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Nokia and Mercedes Benz will work together on self-driving cars, the companies have confirmed, with Nokia’s HERE developing metadata-rich navigation and mapping data with extra information for robot drivers. The partnership, which comes alongside deals between Nokia HERE and both Continental Corporation and Magneti Marelli, takes map data and bakes in aspects like how many […]

When speaking with executives from the Google Maps team earlier this year at I/O, I was reminded that Maps wasn’t even a product in 2004. In less than a decade, one of Google’s bright ideas has completely and unabashedly transformed the entire routing industry. (Avid readers will no doubt recall this graph, depicting real moves in the stock market moments after Google Maps Navigation was first introduced.) That development, coupled with the explosion in smartphone adoption across emerged markets, has left players like Magellan in quite the predicament. It wasn’t that long ago that dedicated PNDs (personal navigation devices) were the gift to get for the holiday season. And indeed, many units from Garmin in particular delighted me plenty over the years.

But the reality today is that PND makers have found themselves redundant. A few have resorted to innovating on the software side and nailing down partnerships with automakers and fleet-management firms in order to keep revenue rolling in, while Magellan has opted to create a new piece of hardware. That hardware, of course, is the SmartGPS. Rather than being a standalone PND suitable for mounting on one’s dash or window, the device works best when used in concert with an accompanying iPhone or Android app (sorry, Windows Phone and BlackBerry users). In essence, the company is hoping that by creating a product that extends the functionality of your smartphone, you’ll be inclined to hand over $250. After a week of road tripping through the US southwest, however, I’m inclined to believe differently.

Filed under: GPS, Transportation

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Source: Magellan SmartGPS product page

Panasonic announced this morning two new PND that are schedule for a mid October launch.
The first model, the CN-SG520 Series, or “Navi Journey” is a compact 5” PND with a 272×480 screen that comes with the support of SD and SDHC cards as well as being compatible with MP3 and WMA files. This very ordinary PND is however Panasonic first “Global” PND that will be perfect for travellers. Indeed and while still be very limited the CN-SG520 can be upgraded to features the Map of several cities …

RWC announced today in Japan not one but two Android 4.0 Tablet that are also fully fledge capable PNDs. While technically similar, both models comes with Android 4.0, a 7” 800×480 screen with a Cortex A5 Dual Core CPU at 1.2GHz with 512Mb of RAM, 8GB of Storage, microSD/SDHC support, HDMI out, WiFi, Drive Video Recording and GPS, both models comes however with some slight difference including a Digital TV Tuner for the RM-XRAD700TV (Picture above) or a waterproof IPX5 body for the …

I’ve sung praises about it for years, but it seems like only now the industry is getting on the same train of thought. It could be my unnatural adoration of travel, or just an entirely healthy fear of getting lost, but offline navigation has long since been a top priority for me when choosing a mobile device. Or, more importantly, a mobile operating system. For the longest while, iOS forced my hand to Android due to Google Maps Navigation being available only on the latter, and while even that wasn’t offline, it still far surpassed any other routing app in terms of system integration, map updates and general silkiness.

Even dating back to our 2010 mobile GPS shootout, Nokia has been a player. At that time, it was the outfit’s Ovi Maps leading the pack, offering the only legitimate offline solution amongst a legion of ho-hum alternatives that required bits of data to keep you on track. But frankly, there wasn’t a Symbian device in Nokia’s stable that could show up my Nexus One in terms of overall utility, so begrudgingly, I pushed it aside. Eventually, Google came around and added caching to routes, which effectively downloaded all routing guidance along your path as soon as you plugged in a destination. The killer, however, was that it wouldn’t take too kindly to veering far from that path should you ever drop signal. Close, but no cigar.

Fast forward to today, and we’ve got Google Maps already working in offline mode for Android 2.2+ devices. Furthermore, the company’s Brian McClendon confessed to us at its June 2012 ‘Maps’ event that it’s “committed” to bringing all of the app’s features to iOS (and potentially other platforms). But in my haste to find something in the here and now, I recently turned to the Lumia 900 for guidance. Literally. Back in late March, the Lumia-exclusive Nokia Drive application gained full offline access, and I sought to use the handset exclusively to navigate a 1,900-mile trek through some of America’s most remote locales. How’d it go? Join us after the break to find out.

Continue reading Nokia Drive offline navigation review: taking the Lumia 900 for an off-the-grid spin

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Software

Nokia Drive offline navigation review: taking the Lumia 900 for an off-the-grid spin originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 11:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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