In the Three-Way Navigation Battle, Don't Count Out Carmakers Just Yet
Technology wars are an essential part of progress. A decade ago, embedded navigation systems were the latest and greatest in-car tech. But with inexpensive portable navs hanging from the windshields of millions vehicles, embedded nav systems have started to look like tech dinosaurs -- and they've also been shown to slightly increase the depreciation of a vehicle's value. Meanwhile, analysts are predicting that portables will soon loose ground to mobile-phone based navigation systems.
But Michael A.M. Davies, a senior lecturer at MIT's Sloan School of Management and an expert on business strategy and technology, warns not to count out carmakers just yet in the three-way battle between embedded nav, portables and mobile-phone apps. As navigation capabilities expand to include location-based services and finding friends along a route, Davies believes that car companies are in a unique position to present this additional info in a safer and more practical manner.
"Navigation is about much more than getting from Point A to Point B," Davies said. "It now involves finding the cheapest gas, the nearest coffee shop and even social networking. As we confront drivers with all of this new information, how it is presented becomes really critical in the car."
Although automakers have traditionally lagged behind the consumer electronics industry in getting tech innovations out on the road, Davies expects car companies to quickly seize opportunities in location-based services, and perhaps even win the nav war. And as with Ford's Sync system, software will be the weapon of choice. And Microsoft could be one of the primary arms suppliers.
Davies points out that as with other technology battles, the nav war is shifting from a hardware shootout to more of a software strategy. And while Microsoft recently released a dedicated version of Windows to support Portable Navigation Devices (PNDs), the software giant is also increasing its presence as an OEM supplier to automakers.
Davies also notes that automakers are in a much better position to integrate the latest nav features with safety requirements and create a richer user experience, and that this is already happening in Europe. "With some high-end cars, if you are braking hard while an incoming call comes to your mobile phone, the car will not put the call through until you have the vehicle under control," noted Davies. The same thing can apply with sophisticated embedded nav systems, he added. "You don't want to have the world's worst backseat driver spouting directions in the middle of a scary maneuver, so the car's sensors will tell the navigation system, 'Oops, slippery road here -- don't say anything.'"
What this means is you may not want to pop for an expensive navigation option on a new car just yet, and you may also want to hold off on buying a high-end portable or paying a monthly subscription for navigation on a mobile phone -- at least until the three-way nav battle is decided.
Until then, there's always MapQuest.
- Posted by
- Doug Newcomb August 26, 2008, 12:00 PM
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- Categories:
- Life with Cars
- Technorati Tags:
- Mobile Phones. Microsoft, Navigation, Portable Navigation
Systems like OnStar, that use GPS to locate your vehicle and notify emergency response personnel in the event of an accident, already have much of the necessary hardware in place anyway. Too bad adding a little screen and some software to utilize that hardware generally runs $1000 to $2000 dollars. Actually, so far as I know, GM's built-in Nav doesn't yet directly tie into the OnStar hardware that way (yet?)- though the new Turn-by-Turn / eNav setup allows OnStar to communicate information to the main nav system and display route information. The Turn-by-turn system evidently DOES directly use the GPS hardware in the OnStar system, but without a large display, lacks the appeal to me of a regular nav system.
What I really would like to see is a standard wireless communication setup for portable Nav systems (bluetooth sounds fine), and large screens built into the cars. I believe the Sync system is already like this? Basically, you could pair up the Nav with your car's infotainment system, and display your information on the main screen, like normal dedicated nav systems do now, but without:
a) being forced to pony up $2k for nav with the car
b) being limited to using that nav in only the specific vehicle.
As a bonus, with standardized connection / data format, you could choose which aftermarket portable Nav to buy, with the level of features and pricepoint you want.
It's for this reason that I think MS and Ford have made a big leap with the Sync system.