Dedicated GPS coming to an end??

[VinnyR11]

Just read this on Wired. It's part of their review of the new Motorola Android phone. They liked this one, and hated the old one. I think the GPS impact is interesting.

 

The most exciting feature of the phone, though, is the Google maps app -- with built-in turn-by-turn, voice-guided navigation. Replete with text-to-speech features, the maps are layered with traffic data and a satellite view. But here's the best part. It's free! Hear that? You don't have to pay $10 a month as subscription or buy a pricey $100 TomTom app. You can just zip around with the Droid and Google Maps.

 

I wonder how much longer we're going to see stand alone GPS units before our phones take over. Screen size is an issue, but blue tooth directions help here.

[smiller]

It's not free... you have to buy a data plan (an unlimited data plan, to be practical) from your cellular carrier. And the service will only work when you are in cellular range. And the screen will be unusably small (for use while driving) if the phone is to have a reasonably small form factor.

 

It seems like the service might be pretty handy as a backup when you don't have a decent GPS unit available but I think there will still be plenty of demand for dedicated units.

[UberXY]

It would be good for a car, but for motorcycles I think the Zumo and it's descendents may be around for awhile. I can do stuff on the screen with gloves on and fairly minimal distraction. I don't think the Android (or iPhone) touch screen would work all that well with gloves - heck, even with out gloves, composing an email on an iPhone is a PITA for my clumsy beat up fingers.

 

Now when the GPS phones go total voice control for GPS via a BT headset in a helmet, they might be just the ticket.

[VinnyR11]

It would be good for a car, but for motorcycles I think the Zumo and it's descendents may be around for awhile. I can do stuff on the screen with gloves on and fairly minimal distraction. I don't think the Android (or iPhone) touch screen would work all that well with gloves - heck, even with out gloves, composing an email on an iPhone is a PITA for my clumsy beat up fingers.

 

Now when the GPS phones go total voice control for GPS via a BT headset in a helmet, they might be just the ticket.

 

I think once the stand alone GPS market looses the automobile end user, they're pretty much done.

 

I agree with the screen size comments. Longer term I think the future of this type of technology will be that cars will come with a screen/monitor and you can plug in any type of subscriptions/devices you like. The technology is moving very rapidly and one of the largest pieces of the BOM on GPS is the screens.

[VinnyR11]

It's not free... you have to buy a data plan (an unlimited data plan, to be practical) from your cellular carrier. And the service will only work when you are in cellular range. And the screen will be unusably small (for use while driving) if the phone is to have a reasonably small form factor.

 

It seems like the service might be pretty handy as a backup when you don't have a decent GPS unit available but I think there will still be plenty of demand for dedicated units.

 

Good point. A lot of people are paying for their data plans in any case, so at least for them it will be "free" (heavy quotes).

 

I think GPS is a pretty big market driver and it's just showing it's head in the cell phone market. It's going to be interesting to see how this goes. Form factor is a big issue, but there are tons of very smart people going after lots and lots of dollars here. That's a great combination for innovation.

[BeemerLover]

I sure do like my bright 4.3" screen!

 

 

[jakfrost]

And I REALLY like getting the weather on my Garmin 376c...especially when heading up I-35 in the spring! Ask me why :-).

 

Jim

[Lets_Play_Two]

I wonder how many people use their phone exclusively for internet access, music on the move, photo taking and viewing, gaming, etc.(all the other "neat" little things you can do on these smartphones)? Will serious GPS users now dump the dedicated devices? I think this is another gimmick that even Dick Tracey would scoff at!!

[russell_bynum]

I wonder how many people use their phone exclusively for internet access, music on the move, photo taking and viewing, gaming, etc.(all the other "neat" little things you can do on these smartphones)? Will serious GPS users now dump the dedicated devices? I think this is another gimmick that even Dick Tracey would scoff at!!

 

I use google maps on my phone all the time for navigation. Web browsing is not ideal, but I do from time to time...almost always for sites that are optimized for a PDA browser. I take quite a bit of photos on the phone as well, but the quality is crappy...it's mainly just for targets of opportunity. If I know I'm going to want to take pics, I take a real camera. I also take voice and text notes when I want to remember something. Probably 1/4 of the email I read/compose per day is done on my phone. I don't use it for music very often, but that's mostly just because I've already adopted the iPod for that, my phone doesn't have the capacity that the iPod does (that's getting better with newer phones, but mine is a few years old). I still use my dedicated GPS but that's mostly because I use it on the dirt bike and offroading where cell service is iffy. If I had the ability to load GPS maps on my phone so I didn't rely on having coverage, I could conceivably ditch the GPS...though my GPS is considerably more rugged than my phone...so maybe that wouldn't be such a great idea afterall.

