When you hear the name Rand McNally, it probably conjures up an image of a big, 11-by-15.5-inch anthology of U.S. and Canadian road maps. After all, the Rand McNally Road Atlas has been helping drivers find their way to North American destinations since 1960. But in an age of satellite-based nav systems, extracting information from those meticulously printed pages has become an increasingly anachronistic activity?not to mention dangerous for drivers in a moving vehicle. Thus the company used the Chicago show to introduce a digital device called OverDryve, a dashboard tablet that not only fulfills navigation functions, but also hands-free phone calls and text-to-speech.
An integrated microphone allows voice command of telephonics, texts, and accessing of apps galore. As is common with built-in video-capable systems from auto manufacturers, a lockout feature refuses to allow streaming videos when the car is on the move. So, you?ll have to watch Revolt of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders some other time, but take comfort in knowing that your kids won?t be able to watch Furious 7 while they?re driving. Also, for those generations who might have difficulty with transition from Rand McNally?s printed Road Atlas, all the contents of that tome are baked into the tablet. In fact, the navigation draws on Rand McNally?s vast database. Three Sizes
The key elements of the system are a GPS antenna, backed by a GPS chip embedded in the tablet, to ensure satellite connectivity. There...