It looks like Nextar is trying to stay afloat in this economy by releasing GPS navigation systems fit for every budget. Their latest is the Nextar 43LT which has a 4.3″ screen and offers life traffic updates from Navteq’s RDS-TMC service (see coverage). It only costs $170.
Some other features of Nextar 43LT include SD card slot, 1.6 million POIs, and text-to-speech… via
(Via NaviGadget.)
Nextar M3-MX1 GPS for Select Latin American Markets
Nextar is launching a new model (M3-MX1) directed at the Latin American market. They will be taking a standard screen (3.5-inch) model with what appears to be an iGo interface from NavNGo. The units will be available in Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil this Spring. Pricing is $249 street price, but I would expect a lower effective price when it hits the market.
Clearly as several factors come together, GPS in developing countries will become attractive; lower overall prices become more affordable, saturation in major N. American and Euro markets, and declining revenue pushing makers to look elsewhere for sales.
Full press release after the jump.....
Nextar, a designer and marketer of bold and new consumer electronic products with mass appeal, announces it will be adding dedicated GPS navigational units for Argentina (M3-AR), Brazil (M3-BR), and Mexico (updated to the M3-MX1) to its lineup in early 2009. Each model will come with its respective country maps preloaded as well as MP3 playing and JPEG image-viewing capabilities. Nextar will feature the units at the upcoming 2009 CES in booth South 3 31753.
'Building on the success that we have had in Mexico with the original M3-MX in 2008, Nextar is adding the new M3-MX1 for Mexico and expanding its product offering to Argentina and Brazil with new models,' remarked Eddy Zheng, Nextar founder. 'These GPS units are perfect items to introduce our brand in these initial countries, as each has a large driving population, thousands of miles of roads and highways, and heavy tourism trade.'
Maps, featuring 3D Landmarks, on all three models are shown on a 3.5' touch-screen display. Text-to-speech technology distinctly pronounces road names in the user-selectable languages of Spanish, English, Portuguese, or French, with turn-by-turn voice prompts clearly audible through a built-in stereo speaker.
Each unit includes thousands of points of interest such as local hotels, shopping centers, gas stations, and restaurants. Planning trips, vacations, or cross-town jaunts with any of these Nextar M3 units is easy and fun.
To ease boredom or for entertaining while traveling, each model plays MP3 files and displays JPEG images. A built-in antenna ensures signal reception, while a lightweight, built-in rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery supplies power. All GPS units come with a complete accessory pack that includes: AC/DC adapter, car power adapter, USB cable, protection pouch, suction cup, instruction manual, and a stylus/touch pen.
Each of these three new Nextar international GPS units measures 4.05' x 2.99' x 0.9' and weighs 2.2 pounds.
Pricing and Availability
The new Nextar Central and South American navigation systems will be available in Spring 2009 at leading retailers in their respective countries. They all have a SRP of $249.99. The systems are neatly packaged in attention-grabbing full-color boxes.
(Via GPS Lodge.)
Nextar delivers Q4-01 / Q4-02 4.3-inch navigators
Continue reading Nextar delivers Q4-01 / Q4-02 4.3-inch navigators
(Via Engadget.)
Nextar intros 5-inch SNAP5 / 7-inch SNAP7 GPS units
Continue reading Nextar intros 5-inch SNAP5 / 7-inch SNAP7 GPS units
(Via Engadget.)
The unit is pretty standard. The only ‘fancy’ feature is the ability to pronounce street names (text-to-speech). It also has a stylus just like the Enzym unit we talked about recently.
The new Nextar ME will be on display at the SEMA 2008 trade show.
(Via NaviGadget.)
The 3.5-inch (QVGA) PMP is available in the U.S. in mainstream retailers like Wal-Mart. The weird part is that for the $100 price tag it only comes with token video support. That’s right, a built-in converter can play AVI videos on this device. It has 4GB built-in memory, FM tuner and play most music files. Hm, I dunno. there are a number of 50-dollar or 999-yuan PMPs with way better file support and a lot of high-end features too. Looks like the Nextar need to do a little more research in the MP4 market.
(Via PMP Today.)
Nextar K4 GPS
Nextar is letting another GPS fly - this time it's the K4 with some media extras like a video and MP3 player. The K4 comes with a 4.0' screen and has the ability to play MPEG4 & AVI files while supporting JPG/BMP/GIF formatted pictures. The unit has the entire US for maps and comes with voice prompts in English/Spanish/French. The Maps and 1.6 Million POI fit onto the 2GB built in memory.
