Let’s be honest, using a smartphone as a car navigation unit is convenient, but there are certain advantages to using a standalone unit — a larger screen, offline maps, and battery life for starters. Today Samsung introduced the SENS-240, a tablet hybrid which replaces both standalone GPS units as well as in-car navigation units, a unit focused on navigation while also capable of pairing with your current Android smartphone.
Let’s get down to brass tax. The SENS-240 is powered by a 1.43GHz processor capable of rendering high-resolution 3D maps while simultaneously playing both video and audio files on its 7-inch WVGA (800×480 resolution) display. There’s also 256MB of RAM, USB 2.0, a SD card slot, DMB-TV and Bluetooth onboard.
At this point you might be asking why we need the Samsung SENS-240 when the current assortment of tablets on the market offer higher specs and existing smartphone pairing capability. For starters, the price tag of current high-end tablets is high — especially if you are considering using the device for a single purpose: in-car navigation. Second, the SENS-240 uses a dedicated GPS accessory, fine tuning your location to the level of a standalone unit. Lastly, both the iPad and Xoom WiFi-only models lack GPS. Yes, location can be estimated via WiFi networks or your could share the location of your smartphone, but the real-time tracking is not up to snuff compared to their WiFi/3G counterparts.
With that being said there are still several factors that could make or break the SENS-240: price, Android build/upgradable and release date.
Coming Soon | Samsung | TBD
