HP unveils iPAQ Navigate online service for trip planning

LAS VEGAS, USA (AVING Special Report on '2008 CES') -- HP yesterday launched HP iPAQ Navigate (www.ipaq.com/navigate), a trip planning website allowing users to create custom travel itineraries that can be printed for easy reference or loaded to the new HP iPAQ 300 Series Travel Companion personal navigation device.

Before embarking on business or personal travel, customers can log onto the free HP iPAQ Navigate site to search for attractions, restaurants and hotels to add as points of interest to personalize trip plans. The intuitive interface makes it easy to add, rearrange or delete destination points along an itinerary.

Unlike most mapping and navigation sites, itineraries need not stop at the printer with the HP iPAQ Navigate website. Once plans are completed on a PC, they can be printed or conveniently loaded onto the HP iPAQ 300 Series personal navigation device. If trip plans change along the way, travelers can edit itineraries directly on the device and instantly share updates with friends, family or colleagues by simply logging back onto the site.

(Picture: the new HP iPAQ 300 Series )

After returning home, travelers can invite their community of family, friends, colleagues and even new users to view their trip. When logging back into HP iPAQ Navigate, customers can add notes about great restaurants, shortcuts to destinations and the best hotels from their trip so others can use the existing itinerary to create their own custom trip plans.

Additional features are planned for HP iPAQ Navigate, including enhanced community tools and premium capabilities.

During travels, the HP iPAQ 300 Series serves as a virtual tour guide, providing a high-resolution, 3D immersive navigation experience with spoken turn-by-turn directions. The device also features a brilliant 4.3-inch widescreen display with resolution equivalent to full DVD-quality video, Bluetooth phone connectivity and premium entertainment system to enjoy MP3 music, videos, photos and pre-installed games during downtime.

If travelers want to further explore their destination, they can search through the HP iPAQ’s rich points-of-interest database to add to their itinerary. Best of all, the HP iPAQ 300 Series can recalculate routes in real time via GPS technology, so the itinerary automatically adapts to adjustments and detours

(Picture: the new HP iPAQ 300 Series )