Clarion unveils MAP680, MAP780 personal GPS units

On Tuesday, Clarion unveiled two new personal navigation units, the MAP680 and MAP780. The 4.3-inch touchscreen devices offer more than just 2D and 3D navigation, as a photo viewer, video and MP3 player and RDS-TMC traffic tuner are integrated. A 400MHz CPU is common to both units, as is Bluetooth capability that enables hands-free calling, sending SMS messages and A2DP audio streaming. The MAP680 has less built-in memory than its bigger brother, at 1GB versus 2, and can only be had in one of four versions with pre-loaded regional maps of Europe. The MAP780 includes mapping software for 43 European countries.

Internal memory is bolstered by an SD/MMC card slot, which also allows for AVI, WMV, 3GP and MP4 file playback. Photos from the memory cards can be previewed or shown off in a slide show.

The units' text-to-speech function can read out phonetically-correct street names, while navigation whether walking on foot or driving in a car is made more precise thanks to 3D renderings of buildings and routes as well as a lane assistant function.

Clarion has not revealed prices or ship dates for its newest personal GPS devices, which are meant for European consumption. While there is no word on US equivalents, Clarion USA offers a very similar product in the EZD580. [via Navigadget]

Clarion MAP680