Navigon 8100T GPS Sketches 3D Landscapes

The company's new flagship navigator uses a graphics chip to turn terrain data into 3D views.

Despite what your current GPS system would have you believe, the world is not flat. Which is why, perhaps, Navigon developed its top-of-the-line 8100T GPS unit. Announced on Monday, the company’s latest nav system borrows terrain data from NASA to actually sketch out 3D maps with rolling hills, soaring mountains and plunging valleys.

Navigon calls the feature Panora View 3D. Unlike many other GPS systems that incorporate terrain data, but display it as a series of flat contour lines, the 8100T actually translates the data into three-dimensional environment views using a built-in graphics accelerator. From a bird’s eye view, mountains finally look like mountains.

As Navigon’s flagship navigator, the 4.8-inch 8100T also picks up all the company’s other GPS technologies, including free real-time traffic updates for life, voice destination entry, and text-to-speech technology to pronounce street names. Reality View Pro also shows landmark buildings in 3D, and Lane Assistant Pro helps drivers know which lane to stay in when navigating highways.

The 8100 to hit shelves later this month priced at $600.