Panasonic have been showing off their new Panasonic STRADA navigation system at the CEATEC 2007 show in Japan. According to Panasonic, the STRADA is an ‘in-dash’ GPS navigation system, but looking at the size of the thing, with its huge 7″ screen and features that would put a home cinema system to shame, you have to ask whether it would fit into anything smaller than a small tank!

More details after the jump.

As well as the huge 7″ display, the STRADA also features a 40GB hard drive, DVD and CD player, SD slot, MiniDisc player (they’re still quite keen on MiniDiscs in Japan), digital TV tuner, iPod connector and Bluetooth…phew!

With all those features at your disposal, not to mention the highly distracting user interface, you might be wondering how the STRADA can be used safely without causing the driver to crash. The simple answer is that traffic in large parts of Japan is so bad that you never do more than 3 mph. As such, their navigation systems need to offer the Japanese driver a little more entertainment than your average GPS device.

When you’re sat there in a jam for hours on end, what better way to get through the rush hour than by watching DVDs or TV, listening to your tunes, or just fiddling with a flashy interface?! Every three hours or so, you’ll even hear the STRADA’s navigational feature kick into life as it says “turn left”, which you will do, before sitting in another traffic jam for several hours!

Makes you wonder why the Japanese don’t just work from home with the telly on!

The Panasonic STRADA is destined for the Japanese market only, priced around 270,000Yen.

[Source: Aving.net]