NaviGadget

G-Book mX Pro from Toyota – Drive on Demand

Apr 12, 2007 gps navigation

G-Book mX Pro from Toyota (only available in Japan) is adding a new network technology to cars that will download up-to-date maps and traffic information. When this data meets the on-board GPS navigation system drivers will have the quickest (or shortest) route being offered to them. While Pro version has its own data transmission device embedded inside, the basic version requires a mobile phone.

G-Book mX Pro which will be available in luxury models is expected to cost around $100 per year after the initial complimentary year.

One of other feature G-Book mX Pro offers is called “Probe Communication Traffic Information” which is basically what Dash Network is trying to get running here in the U.S. I guess the Japanese engineers beat them to it.

This unique Toyota traffic information service gathers driving data – such as speed and position – from vehicles equipped with G-BOOK mX to provide drivers with alternate routes for avoiding traffic congestion. Because it makes use of the on-board DCM, the information gathering capability of this service is superior to similar systems, which rely solely on cell phones, and efficiently stores information about traffic congestion in real time at the G-BOOK Center. In this way the Probe Communication Traffic Information service supplements Vehicle Information and Communication System (VICS) information with updates on traffic congestion, providing drivers with highly accurate predictions about the current traffic situation and suggestions for the best alternate routes to take.

Other features of the device are hands free bluetooth capability, HDD for maps and music, and even more interesting is a “stop sign notification service” which will let the drivers know at specially dangerous intersection that they need to stop. The system will also check if the driver is not slowing down at a stop sign intersection based on the map information and the distance between the vehicle and the stop line determined by an on-board camera… via