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| Alpine Electronics Soars To New Navigation Heights With Blackbird Sleek All-in-One Portable Navigation Device and Digital Music Player Is This Year's Road Trip Must-Have TORRANCE, Calif., May. 10th, 2006 – With dreams of zapping away all the traffic snarls on the road still looming, road warriors, vacation travelers and casual about-towners all have a similar need: getting from one place to another quickly and easily. Alpine Electronics of America, Inc., the industry-leading manufacturer of high-performance mobile electronics, has the solution. With Blackbird™ (PMD-B100), Alpine's new portable navigation device (PND), hitting the road just got easier and a lot more fun. With more than 10 years of experience in the U. S. navigation market and the winner of five J.D. Power awards for in-vehicle navigation, Alpine holds a position unrivaled by any other PND manufacturer. Now, Alpine has turned its expertise in navigation design and engineering to the portable market for the first time with Blackbird, a high-performance, user-intuitive device that takes the stress out of being on unfamiliar streets. The perfect companion for short trips or long drives, Blackbird is pre-loaded with comprehensive NAVTEQ® map coverage for the United States and Canada with full turn-by-turn voice instructions to virtually any address. The system helps users get to a specific address, intersection or one of the more than 6 million pre-loaded points of interest, including restaurants, hotels, airports and gas stations. Voice instructions prompt drivers so they can keep their eyes on the road, but if they miss a turn, Blackbird will automatically recalculate the route and keep them right on track. Blackbird has a built-in radio data system (RDS) traffic tuner. With a NAVTEQ Traffic RDS™ service subscription, Blackbird will alert drivers to road incidents such as construction, accidents and congestion levels in select U.S. markets. The NAVTEQ Traffic RDS service will be available beginning summer 2006. Blackbird also can be used to enjoy MP3/WMA music files saved to a digital media card. Simply slide the card into the unit's SD card slot and users can enjoy their favorite music. When Blackbird is used with the supplied windshield cradle, which has a built-in FM modulator, the music files can be played back through the vehicle's FM radio. Blackbird's unique NaviMix function automatically lowers the volume of the music playback during voice-delivered driving instructions. Plug a set of headphones into the built-in headphone jack, and the unit can be used as a portable MP3 player. Blackbird can be moved easily from car-to-car, and it also can connect to an in-vehicle docking station (PMD-DOK1), allowing it to be fully controlled through one of Alpine's in-dash touch screen AV head units (sold separately). When docked, Blackbird's mapping, driving instructions and traffic alerts are viewed on the head unit, allowing Blackbird to serve as the main navigation "brain" in a complete audio/video/navigation (AV+N) system. Control of the Blackbird is then transferred to the larger in-dash monitor or to the optional remote control. "Blackbird is great for people on the go," said Stephen Witt, vice president, Marketing, Alpine Electronics. "It fits easily in a pocket or purse, can be moved from a commuter car to the weekend car, and can play digital music files. It gives drivers the flexibility and convenience of a powerful navigation system, plus hours of entertainment on the road." Blackbird has a sleek black aluminum design with a back-lit, laser-etched control, and measures approximately 6 inches x 3 inches x 1.2 inches. It has a vivid 3.6-inch anti-glare LCD color touch screen that is highly visible, even in extreme lighting conditions. Alpine's exclusive Graphical User Interface (GUI for Drivers') screen graphics deliver easy-to-understand, at a glance on-screen driving directions, as well as simple touch screen menus and controls. Blackbird runs on the Microsoft Windows CE platform. The Blackbird unit comes with a cigarette lighter power adapter, a carrying case and wiping cloth, a PC mini-USB cable, a replaceable 1200 mAh lithium polymer battery, owner's manual and quick reference guide. Optional accessories for Blackbird include a Second Car Kit, to make sharing between family vehicles easy and simple, an extra battery and an external antenna. Price and Availability Blackbird (PMD-B100) now is available at a suggested retail index of $750. The optional Blackbird docking station (PMD-DOK1) will be available in June at a suggested retail index of $200. Traffic service will be available this summer through the NAVTEQ Traffic RDS service, for an annual subscription fee of $60. Notice: Product information is based upon current information at the time of writing, but cannot be guaranteed. All designs, features, specifications and delivery dates are subject to change without notice. |
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