

The Clarion MAP690TRK is priced at RRP £399.00 inc. VAT, with the AC709 active cradle priced at £35.00.

For more information on stocking, contact Clarion (GB) Ltd. on 01793870400 or amsales[AT]clarion.co.uk.

For further press information and copyright free images, and if you would like to test this or any Clarion product, please contact:

Chris Hodges, Clarion Press Office.

Tel: 01491 411777. E-mail: clarion[AT]mph.co.uk

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