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Mobile phone or in-car navigation?

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Posted by Mark Peters

Saturday, August 4th 2007 - 16:42 CEST - Comments: 0

C onsumers should be wary of in-car and standalone GPS navigation systems, according to the results of a recent TeleNav Web poll. Approximately 50 percent of respondents with personal navigation devices (PNDs) stated that their navigation systems have provided them with incorrect directions or outdated maps. This is likely due to the fact that unlike GPS applications on mobile phones and smartphones, handheld navigation systems are not updated on a regular basis, leading to increased misdirections and frustrations.

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Mobile phone navigation

Today, mobile phone navigation is more advanced than PNDs and in-car navigation systems. As mobile phones are connected to a wireless network, GPS applications on these phones receive ongoing updates and can provide a number of features that PNDs and in-car systems are unable to offer, such as one-touch traffic rerouting and location-based social-networking.

Wireless connectivity also allows mobile phone navigation to provide larger, more detailed and more current business listings for places like ATMs, gas stations and movie theaters.

Standalone navigation systems

These updates are also provided at no additional cost to customers, whereas a payment is often required to update maps and other content with standalone devices. Despite the ability to update the content, nearly half of the PND owners surveyed by TeleNav indicated that their systems do not always provide them with correct addresses and directions to business listings like restaurants and hotels.

Cell phone with GPS navigation capabilities

In-Stat recently reported that the navigation market, which is currently dominated by expensive standalone devices, has the potential to be offset by handset-based applications. The analyst firm predicts that the total number of mapping and navigation mobile phone subscribers could exceed 70 million worldwide by 20121. In addition, a recent study by the Consumer Electronics Association shows that 33 percent of future GPS buyers are interested in owning a cell phone that has GPS / navigation capabilities.

Mobile phone-based GPS navigation versus a standalone navigation

"The benefits of mobile phone-based GPS navigation versus a standalone service are immeasurable," said HP Jin, TeleNav president, CEO and co-founder. "We can provide more content, more features and more capabilities - all at less cost. Above and beyond the cost of the hardware, the amount a customer pays to upgrade maps and business listings on a standalone or in-car system alone would probably pay for a year's worth of mobile phone navigation service."

TeleNav GPS Navigator

As more than 240 million Americans are wireless subscribers (CTIA-The Wireless Association), customers can conveniently access their GPS service on a device they already carry with them and receive information in real-time based on their current location, which is far beyond what traditional navigation products are capable of. TeleNav offers TeleNav GPS Navigator, a mobile device-based navigation service that provides voice and on-screen turn-by-turn directions. The most recent version introduced includes new social-networking features such as location sharing.