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, the voice activated Nuvi that will probably help save the free world in the new season of 24 on Fox Network. Series starts this Sunday.
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Cobra New Line of GPS Enhanced AURA Radar Detectors
Cobra announced a new line of 12 radar detectors, 6 of which include AURA (Advanced Universal Road Alert) database data that when combined with the GPS capabilities of the unit, can warn you when approaching a known issue - think speed trap or red light camera. The USB insert allows you to download known locations of trouble and plug those into the receiver. The units come with a lifetime subscription and entire line ranges in price from $69 to $470. Available this spring.
On the eve of CES 2009, I can't help but ponder what's next for the GPS industry given the dire situation in the economy and the confluence of technologies and products that are running smack into the tightly closed wallets in American's pockets.
Where are we at?
Dominant Players Keep Challengers at Bay - Over the last year, TomTom and Garmin drained the pond and ran for the low end launching and maintaining their presence with value models, all but removing the need for second and third tier brands whose sole offering was price beater. When you could save $80 on a unit by switching brands to "Fly by Night GPS Model A", it's meaningful, but when it's $20, why not go with the trusted name. It will be interesting to see if TeleNav can launch into a targeted market with a higher end innovation of the connected GPS in all of this. It goes against the grain of cheapie units entering from the bottom of the market; they are also experienced in software design from their mobile phone based navigation capabilities. Their interface needs to be good, and the market willing, in order to make any money.
People are thinking about skipping that GPS purchase - in a Wall St Journal article yesterday (p.B3) they reported that 62% of participants in a survey were less likely to buy a GPS given the state of the economy. The survey was conducted in November, potentially spelling out the poor holiday season that we just went through.
Black Friday Every Day - TomTom planned to bring the price of their ONE 125 unit back up to $129 after Black Friday, but it's now $99 almost everyday online. Either they are doing really well and not moving much else, or there's a lot of inventory to move. TWICE indicates that in their conversations, inventories at key retailers are high. Black Friday quality deals are all over the place as retailers are trimming inventories and the buyers are the victors. Go with quality, and you'll make out.
Where is this all going?
Consolidation - we have already seen Magellan get bought up by Mitac, Mio's parent company, and I would expect that only the strong will survive this recession and technology shake-out. While the in-category consolidation takes place, don't rule out a broader consolidation; think mobile phones, maps, location based services, and GPS units all being run out of the same shop.
Streamline the Line - As we eek towards decent connected offerings, we will see the GPS category morph into a few general offerings. If you don't have these you're not a complete player.
Low End Value - grab the Point of Market Entry consumers, keep the cheapie rivals out of the cookie jar.
Mid-Point with move-up features - nicer benefits, higher quality user experience, and more profits available per model.
High End Connected Wannabe - Should be fully connected, but isn't and should have a limited appeal. Offers services that are better when there's more bandwidth; think traffic here.
Over the Top Connected Lifestyle - Gooped up with loads of features, and really where the fun is at. Takes effort and skill to make this work.... oh yea, and willing buyers that we haven't seen enough of yet.
Connected GPS Services - yes, they will come, the consumer need is there and the benefits can be great. Dash flew a little too close to the sun and it didn't work out in the first iteration for them, but they had a grand vision of networked traffic, customized search capabilities, and local content. The issue here is in solving the monthly fee concern, and the visualization of the benefits, and the interface that can support the benefits clearly, etc. Can consumers swallow another monthly fee for their device, especially in a recession? The answer might be in taking an "add-on" like a personal navigation device, and turn it into a "must-have", like a mobile phone - something like the Nuvifone. An issue to solve here is that phones need to be relatively small, but we want large GPS screens....
GPS/LBS Everywhere - There's a benefit to having location awareness, and it's coming to a device near you. We are already jogging with you, biking with you, in cameras, in Radar Detectors, phones, in computers, in cars, in nativity scenes, and just about anything you can hook a data logger to. When things are location aware, ads can be sold for location sensitive businesses; think the coffee shop, or the local restaurant, and this money can help drive the whole business cycle, and potentially subsidize you costs.
For now, we'll see what turns up at CES, and monitor the deals and bargains for you. Stay tuned, it's always an interesting ride.
Nextar M3-MX1 GPS for Select Latin American Markets
Nextar is launching a new model (M3-MX1) directed at the Latin American market. They will be taking a standard screen (3.5-inch) model with what appears to be an iGo interface from NavNGo. The units will be available in Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil this Spring. Pricing is $249 street price, but I would expect a lower effective price when it hits the market.
Clearly as several factors come together, GPS in developing countries will become attractive; lower overall prices become more affordable, saturation in major N. American and Euro markets, and declining revenue pushing makers to look elsewhere for sales.
Garmin's media mini-site for the Garmin Nuvifone continues to surface some details about the forthcoming phone that will give the world Garmin's spin on mobile phone all-in oneness with a proper navigation system built-in. no connected unit worth it's weight in dirt can function without a solid POI search capability, and Google is looking like the way to go for Garmin from the picture above. The unit will of course come with navigation but also bluetooth, a camera, functionality for geotagging those pictures, a web browser, and those items that make it a smart phone - email and address book.
Scheduled to release later this year, we are hoping for some good things out of Garmin's connected GPS release.
