Navman
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Navman is a New Zealand-based GPS systems company established in 1988. They provide stand-alone GPS units, GPS software for Palm handhelds and Pocket PCs, automotive navigation systems and navigation systems for use at sea.
It was acquired by Brunswick Corporation in June 2004. On 22 February 2007 Brunswick Corporation announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell portable navigation device (PND) operations of the Navman brand to MiTAC.
Navman Marine Division also design and manufacture Fish Finders, Sonar, VHF radios, Autopilots and sailing instruments.
Navman was founded in 1986 by Peter Maire as Talon Technology.
Navman holds a unique position as an electronics company, employing more than 500 staff involved in the design, development and manufacture of products including satellite GPS receivers, chart plotters, fuel flow measurement devices, boat speed gauges, depth and wind instruments, autopilots and fishfinders.
Satellite navigation technology has been a core technology for Navman's products from inception. The company recognises the need for applications in transportation, recreation, survey and personal information. The Navman range offers a complete line of GPS products in cost effective and flexible configurations with applications as diverse as commercial fleet tracking to low cost consumer in-car navigation and mobile computing GPS products, such as the N Series, F Series and iCN series.
Navman introduced "NavPix" on its iCN 700 portable navigation devices in 2006. The NavPix technology combines a digital image with geographical data to create the NavPix image, which is a record of the exact location where that image was taken. The iCN 720 and iCN 750 were the first Navman GPS products that were NavPix-enabled, using a 1.3 MegaPixel camera to take the NavPix.
NavPix was developed to offer users an alternative way to navigate, by selecting an image rather than entering an address or post code.
The N Series - N for NavPix - products launched in September/October 2006 introduced 3 more NavPix-enabled products - the N40i and widescreen N60i, both of which had an integrated digital camera to take the NavPix, and the N20 which can use (but not take) NavPix images.
The NavPix image contains the latitude and longitude information within the Exchangeable image file format meta data. These images can be selected on the compatible Navman as an alternative way to define a destination or way-point when planning a route.
Navman has also worked closely with world leading hardware partners, for example Palm Inc, Compaq Computer Corporation, in developing its range of handheld GPS clip-on jackets. This effectively demonstrates the converging worlds of computing, wireless communications and in-car telematics.
