Fiat will be using the Bologna Motor Show as the launching pad for Blue&Me™ Map, latest addition to the model’s array of high-tech extras and third step in the evolution of the Blue&Me platform.

Only a few short months since the new Fiat 500 was put on the market, Fiat Group Automobiles will be using the Bologna Motor Show as the launching pad for Blue&Me™ Map, latest addition to the model’s array of high-tech extras and third step in the evolution of the Blue&Me platform, hailed at the car’s debut as the world’s first system of its kind designed from the start for seamless integration with a portable navigator.

Customers who expressed interest in the system’s portable navigation capabilities when the car first came out will be able to order the new unit from the beginning of December.

Developed together with Magneti Marelli to be a factory-fitted system – though still able to operate independently as a multifunction portable navigator – Blue&Me™ Map has an original look designed especially for the Fiat 500 by the Fiat Styling Center. In addition, with its automotive specs, the unit is safe and easy to use, thanks to the outstanding degree of onboard integration it achieves, electrically and mechanically as well as in terms of connectivity.

With its exclusive dashboard connection technology – patented by Fiat Group Automobiles – Blue&Me™ Map opens up a new frontier in the map-based personal navigation market: easily reached by the driver, and a snap to activate and deactivate, it redefines the whole concept of user-friendliness. Thus, Blue&Me™ Map lets the customer choose when, where and how to use it.

In the car, the system does away with all those tangle-prone cords and wires, since the connection port has its own power source. And since it’s integrated with the Blue&Me™ in-car infotainment system, all major functions are operated by means of the steering wheel control buttons and voice recognition system. But far and away the most interesting thing about the navigation system is that it will guide you to your destination through voice messages transmitted via Bluetooth® to the car radio, which will be muted to ensure they’re heard, loud and clear.

Pinpointing the car’s position during navigation is also improved by the Blue&Me™ platform’s capabilities, since the system uses its Bluetooth® connection to transmit additional data about the car’s speed and course to the navigator’s GPS receiver. This ensures more accurate positioning in the places like tunnels and underpasses with spotty GPs signal reception.

In addition to map-based satellite navigation, Blue&Me™ Map guarantees all of the standard Blue&Me™ functions: handsfree operation, USB port, steering wheel control buttons, voice recognition and SMS message reader. In portable operation mode, it also provides a range of multimedia functions, doubling as an MP3 player and displaying photos and video.

Thanks to Blue&Me™ Map, all audio sources – radio, CD player, cellphone and navigation system – can be managed with ease, separately or together. And since this is a field where flexibility is essential and the changes come fast and furious, the new Fiat 500’s exclusive connection port is designed for open integration with anything that’s likely to emerge on the technological scene in the near future.