 

 

[KarlS]

I have an IPhone and recently downloaded a GPS program with turn by turn instructions for $35.

 

In the car it works as well as the Street Pilot. The screen is smaller but OK and it does find POI better than the Street Pilot. There is no subscription except for the ATT bill. There are no maps to update either.

 

On the bike there are two disadvantages.

 

The touch feature of the IPhone will not work with gloves.

 

The IPhone is not waterproof. Replacing it if it got wet is expensive.

 

Karl

[VinnyR11]

I wonder how many people use their phone exclusively for internet access, music on the move, photo taking and viewing, gaming, etc.(all the other "neat" little things you can do on these smartphones)? Will serious GPS users now dump the dedicated devices? I think this is another gimmick that even Dick Tracey would scoff at!!

 

I know a number of people who use GPS on their cell phones all the time. The technology is already way beyond Dick Tracey IMO.

 

Many of those who use the iPhones and their ilk are thinking in an opposite direction. "Who would lug around that big clunky thing just to find out where they are?" I'm guessing within not that many years...how's that for leaving an opening? You won't be able to buy a dedicated GPS as we now know it.

 

Please realize I'm not in the least knocking anyone who now uses dedicated GPS. I think they're great devices. I just think they're going to eventually go the way of the clutch pedal in automobiles.

[BeemerLover]

They don't have a 4.3" screen and never will because that size won't easily fit in a pocket or be held by a small hand. I simply cannot see any detail on an iphone size screen that is mounted near my dash. Can you imagine trying to poke those little icons with a glove? You'd hit more than one at a time. But I do agree that more and more things will be included in individual devices.... Maybe a radar detector in a GPS that will show where the LEO is? In my mind, at least, the determining factor will be how well the screen can be seen. Maybe we will see different size screens into which an iphone can be inserted, like the small amp/speaker combos into which you plug the iphone. Thinking that way you would have a tv into which you would plug your iphone to watch movies. You would have another touch screen on your bike and then you simply plug your iphone into it and drive away!

 

 

[russell_bynum]

They don't have a 4.3" screen and never will because that size won't easily fit in a pocket or be held by a small hand. I simply cannot see any detail on an iphone size screen that is mounted near my dash. Can you imagine trying to poke those little icons with a glove? You'd hit more than one at a time. But I do agree that more and more things will be included in individual devices.... Maybe a radar detector in a GPS that will show where the LEO is? In my mind, at least, the determining factor will be how well the screen can be seen. Maybe we will see different size screens into which an iphone can be inserted, like the small amp/speaker combos into which you plug the iphone. Thinking that way you would have a tv into which you would plug your iphone to watch movies. You would have another touch screen on your bike and then you simply plug your iphone into it and drive away!

 

 

Yup.

 

Take a typical car's SatNav system, and throw away everything but the touch screen. Give the phone/pda a standard interface and the ability to download and save maps on non-volatile storage so you can see where you are regardless of your cell coverage. Then just pop the phone into a dock somewhere in the car and you'll have the best of both worlds.

[BeemerLover]

Here is the YouTube on this

 

 

 

[Gregori]

I don't see the dedicated GPS dying off quite so fast...

 

Almost every phone has a digital camera built in, but I still carry a decent camera. And while I'd love to have a GPS with turn-by-turn directions built into the iPhone, I'd rather have one mounted in the car (or bike) that's dedicated to the job of navigation.

 

Suppose you are on your way someplace, and the GPS phone decides to ring... Should you answer it, what happens to the GPS? Will it interrupt your call, or let you miss your turn(s)?

 

With the one on the dash running, you can still navigate while your mother-in-law yammers on about her arthritis, how bad the mosquitos are this year, and could you please come over to fix the lawnmower, again?

 

Had the GPS been usurped for chatter duty, by the time she stops to reload the lungs, you'd be two states past your destination. (And I mean WESTERN states...) XD

 

OTOH, maybe you shouldn't be talking on the phone while trying to navigate, ANYWAY!

