ViaMichelin X950T shows us the way

By Rory Reid on 09 May 2006, 1:07pm

ViaMichelin took us to a shady corner of Soho last night, to show us its brand new X950T navigation system. We had a very quick look at the device at CeBIT, but we got a hands on yesterday. It's the company's latest all-in-one portable navigation unit and the first to include free content from its world-famous Michelin Guides.

As a result, it'll not only take you from point A to point B, it'll also show you cool places to explore as recommended by the Michelin Green Guide, and points of interest including local services, shopping, car parks, petrol stations, restaurants (by type) and pubs.

One of its coolest features is its integrated FM tuner, which can receive and interpret traffic information broadcast by radio stations such as Classic FM. Traffic blackspots are shown on the screen so you can plan your route accordingly. Best of all, all the Michelin guides and traffic information are free -- there's no subscription or GPRS data charge.

The device is one of the smallest sat-nav units we've seen, measuring 121 by 71 by 19mm. ViaMichelin reckons it's small enough to fit into a shirt pocket, and we'd be inclined to agree, although we were wearing our pocket-less Crave T-shirts at the time, so we can't quite be sure...

Crave is a firm believer that you're never truly lost until you run out of petrol, but if you have trouble navigating your way out of a cardboard box, you can pick the UK version of the ViaMichelin X950T up for £299, or the Europe-wide version for £399, via viamichelin.co.uk. -RR