The Right Turn for Magellan

Design Challenge: Our charge here was to realize, compactly and with felicity of line and usefulness, a true car-to-car, all-in-one portable navigation system. We had to integrate a full color high resolution touch screen, 10 GB hard drive, high audio speakers, and a user-friendly keypad-along with a universal mounting system-into every make of vehicle in the U.S. and Europe.

Design Solution: Our design solution focuses on the invention of actual versatility, that would fit in any car. The soft exterior edges bring the comfort and safety associated with a car's interior to the user's hand, while the crisp interior details aid in user key navigation and communicate the precision and accuracy of the device.

Its housings are plastic injection molded out of ABS plastic. The keypad is made from a TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer) with hard key caps. The bottom line is more than the beautiful lines of this artful artifact: by allowing end users to focus on driving and getting to their destinations, as opposed to being befuddled by the recalcitrant technology of the device, they will have the reassuring experience of being in good hands-of being found instead of lost.