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Circuit City Stores to Offer Car Navigation Units from Philips

14 October 1997

Circuit City Stores to Offer Car Navigation Units from Philips

    RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 14 -- Circuit City Stores, Inc. today
announced that it will offer its customers Philips Car System's CARiN 520
interactive car navigation system -- the latest electronics innovation for the
automotive aftermarket -- in approximately 250 stores nationwide.
    "We selected the Philips brand after a thorough review of all the
available products," said Blaine Altaffer, Circuit City's senior national
buyer of automotive sound and security.  "Our choice was based on the
product's ease-of-use, the extensive mapping available, Philips' national
advertising campaign, detailed customer and installer support capabilities,
and Philips' extensive involvement in the commercial application of the
product."
    Philips' CARiN will be offered at free-standing displays at most Circuit
City stores.  The product uses Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites and
software that helps track a vehicle's position and plot the best routes to a
destination.  The system provides both visual and verbal directional
information.
    "Circuit City's focus on quality, service, availability and convenient
locations will significantly enhance our initial release of CARiN," said Mark
Stephenson, Philips Car Systems' vice president of marketing.  "This means
consumers will be able to leave the store and immediately pull up detailed
maps, select destinations and receive precise verbal and visual turn commands
for even hard-to-find addresses."
    About the size of a car CD changer, the navigation computer is
sufficiently compact to mount under the rear deck, in the trunk, beneath a
seat or on the floor of the cargo area. The computer features an eight-channel
GPS receiver, a CD-ROM drive and an integrated gyroscope.  A GPS sensor is
mounted inconspicuously to receive line-of-sight tracking information from at
least three of the 24 geosynchronous GPS satellites.  Circuit City can install
the product, by appointment, in less than two hours.
    The CARiN system includes the navigation computer, integrated CD-ROM
drive, LCD color display, infrared remote control and a GPS antenna array.
The price of the system is $2399 including installation and CD-ROM maps.
    Philips Car Systems currently uses seven CARiN CD-ROM discs that contain
digitized maps of all the roads in the metro areas of: Albuquerque;
Denver/Boulder/Ski Resorts; Phoenix; Seattle/Tacoma/Olympia; Las Vegas;
Sacramento; San Francisco Bay; Southern California including Los Angeles;
Fargo/Moorehead; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Dallas/Ft. Worth; Houston; Chicago;
Detroit; Indianapolis; Kokomo, Ind.; Traverse City, Mich.; Boston/Providence;
New York; Northern New Jersey; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C./Baltimore;
Atlanta; Miami/Ft. Lauderdale; Orlando and St. Petersburg.  The maps also
contain most of the nation's interconnecting roads.
    Founded in 1949, Circuit City Stores, Inc. is the nation's largest
retailer of brand-name consumer electronics and major appliances and a leading
retailer of personal computers and music software.  With headquarters in
Richmond, Va., Circuit City operates 463 Superstores, four consumer
electronics-only stores and 52 mall-based Circuit City Express store
throughout the United States.  Consumers can learn more about Circuit City by
 accessing the company's Web site at http://www.circuitcity.com.
    Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is among the world's largest
suppliers of electronic systems and products to the automotive industry.  Its
global automotive capabilities include vehicle navigation, car audio systems
and components, electronic and mechanical systems and components,
semiconductors, lamps, road lighting and traffic control.  Quoted on the NYSE,
London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and other stock exchanges, it is also a world
leader in lighting, color television sets, electric shavers and recorded music
(PolyGram).

SOURCE  Circuit City Stores, Inc.