Smart parent Daimler announced today that the company will offer the "portable smart navigation system II" as an option on Smart ForTwo cars. The unit attaches directly to the dashboard with a special mount—no suction cups here—and offers a 4.3-inch high-resolution touch-screen LCD and voice output over the car's stereo speakers. Since it's designed at the factory, the system mutes the radio whenever it's announcing directions, which is another nice feature that's standard on most in-car nav systems that aren't portable.

The portable smart navigation system also charges whenever it's mounted on the dashboard. It was designed with the help of Garmin and features a text-to-speech system that announces turn-off points in addition to street names. The announcement also said that the system has a "traffic-jam avoidance function." It receives TMC (Traffic Message Channel) signals via the car's radio antenna instead of the tiny one that's usually built-in portable systems.

Finally, the system includes a database of two million POI (points of interest), a built-in MP3 player, and Bluetooth capability. Overall, it seems to offer all the best features of in-car navigation systems as well as portable devices. The portable smart navigation system II will be available from all smart Centers for EUR 539 ($819 at current rates) plus installation in the second quarter of 2008.