ASUS intros R710 PND with first heads-up display

ASUS on Thursday introduced the R710 portable navigation device with an industry-first feature in its optional PathFinder Heads-Up Display (HUD) that helps drivers keep their eyes on the road. The HUD projects directions, speed and other information on the vehicle's windshield. The device also has a 5-inch touchscreen display like more traditional navigators and, in keeping with its safety theme, includes Bluetooth 2.0 hands-free calling support. Built-in echo-canceling software makes conversations via the microphone and speaker easily understood.

A light-sensing chip will automatically adjust the brightness of the LCD panel based on ambient lighting conditions, brightening it up in sunny, mid-day conditions and making it darker and easier on the eyes at nighttime.

The R710 features a microSD memory card slot that lets users access up to 8GB of videos, music and photos. Via its Windows CE Net 5.0 interface, users can play MPEG, MPV, MPE, WMV, ASX, WAX, WVX and WMX format video, as well as MP3 and WMA music, while JPG, GIF, PNG and TIFF photos are compatible.

ASUS has not announced release or pricing information, though no specific maps are available for North America; only worldwide, Russia, China and Taiwan navigation support have been mentioned so far.