The AVIC D2 sequel, the AVIC D3 is out with a bang. Everything about it is of striking brilliance, from the 6.1 inch touch screen (that’s slightly smaller compared to the 6.5 incher on the D2) to the green ambience it creates on your dashboard. A whopping 11 million POI (points of interest) are fed into the D3 in addition to XM NavTraffic technology (that covers forty four markets in the US) that’s integrated in the system. It has the entire map of the United States and Canada embedded into it and 50 preset icons to mark the 50 most popular POIs. It facilitates with interactive voice prompts every time you make a wrong turn or approach a POI (depending on how you customize the settings). The D3 has one optical drive to put in DVDs of maps as well as multimedia (audio and video) CDs as it provides with support for MP3, WMA, AAC, DivX and DVD video playback. As an option we may use the iPod direct connectivity as well as use the Bluetooth connectivity to have hands-free mobile phone conversations.

Sure to keep up the success of its illustrious predecessor, the Pioneer AVIC D3 is likely to win many hearts of ardent travelers who want their music playing all the time. Expected to be out in March 2007, we have no news on the pricing as yet. However a one month subscription of the XM NavTraffic can cost you up to $17 according to current pricing.

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