Now a TomTom you can plug in!

If you love your sat-nav but are fed-up with suction pads and obscured vis­ion, Toyota and TomTom have the solution. The companies have teamed up to offer a clever device for drivers who want somewhere secure to mount their portable unit.

Described by TomTom as “the first embedded portable sat-nav in the world”, it’s essentially a stereo which incorpor­ates a cubby for a remov­able navigation unit. The system will initially be an optional extra on the Toyota Yaris, and will appeal to the growing band of owners who move their sat-nav from car to car.

It has a number of advantages over a traditional sucker-mounted set-up. Not only can the device draw power from the integrated socket, it also plays navigation commands via the vehicle’s speaker system in the same way a factory-fit unit would.

And it’s not only car makers which are getting in on the portable sat-nav craze. Sony has announced its PSP games console will be available with a route guidance option early in 2008.

The Go! Explore GPS add-on turns the hand-held unit into a fully portable sat-nav. Prices are expected to be con­firmed closer to the set-up’s launch.