Happy New Year from GPS Lodge - just reviewing the last month of the year, where we saw a lot of crazy (great) prices for GPS units in the holiday shopping season, and hopefully they will continue.
Of course if you are looking for a GPS still a good place to start is either in my Holiday shopping Guide, or my GPS Review section - plenty of reviews of leading devices there.
Mio has launched the Miobuzz right ahead of CES 2009, the GPS blog that will enlighten us to the ways of the Mio. It promises to be another outlet for all things Mio, giving us inside information along with a little marketing mixed in. Garmin and TomTom have these and they seem to be good sources of information about map sales, tips on GPS use, and information on little-known features or capabilities. The Miobuzz blog appears to be a little irreverent with its design and avatar look and feel. Should be fun to see it develop.
Jake from Garmin has the bead on getting your new Forerunner 405 to help you with your new year resolutions and goals. Goals are an apparently easy way to lay out some milestones and measure your way to getting there.
Is the Insignia CNV-10 Worth $99 or the CNV-20 $149?
A lot of readers are writing in about the deals on the Insignia Connected GPS units at Best Buy - the Insignia CNV-10 a standard screen for $99, and the Insignia CNV-20 widescreen for $149. They come with a year's mobile connected subscription which will cost $99 a year after that.
Why all the hype? These units are internet connected GPS units that offer the promise of interesting capabilities: google search for businesses, traffic, and gas prices. When I reviewed the unit in November, the CNV-10 was $399, and for that money, it was an easy call: stay away, buy something else. Read My Full Review for more information.
A few of my findings:
Routing was decent, the unit uses NAVTEQ Maps
Google Search missed some basic businesses in my town
Traffic capabilities were a bust; I sat in bumper to bumper traffic and the Insignia thought I was on clear roads.
Traffic results - if it did see problems didn't seem to influence the estimated time of arrival.
The interface was clunky - very much second rate to TomTom and Garmin
At $99 or $149, are they a better buy? - Maybe.
High Expectations - Walk Away
If your expectations are that you get a connected GPS that works flawlessly and you require accurate traffic for a daily commute - still not a good choice. The traffic capability is not good enough.
Lower Expectations - Might be a great deal
If you are OK with a second rate interface and want occasional connected benefits, you may choose to grab this - I think it will work for you. You need to be aware of the shortcomings, and the potential for BestBuy to discontinue selling and ultimately supporting the unit.
I do have faith that some of the issues I saw can be remedied with a software upgrade, which makes me hopeful that the unit can be salvaged.
If you are interested in a capable connected GPS, consider the TeleNav Shotgun. I have been using it and will post a review in January.
Last Days for that GPS.... Buying Guide and Reviews
There are a few days left to buy that GPS that you wanted to get. There are deals all over the place on inventory that people hadn't planned to have this late in the game.
We expect to see more, but the days are numbered. Only three days left to order at Amazon if you select 2 day shipping.
If you are unsure of what to look for start at my Holiday Buying Guide for 2008 - recommendations, GPS reviews and information on a wide range of products.
Alltel - New Application makes Mobile Phones into Handheld GPS
Altel wireless is releasing a new application that allows you to download maps of areas, and utilize your GPS enabled cell phone to plan hikes, plan waypoints, and routes through the outdoors. Pitched as a way to skip the handheld GPS purchase and head straight outdoors it will allow you to do all that you want without issue. The cost is $1.99 a day, $5.99 a month or $39 a year. Not bad compared to your average $150 handheld, but we're skeptical about performance. One thing I do know is that I am pretty grateful for the waterproof nature of my handheld when I get caught in the rain, something my mobile won't do for me. On balance though, I think that the Alltel system will do well with the folks who rely on their mobile for everything; I certainly don't, well at least yet.
Fire Eagle - Share your Location with your TomTom GPS
With the FireEagle add-on, you can now share your location with others while you navigate around with your TomTom GPS. To really have the cool "I see you" effect, you need to have your TomTom connected via a data plan'd phone. not many folks in the US have that, but it's an encouraging little add-on to play with. Easy to see that you might want to share with family or friends. The real magic is had when you can operate with a connected TomTom, but there is an offline mode too if you want to collect data and then "sync" with the web.
You can display your location on iGoogle pages, and yes, you can start and stop the data collection so no one will see you stopping by that donut shop for a coffee and donut in the middle of the morning.
Deal of the Day - TomTom ONE 125 - $89 + Free Shipping
After Black Friday, the price on the TomTom ONE 125 has steadily climbed above the $99 price that we saw just after Thanksgiving..... until today. Amazon's Deal of the Day is the TomTom ONE 125 for $89.
You can see my Full Review of the TomTom ONE 125 for more information, but quickly, it is a standard 3.5-inch screen GPS with maps of the US, has verbal turn cues (Turn Right in 400 Yards), but not text to speech.
These deals can sell out at Amazon; the last one featuring a GPS did.
TomTom announced that their MapShare program has grown to 5 million users which is a huge growth in a short amount of time. The system allows users to update their maps on their units and share those changes out to others in the system, networking to fix mapping mistakes. Once checked by experts back at the TomTom headquarters, the changes are pumped out so that they FIX mistakes and not propagate others!
Deal of the Day - TomTom ONE 125 - $89 + Free Shipping
Navigon 2200T Full Review
Garmin on New "24" Season - Win a Garmin Nuvi 850
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