Abstract: A navigation apparatus in a vehicle displays road names of cross roads that crosses a to-be-traveled road along the to-be-traveled road at positions that area adjacent to respective cross roads. In this manner, a user of the navigation apparatus easily recognizes the road names of the roads to be traveled by the vehicle in his/her view.

Abstract: A display control method for displaying an alternative position different from a position of a destination when the position of the destination is unable to be displayed at a specific point in a center of a map as a result of a destination search, acquires, when the alternative position is displayed, a position indication item, which is to be displayed on the map, together with point coordinates, which are associated with the position indication item, from a detailed display database storing the position indication item and the associated point coordinates, and displays the acquired position indication item on the map based on the associated point coordinates.

Abstract: A search unit searches an address coinciding with a search character string inputted by a user, with reference to stored address data. A district detection unit detects a character string, which coincides with a district of the search character string. A nearby district search unit searches a nearby district in the vicinity of the district specified by a detected character string, based on stored position information on the district. When it is determined that a coinciding address does not exist, a re-search unit replaces the character string of the district of the search character string with the character string of the searched nearby district to generate an after-replacement string. The re-search unit further re-searches an address coinciding with the after-replacement string with reference to stored address data.

Abstract: When a vehicle deviates from an initial route, a deviation route is memorized. Thereafter, when the vehicle comes back to the initial route, a cost is compared between the deviation route and a non-traveled route included in the initial route. When the cost of the deviation route is larger, the non-traveled route is supposed to be impassable due to road traffic closure or the like and then a detour coefficient is assigned to links included in the non-traveled route. When a route retrieval is conducted next, a cost of a link to which the detour coefficient is assigned is increased based on the detour coefficient. The detour coefficient is increased depending on a frequency of detouring.

Abstract: A navigation apparatus in a vehicle displays road names of cross roads that crosses a to-be-traveled road along the to-be-traveled road at positions that area adjacent to respective cross roads. In this manner, a user of the navigation apparatus easily recognizes the road names of the roads to be traveled by the vehicle in his/her view.

Abstract: An input device having a touch pad that senses a touch of a finger for selectively providing plural types of instructions for a coupled apparatus includes a finger type recognition unit for recognizing a finger type of a finger that is sensed by the touch pad and an instruction output unit for outputting the instruction according to the finger type recognized by the finger type recognition unit.

Abstract: When a vehicle deviates from an initial route, a deviation route is memorized. Thereafter, when the vehicle comes back to the initial route, a cost is compared between the deviation route and a non-traveled route included in the initial route. When the cost of the deviation route is larger, the non-traveled route is supposed to be impassable due to road traffic closure or the like and then a detour coefficient is assigned to links included in the non-traveled route. When a route retrieval is conducted next, a cost of a link to which the detour coefficient is assigned is increased based on the detour coefficient. The detour coefficient is increased depending on a frequency of detouring.

Abstract: Voice signal being a broadcast itself transmitted from a broadcast station is stored along with language data based on the broadcast. Thereafter, the voice signal is reproduced for a user to listen to the reproduced voice signal. The user determines validity or invalidity of the voice signal; a result of the determination is retrieved. When the user determines the validity of the voice signal, mark data indicating validity is attached to the language data corresponding to the voice signal; by contrast, when the user determines the invalidity of the voice signal, the voice signal and corresponding language data are deleted. As a result, the language data with the mark data is regarded as being necessary for the user, so that availability of the language data is enhanced.

Abstract: Each bonded electrode of the layered-type manganese dry battery has a conductive carbon coat the surface of which contacts the adjacent positive electrode composition and is provided with protrusions of 0.05 to 0.15 mm in height, which serves to prevent the electrodes from sticking to each other even when the electrodes are punched into a prescribed shape by a press mounted with a chute and transported by pressure with the top and bottom of the electrodes facing the respectively specified sides. The protrusions formed on the surface of the coat stick into the positive electrode composition, which serves to reduce the contact resistance with the positive electrode composition, facilitating the easy maintenance of the low contact resistance. Furthermore, since the contact area with the positive electrode composition facing the coat is increased, the current collecting performance is also improved.