No word on price, available this summer.
(Via GPS Lodge.)
The Nextar Q4-01 was recently released into a competitive market where more consumers are deciding to move to the widescreen instead of the standard 3.5-inch screens that so many people know. The Nextar Q4 has the 4.3-inch screen which is based on a new user interface. The interface update is a welcome one, as the last Nextar interface was not much to talk about. I reviewed the Nextar C-3 last year and definitely saw room for improvement in the interface and the mount. The Nextar Q4 packs some decent stats into the package along with the redesign including text-to-speech, maps of the 50 states from NAVTEQ, and a light 1.6 million Points of interest. The unit also features an MP3 player and a photo viewer.
So can the Nextar Q4 with its widescreen and new user interface compete for your dollars in the GPS market?
Design
The Nextar Q-4 is a very thin widescreen unit with a look a lot like the Navigon units that blew out onto the market this past holiday season. The power button is on the top, while the SD card slot, headphone jack and the mini-USB/power plug. The back offers a power lock button, the speaker, and a slot for the stylus. The mount is a similar mount to the C-3 that was such a pain to use. The cam lever is easy to use to get on and off the windshield, which attaches to a svelte cradle. The cradle slides into the mount through a couple of slots and then attaches to the Nextar Q-4. The mount snaps into a slot in the back of the Nextar Q-4, that is solid once you lock it in. With the power plug coming out the side, you can snug the unit right down onto the dash if you want to. The nut to tighten the swivel is a bit tough to get to if the unit is on the windshield, so make sure things are set before you slap it on the glass or on the adhesive disk stuck to your dash.
Like many Windows CE based GPS units, the Nextar Q-4 has a main software interface level where you can see the programs like Navigation, Picture Viewer, MP3 player, and Settings. You will need to go into Settings, then the Brightness icon to set the brightness, and more importantly, the 'sleep' mode (see the setting with the little moon icon). The unit has the ability to go to sleep and shut off after a set number of seconds, which is not what you want for a GPS while driving down the road. Keep this set to '--' and not a number. I couldn't figure out why this kept shutting down on me, thinking that the battery was drained, until figured this out.
Navigation
The Nextar Q-4 has a few 'buttons' on the main map screen to help things along. In the upper right you get a compass that includes the time display below it. By tapping it, you can rotate through the 3-D, 2-D North Up and 2-D in the direction of travel. On the left side, there is a '+' and a '-' to zoom in and out. The Menu button is on the lower left, which allows you to get to the good stuff, but if you want to directly head to a 'Destination' you can get there by tapping the 'Go To' button in the lower right. The Menu has 'Destination', 'History', 'POI', 'Go Home', 'Save as Favorite' and 'Setting'. I have to say that the icon choice for these buttons is a bit odd, as you get what looks like a Mini Cooper for the 'Destination' and a hard drive for 'Save as Favorite'; makes intuitive sense, but funny to see the had drive icon on a GPS. One thing I like is a prominent 'Cancel Route' choice that replaces 'POI' when you are navigating on a route. The if you haven't added a home location, the icon will show 'Set Home Location'; straight forward to understand.
The Addressing dialog is a new approach, offering a bunch of options all accessed through four Category buttons that line the top and bottom of the screen. As you hit those button, the choices in the middle change. The Address button brings up 'Start with City', Street near you, of a City Center. The POI category has POI by City, POI by name, POI near vehicle, and POI near destination. The Crossroad category allows you to choose to 'Start with a City' of a street nearby. Finally the Favorites category gives you 'Route to a favorite', 'Set Home as a favorite', 'Rename Favorite', and Delete Favorite.
The 'Go To' button interface sounds crazy, but once you get used to it, it's really not a bad way to offer a lot of choices without having to scroll through a whole bunch of menu screens.
Addressing
When you get into typing in the address, things do get a little odd. First of all, the unit does not have a state based hierarchy, meaning you can't choose what state you want to go before typing in the town. A lot of towns in New England are called 'XXXXX, Town Of' for some reason, so when I wanted to go to Waltham, MA, I typed in the name of the town and hit 'Waltham, Town of', only to find that I didn't get it right; I guess the 'Waltham' in Massachusetts is listed only as 'Waltham' without the extra 'Town of'. After 'X'-ing out of the screen, I had to go back to the beginning, re-type the whole thing and guess again. OK, it's a pet peeve of mine, but it will be a frustration that will slow you down.
