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By
JOHN CRAWFORD
26 May 2008
Toyota Australia has just launched an accessory that is
ground-breaking in its simplicity, and given the number of Toyotas
on the road in this country it will serve both the company and the
customers very well.
Toyota’s
new accessory is called ‘Follow Me’ and in essence it’s an
integrated audio and navigation system, which is fully-featured,
and portable too!
The
unit is what is called a ‘Double DIN’ size – which for the
novice means that it’s the same height as a car radio stacked on
top of a CD player. The Toyota unit has been developed together
with one of the market leaders in satellite navigation, TomTom;
and Toyota’s audio supplier, Fujitsu Ten.
The
fascia on the ‘Follow Me’ unit has a small screen on the left
which provides audio information like the radio station ID, or
track information from a CD; below this is a circular scroll wheel
and a series of function buttons. On the right side is the TomTom
navigation screen.
The
neat thing about this setup is that it’s possible to remove the
navigation screen from the in-dash unit and use it either to
navigate a walking route; or to fit into another vehicle for use
as a temporary SatNav system. This also helps protect the owner
from theft of the screen.
The
navigation screen is a standard size 3.5-inch TFT touch-screen
type, and the ‘Follow Me’ system features an iPod connector;
Bluetooth Hands-Free option, and it’s also USB compatible. The
front of the unit also drops down, to expose the slot to play CDs.
While
most fully-integrated navigation systems provided from the car
manufacturers’ options list can cost anywhere from $3000 to
$5000, the Toyota ‘Follow Me’ system is $1496 and can be
fitted by Toyota dealers. The unit will fit most post-2003 Toyota
cars and trucks.
This
industry-leading accessory is made possible because of the
uniformity of the audio systems which Toyota fits to all its
models, and the fact that it is co-developed with its major audio
system supplier, Fujitsu Ten.
A
major benefit of teaming up with TomTom is that the owner can
download software and map updates, or even maps of other countries
so the unit could be used (portably) when driving overseas. Plus,
TomTom offers a huge variety of different voice downloads (as a
cost option), so that you might have comedian John Cleese, a
cockney street vendor, or a New York cabbie delivering the map
directions!
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Marque Publishing Company
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