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NaviGadget: TomTom last week announced three new GPS navigation systems for professional use – each with 5″ display.

They all offer mileage logging, time logging, status reports, and more which are part of TomTom’s WORKsmart system. Some other features include IQ routes technology, ECO routes, lane guidance, text-to-speech, and hands free calling. The difference is PRO 7150 TRUCK offers truck specific routing which accounts for cargo, heigh, weight restrictions for 15 European countries. PRO 9150 on the other hand has integrated WEBFLEET connection which doesn’t require the TomTom LINK.

Here is what the recommended pricing is like: PRO 7150 359 Euros, PRO 9150 429 Euros, and PRO 7150 TRUCK is 399 Euros.

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TechRadar: TomTom has announced a “manifesto” for reducing traffic. CEO Harold Goddijn announced the move at an event in London yesterday, alongside version 4.0 of the HD Traffic – that will also come to head unit TomTom-based devices, too.

Goddijn says that if 10 per cent of the TomTom userbase were to use HD traffic, it “would reduce journey times for everyone – five per cent in Europe. And that’s where we want to go. We are on a mission…we are committed to make this work and do our bit for society and our customers.

“Collectively we will make better use of existing road capacity.”

Goddijn added that the HD Traffic system can now report a problem to a driver within two minutes – a remarkable achievement. But those figures only apply to ‘connected’ drivers – only about one per cent of TomTom’s 45 million-strong userbase. About 20 per cent of that connected number – 200,000 – are British.

But Goddijn is undeterred and says that TomTom really can influence traffic flow in the future “[We're] trying to understand the problem of traffic…it’s something we can influence. It’s a problem we all know. It’s a global issue. It has a lot of consequences…it costs time, it’s a great stress.

“When we started TomTom we said we needed to understand this issue. It’s now time to start changing conventional wisdom. I don’t think that’s the case…I think we can change traffic and do something about it.”

The TomTom Traffic Manifesto is essentially a plan to get as many people using TomTom connected devices and so get better traffic information – and make more money from the extra subscription cost of connected devices, of course.

As part of the plan, TomTom will also supply traffic information to other sources, such as radio stations.

Goddijn also stated the organisation now has navigable data for 100 countries. The company takes an incredible 600 million speed measurements every day.

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NaviGadget: As you know may already know we’ve been keeping a good track of all the GPS navigation apps for the iPhone. We had already mentioned MapQuest there but this is worth mentioning again since they just released MapQuest 4 Mobile for iPhone – which is totally free.
We say it was time for iPhone users to get a taste of free GPS navigation. Android users have Google Maps in the U.S, Nokia users all around the world have Ovi Maps – now one our first internet favorites (late 90’s?) MapQuest comes to the rescue for iPhone users. Read more…

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Navigadget: Leica Geosystems seem to be getting ready to release a GPS navigation system in the U.S. of A. Looking at their product line they don’t seem to be focusing on consumer electronics so this probably would be their first attempt at the market.
This sat nav device which we came across the FCC site is called Leica mojoMINI and looks like most other GPS navigation system with a 4.3″ screen. It comes with a car charger, mounting bracket and cradle, and stylus for the touch screen. It has an SD card slot, mini USB charging port, headphone jack, and an embedded external speaker.
We’re not sure when this Leica mojoMINI will hit the market but we’ll be sure to let you know when it does.

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CNet Crave: Qualcomm and Audi are bringing the information superhighway to the actual highway. The chipmaker has developed a 3G Web connection for the carmaker’s Mobile Media Interface Plus in-car navigation and entertainment system, supercharging your sat-nav with the power of the Web. We took it for a spin.

Well, we sat in it and pressed some buttons, as the demo car was parked on the Qualcomm stand at Mobile World Congress. The system is being shown off at MWC in an A5 Cabriolet, but it will be available in shops on the A8. We got in and went “Brrrrrmmmm” until someone from Qualcomm agreed to talk us through the technology. Read more…

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DigiTimes: Stand-alone personal navigation device (PND) sales will continue to grow over the next five years, albeit at an anemic rate, while GPS-enabled mobile phone shipments will nearly triple by 2013, compared with 2009, according to In-Stat.

The PND market is showing signs of maturity as price points decline sharply, consolidation occurs, and shipment growth slows.

In addition, the increasing competition from GPS-enabled mobile phones represents the most significant threat to the PND market.

“Drivers for continued PND market growth include ASP declines, automobile manufacturers’ desire to offer more affordable navigation options, and the potential growth anticipated from connected PNDs,” said Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst.

“Connected PNDs, like the recently announced Garmin nuvi 1690, can connect to the Internet and receive dynamic information such as flight updates, gas prices, and local weather. These expensive models may be a tough sell in the current struggling economy, however.”

