Navman connects with Zomato for food choices on the go

It’s getting harder and harder to find a reason to opt for a dedicated GPS, but if you’re often in unknown places without a clue where to go for grub, Navman may have the answer.

This week, the company has unveiled a new 5 inch touchscreen model designed to not only get you from point A to point B, but also to quell any rumbling stomachs you might have while driving, as well as help out if you need to find petrol.

GPS units have already had that last one with fuel searches found in units for a while now, and this is accompanied by parking assists, landmark guidance, and spoken safety alerts in case you’re driving through a school zone, but Navman’s MY650LMMT tries to go a little further and not just help out with things useful for the car, but also useful for your belly.

To do this, Navman has teamed up with Zomato, the brand that was previously known as Urbanspoon, and is using its index of restaurants, bakeries, and take-out joints to find places for you to eat when you get a hankering for something while you’re driving.

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“The Zomato Restaurant Guide adds 40,000 restaurant listings in Australia across 20 cities and 11,800 restaurant listings in New Zealand across 12 cities,” said Wendy Hammond, Director of Navman in Australia.

“The great thing about this feature is rather than fiddling on your phone, you can use the device to find a great place to eat, and then simply tap your choice and be directed to it straight away.”

Zomato’s additions to the GPS won’t come with reviews, though, at least not yet, with the restaurant information telling you where to find that snack, but not how it was rated.

A representative for Navman did tell GadgetGuy that reviews will likely be rolled out in the next update, however, just not ratings, though we’re checking to see if this will happen since both are a big part of what makes Zomato’s service useful for its community.

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Beyond that food checking service, you’ll find improvements to finding landmarks called “Landmark Guidance Plus” which offers up spoken directions based on what you’re seeing as you’re driving, pointing you to the right place using colours and building names, while 3D landmarks will appear on the screen showing you roughly what you’re looking for.

“The Navman MY650LMMT really goes back to what a GPS is all about,” said Hammond, adding that this is about “better guidance and safety than your smartphone can provide and getting the little things right to enhance the overall experience.”

Navman’s MY650LMMT is available now for $199 and arrives with lifetime monthly map updates and traffic, which is essentially what that “LMMT” means on the end.

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