 

 

[Boffin]

OTOH, maybe you shouldn't be talking on the phone while trying to DRIVE, ANYWAY!

 

 

There, fixed it for you

 

Andy

[LeftCoastMan]

I don't see the dedicated GPS dying off quite so fast...

 

Almost every phone has a digital camera built in, but I still carry a decent camera. And while I'd love to have a GPS with turn-by-turn directions built into the iPhone, I'd rather have one mounted in the car (or bike) that's dedicated to the job of navigation.

 

Suppose you are on your way someplace, and the GPS phone decides to ring... Should you answer it, what happens to the GPS? Will it interrupt your call, or let you miss your turn(s)?

 

 

I'm in agreement with you on this point. I am an iPhone fanboy (hell, a Mac fanboy too), and it does a lot of things that have removed electronic devices from my life. I no longer have an iPod, because my iPhone carries like a week of music. But it just can't replace a camera. To keep the costs low, I read that the camera components add about $25 to the cost of goods. That's not exactly a Nikon.

 

And on all of the phones (whether iPhone or Blackberry), the screen is just too small. In my cars, the screen is 12X9, excellent for my old eyes. I won't change that. And as for my Zumo 550, it's made for a motorcycle.

 

As mentioned above, once you're out of cell phone range, some of the applications that do not store maps on your phone won't do anything for you.

 

BTW, there's a cool iPhone App that stores offroad/hiking maps for the US. Detailed stuff with elevation and trails. Pretty sweet for those of you who leave the beaten path.

[LeftCoastMan]

Yup.

 

Take a typical car's SatNav system, and throw away everything but the touch screen. Give the phone/pda a standard interface and the ability to download and save maps on non-volatile storage so you can see where you are regardless of your cell coverage. Then just pop the phone into a dock somewhere in the car and you'll have the best of both worlds.

 

We're not there yet. One big problem is that car companies make $1500 profit or more on the Nav system put in cars. Unfortunately, your idea is going to take a lot out of that profit. Or they won't, and it will still be expensive.

 

And all current PDA phones need to handle multi-tasking better. It's got to be more like a real computer, and none of them do that. And because multi-tasking PDA's drain batteries fast, they need to fix that when you do pull your PDA away from the dock.

 

 

[VinnyR11]

Yup.

 

Take a typical car's SatNav system, and throw away everything but the touch screen. Give the phone/pda a standard interface and the ability to download and save maps on non-volatile storage so you can see where you are regardless of your cell coverage. Then just pop the phone into a dock somewhere in the car and you'll have the best of both worlds.

 

We're not there yet. One big problem is that car companies make $1500 profit or more on the Nav system put in cars. Unfortunately, your idea is going to take a lot out of that profit. Or they won't, and it will still be expensive.

 

And all current PDA phones need to handle multi-tasking better. It's got to be more like a real computer, and none of them do that. And because multi-tasking PDA's drain batteries fast, they need to fix that when you do pull your PDA away from the dock.

 

 

I think those technical issues, like multi-tasking GPS/phone will be worked out within a few years.

 

The profit $$ from car makers installing GPS is a mute point IMHO. Once people begin carrying their personal GPS around 100% of the time, the profit is going to plummet due to supply and demand, so I'm pretty sure that the car mfg's are thinking about where this tech is going.

[John Ranalletta]

More like we'll have an instrument wherein the GPS is only part of the functionality, say, like this Garmin that connects to the car's black box via bluetooth.

 

Wonder if it can show error codes.

 

 

[VinnyR11]

Yup.

 

Take a typical car's SatNav system, and throw away everything but the touch screen. Give the phone/pda a standard interface and the ability to download and save maps on non-volatile storage so you can see where you are regardless of your cell coverage. Then just pop the phone into a dock somewhere in the car and you'll have the best of both worlds.

 

I agree. I think this is where we're going to wind up. Once flex displays become a cost effective solution, it will convert even faster.

 

Back in my worky days, our Technical Marketing manager gave a pitch on the dangers and realities of long term forecasting. He listed our top 3 applications (we were making semiconductors). All 3 were huge business segments for us yet none of them could have been forecasted 5 years prior, because they were not even on our radar screen. Cell phones, ABS brakes, & PC's.

 

I don't think multi-tasking GPS phones with nice screens are out of the question.

 

If there's a market, and it's not Star Trek stuff, the tech will work itself out.