The name entry starts out with a nice feature that thinks ahead to offer only the letters that can logically follow. This can speed up the spelling in many cases, but gets weird fast. When you get down to the last few letters with only a few options, the letters move out of the 'ABC' keyboard and into some sort of a tight circle which should be easy to choose from, but when you are expecting the letters in one place and they are in another, it throws you for a bit. So on the right I was typing B-O-S-T-O-N, but the unit is smart enough to figure out that after B-O-S, there are only a few letters that can come next, and they all jump to the middle of the screen. So just as you are ready to hit the 'T', it's GONE. Odd implementation of the type ahead capability. This is definitely a low point for the otherwise much improved interface.
Routing
When you do get your destination set, the Nextar Q-4 will do a good job of routing you to it. The screen display changes to give you relevant information about routing like a next turn arrow, distance to the next turn and estimated time of arrival. As you drive, the voice prompts are accurate and clear. The smallish speaker gets a little taxed when set to full volume. Another concern pops up here though. The unit does not offer any auto-zoom, which I didn't realize how important it is to have it. As you drive, most GPS units will zoom out when you are driving on a larger road, at higher speeds without a turn near, but as you slow for a turn, the map zooms in. This is lacking here in the Nextar Q-4, and as a result the unit stays at a constant zoom level. As I went from state roads onto side streets, those side streets didn't show up on the screen, as they were too small to show on the map until I manually zoom in.
Review Summary
The Nextar Q-4 is a player in the next tier of GPS units, and sells for a discount at stores online. The unit certainly is a good start, and the interface, speed of satellite acquisition, and design is much improved over what I saw last year in the Nextar C-3, which had a sluggish interface, an older design and tough mount. The improvements don't come without a few issues that I mentioned above, including an odd addressing routine with letters that jump around as you type the final letters of a name, and the lack of an auto-zoom that has you driving across space without a road underneath you.
(Via GPS Lodge.)
Nextar I4-BC, a GPS and Reversing Camera System Combo [GPS]
(Via Gizmodo.)
Nextar I4 BC comes with rear view camera
GPS navigation system manufacturer Nextar seems to have a new model in their lineup called Nextar I4 BC.
Let’s start with the basics: I4 BC has a 4.3″ touch screen, SD card slot for extra memory, pre-installed maps of 50 states and Canada, and 1.6 million POIs. In addition it has built-in speakers, and text-to-speech function.
And then the software has a couple of add-ons such as the speed alert system, MP3 player and JPEG viewer. What’s unique with I4 BC is that it comes with a rear view camera; a feature we’re not used to seeing right out of the box.
We hear the price ranges somewhere between $300 and $600…
(Via NaviGadget.)
Nextar C-3 Arrives for Review: "
(Via GPS Lodge.)
Nextar shipping more advanced GPS: "
Nextar has recently started shipping out their latest and best GPS device. Nextar calls it the X4B and it comes loaded with goodies.
The unit comes loaded with maps of America as well as Canada, supplied by Navteq. Secondly, comes with 1GB internal memory, and supports Bluetooth for hands free calling. One unique feature in this GPS is that it has 2 million POI, or points of interest, such as nearest stores, markets, phone booths, and whatever else you might need when traveling.
It features a 4.3 inch touchscreen and text-to-speech. The X4B’s GPS receiver is from SiRF Star III, and it features an Intel Processor.
Price is 400 dollars.
(Via Gadgetell.)
Nextar X4B: "
Nextar X4B is the most advanced model Nextar has to offer when it comes to GPS navigation systems.
It features a 4.3″ touch screen with US & Canada maps from Navteq which sits on a 1GB built in memory, and has bluetooth connectivity for taking hands free phone calls. Also included in its memory is close 2 million points of interests to help you locate the closest farmers market, phone booth, etc…
Nextar X4B also supports TTS (Text to Speech), a feature you’d like if you can’t take your eyes off the road not even for a second.
As far as hardware we know the processor is from Intel and the GPS receiver is SiRF Star III. It sells for about $400 on Amazon.
(Via NaviGadget.)
Nextar HGPS35 is a basic navigation system that has 1.6 million points of interest for the U.S. stored in its internal memory. It can do voice guidance and display information on its 3.5″ touch screen which can render maps in 2D or 3D. There is also an MP3 player if you have no other option left for entertainment.
More specs:
(Via NaviGadget.)
