Just in time for spring break and summer travel, drivers have a new portable vehicle navigation system that goes the distance. Count on the portable Magellan(R) RoadMate 500 Plus, from the best-selling family of portable auto navigation solutions, to offer twice the memory provided by competitors' products. More memory for more maps.

The Magellan RoadMate 500 Plus includes a 256-megabyte compact flash card for storing volumes of user-selected maps from supplied mapping software, in addition to a large, high-resolution, color touch screen, turn-by-turn, voice-prompted guidance and text directions, and a convenient windshield mount. The easy-to-use Magellan RoadMate 500 Plus provides enhanced functionality and the best value on the market for consumers who travel over large regions, such as several bordering states, in the United States and Canada (MSRP $999).

Thales Navigation, provider of Magellan GPS solutions, including the Magellan RoadMate 500, the flagship Magellan RoadMate 700 and the Hertz(R) NeverLost(R) system, the most proven vehicle navigation system in the world, today also announces a variety of optional accessories for the entire Magellan RoadMate family. These include protective pouches, carrying cases, exchangeable faceplates, AC adapters and an array of mounting options, including a swivel mount. All Magellan RoadMate accessories are available at www.magellangps.com.

"We introduced the Magellan RoadMate series to make vehicle navigation convenient, easy to use and reliable," said Christian Bubenheim, senior director of worldwide consumer marketing for Thales Navigation. "The expanded memory capacity we're now offering in the Magellan RoadMate 500 Plus is a testament to our commitment in those key areas. With an innovative design for unparalleled 'turn it on and go' ease of use, consumers can quickly upload more maps than ever so they can be confident Magellan RoadMate will provide the routing capabilities they need, whether they're traveling across town for dinner or across the region for vacation."

Compact, lightweight, and portable, Magellan RoadMate 500 Plus is designed for fast and easy set up without professional installation so consumers can use it in multiple cars, at home or when traveling. It offers detailed maps using the most up-to-date maps for the United States and Canada. Any map area in the United States and Canada can be downloaded, and larger or multiple compact flash cards can be used to store larger map areas. The device displays a clearly visible, full-color route on a moving map to show the driver's progress. In addition, the route is viewable as text directions, or as a 3-D graphic showing one turn at a time. While in route, convenient turn-by-turn voice-guidance minimizes the driver's need to view the display.

Using either the touch screen or keypad, drivers can obtain a route from their personal address book, which stores up to 100 frequently visited destinations, by entering a street address, or by choosing a destination from the database of more than two million points-of-interest, including restaurants, gas stations, ATMs, hotels, parks, airports, tourist attractions and more. The Magellan RoadMate 500 Plus offers navigators a choice of several routing methods, including "Shortest Time," "Shortest Distance," "Least Use of Freeways" or "Most Use of Freeways." In addition, the system automatically recalculates a route after a missed turn. For more information, visit www.magellangps.com.

About Thales Navigation

Thales Navigation is one of the world's leading developers and manufacturers of positioning, navigation and guidance equipment with global operations. Thales Navigation markets its Magellan brand GPS solutions in the consumer electronics, recreation, and automotive markets, and its GPS and GNSS professional products in the survey, GIS/Mapping, and OEM markets. Through its joint venture with Hertz, Thales Navigation has developed the Hertz NeverLost(R) vehicle navigation system. Thales Navigation's key innovations include the first U.S. commercial hand-held GPS receiver for positioning and navigation, and the first handheld GPS with industry standard Secure Digital Memory Card capabilities.

Thales Navigation, headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., with European headquarters in Carquefou, France, is a subsidiary of Thales, an international electronics and systems group, serving defense, aerospace and security markets. The group employs 62,000 people worldwide and generated revenues of $10.6 billion in 2003. For more information, visit www.thalesnavigation.com.

(C) 2004 Thales Navigation Inc. All rights reserved. Magellan, RoadMate and Turn it on and go are trademarks of Thales Navigation Inc. Hertz NeverLost is a registered trademark of Hertz System, Inc.
 
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Thales Navigation Inc.
Angela Linsey-Jackson, 909-394-5062
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DeLyon-Hunt & Associates
Kristin Reynolds, 310-374-6893
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