Sony has announced its first foray into the U.S. in-dash car navigation system market which sees it teaming up with TomTom. Joining Sony’s existing line of Xplod in-dash A/V units, the XNV-660BT boasts a 6.1-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen, while the XNV-770BT ups the screen real estate to 7-inches. In addition to car navigation duties, both units feature CD/DVD playback, integrated Bluetooth, rear USB 1-wire connectivity for portable music players and support for multi-channel audio playback with virtual 5.1 channel surround sound capabilities.

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Both systems will come pre-loaded with TomTom’s map database of both U.S. and Canadian roads, with the claim their U.S. maps alone feature more than one million miles of roads than other rival GPS brands. Buyers will receive one free year of map upgrades in addition to TomTom extras such as IQ Routes, Advanced Lane Guidance, Quick GPSfix, MapShare and more than six million points of interest.

Complementing the fully capacitive touch motorized 7-inch panel display of the XNV-770BT and the 6.1-inch display of the XNV-660BT are several physical buttons, such as volume and key menu buttons. When listening to a connected device, the screens will display all song metadata and artwork, while the user interface has been designed with large, easy-touch buttons.

The prices for the new units firmly place Sony at the premium end of the navigation system market, with the XNV-660BT and XNV-770BT being released in the U.S. from November for about US$1,000 and $1,300 respectively.