Technology May. 14, 2008 - 01:57PM JST ( 3 )

YOKOHAMA —

Panasonic on Wednesday announced that it will launch two new HDD Car Navigation System
models in Japan in June. The new high-end Strada F-Class models are the world’s first car
navigation systems that enable network linkage between cars and homes, offering a new “car
lifestyle,” said Panasonic.

Panasonic has introduced the concept “From Home to Car,” that effectively turns a car into a second living room by linking users’ vehicles to their domestic electrical appliances through Bluetooth technology. The new F-Class models allow drivers to remotely operate lighting and air conditioners at home, monitor conditions at home via still images captured with a network camera, and record TV programs by controlling a Panasonic DIGA DVD recorder from the car

To achieve improved picture quality, Panasonic said it has developed a high-quality circuit for the new models, redesigned and incorporated the picture processing technology, originally built for its VIERA flat-screen TVs, into the car-mounted panels. In addition, the newly-adopted LCD AI technology automatically determines the brightness of images to control backlight luminance in real time and adjust color contrast for easy viewing.