NaviGadget

RIM buys Dash

Jun 7, 2009 gps navigation, misc news, software 2 Comments

According to some sources the acquisition one of our favorite failed brand – Dash – is confirmed. Dash, which gave up manufacturing their hardware and started to focus on location based services as well as crowd sourced and crowd favorite real real-time traffic updates is now a part of RIM (research in motion).

If that’s the case you can expect to see some improvement in the GPS navigation and related services offered by RIM. If you remember the idea behind Dash Express and the platform it had built looked pretty solid but it all failed when they wanted to charge a monthly fee for their service.

We’ll have to wait and see what RIM does with their latest acquisition… Read More …

six GPS navigation systems no longer with us

Apr 11, 2009 gps navigation 6 Comments

GPS navigation system market is very dynamic and fast moving. New features come out monthly, prices keep going down. Small brand names can’t just compete or the big ones (HP, Sony) just take a quick stab at the market and realize people just won’t give up their Garmin’s :)

Here are a few names that are either out of the GPS navigation market or about to be gone.

• Magellan


Magellan was one of the big shots here in the U.S. but recently was bought by Mitac Mio. Even though Mio said they’d keep the brand going we think it is a matter of time until the Magellan name completely disappears.

• HP


HP had a decent looking device called iPAQ 310 for a while but it turns out they’ll be discontinuing their stand alone GPS navigation systems and a few others such as iPAQ 312, 314, 316, and 318.

• Dash


These were the guys to first come out with a decent two way connected system. We really loved it. But they didn’t last long. When they quit they promised they’d keep their awesome user collected traffic information platform alive.

• Harman/Kardon


Harman did come out with a few models that really looked promising such as the GPS-810. But due to continued price cutting they’re out as well.

• Sony


Sony never really got traction in the PND market. They officially quit the European market. Even though SonyStyle for U.S. still offers the NVU series the fact that they haven’t offered anything new makes us wonder…

• Panasonic


Panasonic is also out but only for standalone GPS navigation systems like the Strada CN-GP50N, and CN-GP50U. They’re keeping their in-dash systems.

UPDATE (May 6th):

• Navigon


We’re sorry to now add Navigon to this list. They really had some decent devices but the aggressive pricing was too aggressive for them. They’ll continue business in Europe.

NAVIGON 4300T max

Mar 2, 2009 gps navigation, navigon 6 Comments

Navigon just today announced their latest “NAVIGON 4300T max“; a GPS navigation system that can learn from your driving habits and suggest a route accordingly. The new feature is called MyRoutes and provides the driver with up to 3 different routes to choose from considering speed limits, construction and traffic as you’re driving. And you’ll have ETA’s for all three.

However the software has a bit more intelligent than just throwing out three different routes at you. NAVIGON 4300T max will also save your individual driving data so it can recommend you the best route based on your history, while factoring in day of the week, and the time of the day. Clearly something Dash Express tried before they disappeared to target everyday commuters. We’ll see if Navigon can get people driving to and from work to buy their GPS navigation system.

Navigon 4300T max sells for $280. Hardware specs include a 4.3″ touchscreen interface, SiRF Atlas IV 500 MHz processor, integrated traffic receiver and antenna, Bluetooth, SiRF GRF3i+ GPS chip plus InstantFix II, 2 hour non-removable 1300 mAh li-ion battery, and a Micro SD card slot.

dash to stop making hardware and focus on selling its platform to other businesses

Nov 4, 2008 gps navigation 1 Comment

Today we heard that one of our favorite GPS navigation maker, Dash, is going to stop making and selling their two way connected GPS navigation device Dash Express. Instead they’re going to focus on selling their platform which specializes in bringing live traffic information from drivers on the road to other GPS navigation system makers. All this after letting 50 of their employees go leaving them with 1/3 of their workforce.

Dash first started selling their device for $600 but soon after lowered their prices to $400. And then it was $300 for Father’s Day, and just recently Dash Express went for $200 on Amazon.

Dash tried hard to stay in business but ever decreasing prices of satellite navigation systems probably forced them to make this move… Read More …

deCarta offers two-way connected sat nav platform

Oct 24, 2008 gps navigation 1 Comment

Following the lead of Dash Express, a few other names are attempting at the two way connected GPS navigation systems. One of them is deCarta.

deCarta doesn’t actually have a device, but they want to provide their two way connected platform to GPS navigation system makers.

The Company’s first major customer will be deploying personal navigation devices utilizing deCarta’s CNAV technology in late October in time to meet the 2008 holiday season.

