Star Wars-themed GPS steers Japanese geeks away from the dark side

[![Dinos Star Warsthemed GPS steers geeks away from the dark side][1] ][2]

As if George Lucas wasn't already milking his [money-printing franchise][3] for all it's worth, comes this GPS gem out of Japan. To the (presumed) delight of fanboys everywhere, [navigation][4] maker Dinos has inked a licensing deal with [Lucasfilm][5] that conjures up an all-out, [Star Wars-themed car nav system][6]. From the orchestral theme music at startup to the voice guidance performed by the original Japanese VO actors (Darth Vader and C-3P0 only), the 5-inch LCD mount is pretty much the memorabilia stuff of a grown-up, scifi geek's wet dream. There's even a mode selection option to let users pledge their allegiance to either the "Empire" or the "Rebels," in addition to 20 different custom vehicle indicator icons. Sounds fluffy enough, but the unit also does double duty as a [OneSeg TV tuner][7] and can even be used as a standalone set. It's on sale now for 39,800Yen (US$507), but unless you're living in the Land of the Rising Sun, this import's just kitsch for kitsch's sake.

Filed under: [GPS][8], [Transportation][9]

[Star Wars-themed GPS steers Japanese geeks away from the dark side][2] originally appeared on [Engadget][10] on Sat, 21 Jul 2012 00:28:00 EDT. Please see our [terms for use of feeds][11].

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