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PRODUCT REVIEW
Routefinder PNA: Windows CE guides the way
By Jason Perlow
Automotive technology has improved vastly over the last hundred years. While we've seen more and more fuel-efficient engines that greatly increase a car's range and the four wheel drive that enables us to travel off-road and in harsh conditions, one central component of the automobile has remained pretty much the same -- the navigation skills of the driver.
Yes, we have primitive tools to help us out. City maps and atlases are helpful for getting a general idea as to the location of your destination. Internet services such as MapQuest will provide a printout that will route you from door to door with reasonably accurate driving directions across the country. But both of these tools require time and planning to use effectively. Unless you know -- absolutely -- where you're going and have directions on how to get there, you can't just get in your car and drive somewhere spur of the moment.
The introduction of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and mobile computer technology over the last decade has enabled wealthy individuals, government agencies, and corporations to have access to sophisticated and costly in-vehicle navigation systems. The Windows CE-based AutoPC is the most recent example of this technology filtering down to the masses, but the limited success of AutoPC is partly due to the fact that it's permanently mounted in your car and, at $1500, pretty expensive. What if you live in New York and fly to California and don't know how to get around? In this case, an AutoPC is useless. Not to mention that having an AutoPC or other equally expensive dedicated navigation system installed in your car is akin to declaring open season in some parts of this country for vandals to break into your car and steal it.
Welcome to the 21st century
Enter Datus' PNA 7000, the world's first portable and the most affordable automobile navigation unit. Unlike the PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)-based GPS solutions, the PNA, or Personal Navigation Assistant, is completely self-contained.
Resembling a Windows CE palm-sized PC on steroids and about the size of a brick, as shown in Figure A, the PNA 7000 contains a 12-channel GPS receiver, an AMD microprocessor and two PC Card Type-3 slots. The PC Card slots are used to accommodate the two map databases, Windows CE 2.X and routing software on removable SanDisk data cards. The data cards can be used in conjunction with a notebook PC or a PC Card card reader to upgrade the system software and the map database.
FIGURE A
 
The PNA 7000 resembles a Windows CE Palm-size PC on steroids and is about the size of a brick. Roll over picture for a larger image.
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