In-Stat predicted that worldwide unit shipments for PNDs will reach approximately 56 million units in 2012. The total silicon opportunity for PNDs will pass US$1 billion in 2010, before starting to decline.

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Reuters: The European Union launched a free satellite navigation network on Thursday that could help pilots, drivers and blind people by fine-tuning the accuracy of the U.S. global positioning system (GPS) to around 2 meters.The EGNOS system will use three satellites and 34 ground stations to narrow the horizontal accuracy of GPS from around 7 meters previously and improve its vertical accuracy to help pilots during landings.

The “Safety-of-Life” service for aircraft navigation could be in place next year, the EU executive said in a statement.

Farmers could also benefit from improved precision for spraying fertilizers, and new applications could emerge on roads, such as automatic tolling and pay-per-use car insurance.

“It will make all personal navigation applications much more precise, giving birth to new possibilities like guiding aids for blind people,” the Commission said.

The system was pioneered by the Commission, the European Space Agency and aviation safety authority Eurocontrol.

It paves the way for the better known Galileo project, a European satellite system which will rival GPS and could be up and running in 2014.

The 4 billion euro ($5.8 billion) Galileo project, Europe’s biggest single space program, has been plagued by delays and squabbling over funding that ended only when the EU agreed to fund it from the public purse.

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Electronista: Magellan has officially unveiled its first significantly redesigned GPS unit in recent years. As seen at the FCC, the Maestro 4700 is significantly slimmer than most other models even with its larger 4.7-inch touchscreen.

It’s also Magellan’s most advanced with 3D landscapes, Bluetooth calling and predictive traffic alerts that offers to reroute based on usual road congestion patterns.

The company’s mapping hardware also has an upgrade in software, with more space for bookmarked locations as well as a new address book, larger fonts that are more readable at driver’s seat distances and a parking-friendly mode that remembers a car’s location and switches to pedestrian mode.

To accommodate the smaller physical size, Magellan uses microSD cards for storage.

The Maestro 4700 should ship for $300 (€215).

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Electronista: NAVIGON today signaled its intent to compete against TomTom’s iPhone app with software of its own.

A version of MobileNavigator will use iPhone OS 3.0′s support of turn-by-turn GPS to provide the same driving directions as many of its dedicated GPS units, including its Reality View, lane and speed assists, and its notification of road signs.

Owners can play music from their device’s existing library, plot routes based on contacts’ addresses and auto-resume navigation after taking a call. The mapping firm doesn’t say whether it will make an accessory to support MobileNavigator, as TomTom is for its own app, but does say it will have both free and paid versions.

The free Lite version doesn’t have active navigation and only lets users search the map as well as find points of interest; paying unlocks the full feature set. NAVIGON anticipates its software arriving in the App Store in June but won’t reveal the paid version’s price until it’s available.

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Engadget: Man, talk about coming straight out of left field. After blowing it out at CeBIT just two months ago, Navigon has just announced its intentions to pull out of the navigation business here in North America.

According to CEO Egon Minar: “Due to the difficult economic environment and the aggressive pricing we have decided to withdraw from the PND business in North America for the time being. We are however not closing down our Chicago office which will continue to serve our automotive and mobile phone businesses in North America.”

He did assert that the company would “continue to fulfill all obligations to its existing PND customers in terms of map updates, etc.,” but nothing else on the subject was said. So long, Navigon — we’ll miss your “uber-premium” wares.

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Pioneer Europe: This July, Pioneer will be releasing an exclusively-designed navigation and multimedia centre for a range of VW, Skoda or Seat vehicles: the AVIC-F9110BT.

As well complementing the interior of your vehicle, the NavGate AVIC-F9110BT delivers more efficient and pleasurable journeys through comprehensive navigation capabilities, high-quality and versatile entertainment and convenient and safe communications.

The stylish unit is shaped and manufactured from specialist materials to seamlessly integrate with a wide range of cars from the VW Group.

Behind the sleek façade of the high-resolution 5.8-inch WVGA touch panel is seriously powerful navigation technology:

• The high-speed 2GB flash memory quickly plots your course across
• 44 European countries using built-in TeleAtlas maps spanning
• 9 million kms of road and including 1.5million Points-of-Interest ( POI) with famous landmarks shown in 3D.
• Voice guidance provides route instructions and applies Text-to-Speech (TTS) functionality to safely relay traffic information – informing you of events based on TMC bulletins – and suggest new routes.
• Clever features also assure accurate guidance in areas where GPS coverage is compromised.

At the heart of the NavGate AVIC-F9110BT is a powerful processor which enables navigation and entertainment features to be used simultaneously .

The NavGate AVIC-F9110BT is compatible with 18 VW, Skoda and Seat cars as follows (an original VW, Skoda and Seat accessory may be required to fit the unit):

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NaviGadget: 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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Dash 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.

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