My review of the Navman iCN 720 navigation system has been published by ZDNet.co.uk.
Navman has been making solid and reliable navigation systems for a while now, and the Navman iCN 720 is more than just the next device in a long line. It has a significant innovation up its sleeve.
The device's widescreen and plentiful buttons beside the screen make it a bit on the chunky side but I found it difficult to fault during testing. NavMan has been around long enough to get things right and the user interface, mapping quality and general ease of use are to be praised.
The unique thing about the Navman iCN 720 is its built in camera. You use this to take a photo which is captured along with enough information to link the picture to its geographical location. Then you can share your picture with others via Navman's dedicated web site. The system is called NavPix, and Navman intends to support it in future devices.
NavPix is an ambitious concept and I am not certain it will work out - do you really want to give people information about how to find your house by taking a photo of it, emailing it to them, then have them download it into their device? Why not just give them you address? As the iCN 720 supports navigation by full postcodes in the UK, locating an address is fast, easy and reliable.
But Navman would say I am only seeing half the point by suggesting that NavPix is just for consumers and only for sharing a single image. They advocate its potential for all kinds of professional groups from estate agents onwards. Users can create and share whole albums as well as single pictures, which opens up possibilities for holiday trails and suchlike. And actually, once you start thinking about it, there are many, many possibilities for such a system.
Whether NavPix will be the unique selling point that endears Navman to the market only time will tell. In the mean time, read my full review of the iCN 720 here.
Navman has been making solid and reliable navigation systems for a while now, and the Navman iCN 720 is more than just the next device in a long line. It has a significant innovation up its sleeve.
The device's widescreen and plentiful buttons beside the screen make it a bit on the chunky side but I found it difficult to fault during testing. NavMan has been around long enough to get things right and the user interface, mapping quality and general ease of use are to be praised.
The unique thing about the Navman iCN 720 is its built in camera. You use this to take a photo which is captured along with enough information to link the picture to its geographical location. Then you can share your picture with others via Navman's dedicated web site. The system is called NavPix, and Navman intends to support it in future devices.
NavPix is an ambitious concept and I am not certain it will work out - do you really want to give people information about how to find your house by taking a photo of it, emailing it to them, then have them download it into their device? Why not just give them you address? As the iCN 720 supports navigation by full postcodes in the UK, locating an address is fast, easy and reliable.
But Navman would say I am only seeing half the point by suggesting that NavPix is just for consumers and only for sharing a single image. They advocate its potential for all kinds of professional groups from estate agents onwards. Users can create and share whole albums as well as single pictures, which opens up possibilities for holiday trails and suchlike. And actually, once you start thinking about it, there are many, many possibilities for such a system.
Whether NavPix will be the unique selling point that endears Navman to the market only time will tell. In the mean time, read my full review of the iCN 720 here.