We’re not sure who their first customer is but here are the features that they provide:

• Real-time and predictive traffic-aware routing / More efficient routes
• Corridor search/ More relevant and practical results for searching along a route
• Cheapest gas nearby and fast Internet search/ Increased utility and performance satisfaction
• Destination downloads/ Information sent to device from user’s home PC
• Weather

Well there’s nothing here that Dash can’t do.

Here are a few screen shots:

Best Buy Insignia NS-CNV20

Oct 4, 2008 gps navigation 2 Comments

NS-CNV20 is the new GPS navigation system that is branded by Insignia and marketed by BestBuy. What immediately catches our attention with NS-CNV20 is that it has two way connectivity; and just like Dash Express it seems to offer 3 different routes for a given destination.

Thanks to its cellular modem Best Buy Insignia NS-CNV20 can provide real time traffic updates and it also lets you do a Google Local Search. Apparently the service is free for the first year during which you can make a search on your PC and have it sent to your device wireless.

In addition the device offers bluetooth connectivity and has a 4.3″ screen.

Navigadget, for one, welcomes our new sat nav providers… Read More …

google maps vs your navigation system

Aug 4, 2008 gps navigation 10 Comments

• updates: google maps is more up to date than the maps on your gps navigation system
• street view: google maps has it your sat nav don’t
• traffic info: google maps has it, most others don’t. Dash Express may actually beat Google when it comes freshness of traffic data
• satellite view: google maps has it, your sat nav doesn’t. Unless it is Lowrance 600c, but even then…
• terrain view: google maps has it, your navigation system don’t, but newer garmin or magellan handhelds allow you to add these with a cost
• points of interests: we’re guessing google beats your locally kept copy of nearest McDonald’s and Chevron locations (unless you have Dash Express, then you can do a local Yahoo search which is pretty sweet)
• transit directions: google does it
• walking directions:google does it

What’s our point? Well… one day we’re all going to have faster than 3G connection speeds and GPS in all our gadgets and all these GPS navigation systems will become obsolete thanks to feature packed Google Maps. Seriously, how can one compete with a feature like Street View? What do you think?

Dash Express software update

Jun 30, 2008 gps navigation 1 Comment

Some of the cons we listed several days ago in our mini Dash Express review article has already been take care of with the Dash Express software update which was announced today. One of these features include MyRoute which learns from your driving habits.

As your drive from point A to B, Dash will automatically learn your preferred route. Next time you make that same journey, the first route choice will be a MyRoute,so you can compare your MyRoute to the computed Dash routes and decide which one is optimal.

Another ‘con’ we mentioned was delay in map rendering. We weren’t so sure if this could be enhanced with a software update but apparently it was since people at Dash now claim the maps will redraw more than 50% faster.

One more very needed feature was Search Along Route which is just a smarter way finding points of interest such that you won’t have to backtrack from your destination. Everytime you make a search the results are displayed with the distance from the current location, the distance from the route and the direction of the destination relative to the selected route.

Other nice enhancement include FasterFind which is a feature powered by SiRFInstantFix technology. Your Dash will now use over-the-air GPS satellite position information to get a fast GPS fix so you can start navigating in seconds.

Your Dash Express, which now costs only $300 will update when you turn it on when you’re within WiFi range.

dash express new price and a short review

Jun 22, 2008 gps navigation, reviews 5 Comments

Dash Express is now $299 – which is half the price when it first came out several months ago. We first saw this price point back at Father’s Day and now they say due to high interest during that time they decided to keep the price at that low point. We talked about the Dash Express quite often recently since they were nice enough to lend us a review unit.

Here is what we thought of the device:

pros:

• internet connected yahoo local search: it is better than any POI database out there
• send2car: you or a friend can send destinations to your car from any internet connected PC
• Dash Driver Network: real time traffic updates from other drivers on the road
• user interface: easy to use interface, everything you need; nothing you don’t
• Dash Apps: with open API anyone can design applications to extend the features of your device

cons:

• map rendering: Dash Express lags a little behind when it comes to re-drawing the map everytime you make a turn
• maps: maps are out of date
• driving directions: sometimes made us raise eyebrows – so we tried to beat Dash’s ETA by taking our route but ended up getting there at the same time

The good thing about the cons is that most of those can be fixed over the air with software, and map updates. In fact a map update is expected to come out soon.

We believe $300 is a great price for Dash Express. Once you try the internet connected search you’ll know what we’re talking about.

Dash Express now $299 on Amazon

Jun 5, 2008 gps navigation 1 Comment

As a Father’s day special Amazon reduced the price of Dash Expressby %25 to $299.

$299 for this GPS navigation system with two-way connectivity is a good deal. We’ve been using the internet connected Yahoo Local Search quite a bit and we don’t think we can go back.

Hopefully more people will now pick up the Dash Express and TruTraffic experience will become even better. Dash’s own website still sells it for $399.