Disclaimer: These are predictions and nothing more, so keep your sense of humor and please don’t sue me.
Auto GPS predictions
- A nuvi 8×5 series will bring lane assist and voice recognition together in one unit
- Garmin discontinues the nuvi 200 series; all Garmin nuvi models will now have text-to-speech
- Crowdsourced HD traffic comes to the US with the stateside introduction of the TomTom GO LIVE series
- TomTom releases a GPS receiver that utilizes alternative positioning information for improved accuracy in urban canyons
- More manufacturers display multiple route options visually, ala Dash and Insignia
- Navigon folds, caught between Nextar on the low end and MiTAC’s aggressive promotion of the Magellan line
- Red light camera alerts will move closer to the mainstream
- More downward feature creep — expect to see Lane Assist on some mid-range Garmins, more units with lifetime traffic, larger screens, etc.
- Garmin announces a desktop application (possibly a
revamped MapSource) that allows planning routes with POIs and
transferring them to Garmin units with current City Navigator maps; it
will be set up to allow users to opt into sharing anonymized tracklogs
ala TomTom HOME - Said application will support wireless transfer of data via ANT or Bluetooth
Connected PNDs and cell phones
- The nuvifone will hit the market early in Q2; it will immediately
be clear that it is the best cell phone navigation solution on the
market, and while call quality will be surprisingly good, other
functionality will be no match for the iPhone - The nuvifone will be a much greater success than the Dash Express, TeleNav Shotgun and Insignia units, effectively killing the model of a connected PND with a separate service contract
- Someone releases an advertising-supported, no fee, connected PND
- A Garmin Android line won’t appear until 2010
Handheld GPS predictions
I’m predicting we’ll see at least one
About Rich Owings