Hands-on with Fujitsu's upcoming Pocket LOOX N100 GPS unit

We recently got some one-on-one time with this new portable GPS device from Fujitsu due next year. The unit is powered by Navigon's new GPS software, and you can color us impressed. Officially titled "Fujitsu's Pocket LOOX, Directed by NAVIGON," the cute little Pocket LOOX N100 runs Navigon's fancy new MobileNavigator|6 Premium, and is based on a 300MHz Samsung processor and SiRF Star III chip. The 2.8-inch QVGA screen is bright and colorful, and there's 64MB of RAM, along with a miniSD card slot to keep things interesting. The main functionality outside of GPS is MP3, WMA, AAC playback and a couple of games -- no PMP wares to see here -- but the actual GPS software is pretty dang slick and feature-filled. The best news is that all of this takes place in a quite portable 3.5 ounce form factor, and while the $500 pricetag is pretty hard to justify, there's no arguing with the sexy here. We should be seeing more of this unit at CES, with a March '07 launch date to follow. Keep reading for some more pics.

[strider_mt2k @ Nov 17th 2006 12:31PM]

My first impression was: Enclosure by Altoids.
(Not a bad thing at all!)

Cool looking piece!

[blackf0rk @ Nov 17th 2006 12:42PM]

The front looks awesome, but the back reminds me of a cheap pocket dictionary you buy at walgreens. For $500, I hope they shnaz it up a bit.

[clicclic @ Nov 17th 2006 2:05PM]

yawn...

Garmin's discontinuing items that did 1000% more 3 years ago!

http://www.garmin.com/products/iQue3600/

[Dignan17 @ Nov 17th 2006 3:28PM]

Interesting. Looks like Mio isn't the only company making stuff like this...

[Simplexity @ Nov 18th 2006 3:01AM]

This neat little thingy is available in Europe for quite some time. I got one 6 weeks ago, with maps for all European countries (fit on a 2GB card, 512MB are shipped with it) for �279 (~USD360). It is a very good llittle unit, got its first SW update, still has some serious bugs, requires quite small fingertips (ladies, shape your nails) or the use of the stylus, and saved me from missing a flight - it's already worth the investment.

[nojetlag @ Nov 18th 2006 6:50AM]

Did you forget to post your news in August ? This is already in the shops since August, hahahaha
http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000I5SNH4/ref=nosim/1digitalbuc10-21
Enjoy waiting till March 07 (for what ever reasons)

[straight @ Nov 20th 2006 1:38PM]

That's true but with the European software version you won't get far in the US ...
I tested it in Europe too and it's fantastic. Definitely worth waiting for US maps and programs ...

[straight @ Nov 20th 2006 1:39PM]

A cute little thing that from my understanding has not been fit for the US yet. When arriving in March it will be totally fit for the States.
It's just becoming a real gadget in Europe! With the right software it will be the most interesting navigation device in the States ...

[Jon Mawby @ Nov 22nd 2006 11:29AM]

It's nice looking but lacks the functionality of something more robust and media enabled.

http://www.nodeexplore.com/

Nodeexplore have created a platform that combines GPS location tracking with hot-points where media is fired giving you high-quality video and audio relevant to where you are. This far exceeds just Information Points, giving you info on the hole history and how to approach it for the golfer, or footage of historical turning points for the tourist.