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Garmin EcoRoutes ESP Displays Car Diagnostics On Your Nuvi GPS
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fuchikoma
11/05/09

In reply to Garmin EcoRoutes ESP Displays Car Diagnostics On Your Nuvi GPS
I love it... not the most useful thing now since my car tells me most of that, but it's right up my alley. If they made it project onto the windshield as a reflection HUD, I'd be there. #ecoroutesesp
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D0rk
11/05/09

In reply to Garmin EcoRoutes ESP Displays Car Diagnostics On Your Nuvi GPS
I'm not one of those idiots that leaves their GPS mounted in plain view 24/7.

If it's out, i'm using it, for the GPS.

Though the OBD-II bluetooth dongle thing is pretty cool. #ecoroutesesp
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met2art
11/05/09

In reply to Garmin EcoRoutes ESP Displays Car Diagnostics On Your Nuvi GPS
Pretty clever, actually... and it would probably give better routing estimates, having realtime data on your speed, idle, gas mileage, etc.

I foresee many GPS vs. Android comments here, but I think it's not necessarily a fight to the death. There is obviously a market for both, and it's a matter of each providing flexible featuresets that offer additional added value that benefits the intended user. Could phone-based GPS eventually supplant dedicated units? Possibly. But, I see the dedicated GPS companies crossing over before any final "death blow" is dealt. #ecoroutesesp
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not_a_virus.exe.vbs
11/05/09

In reply to Garmin EcoRoutes ESP Displays Car Diagnostics On Your Nuvi GPS
I don't see how Google Maps could beat a dedicated GPS unit. I do a lot of research on GPS units and have roadtested several, the dedicated units always beat the phone based, hands down. And who wants to be forced to use a data plan to get your maps? I want all my maps on the device. Only phone based GPS that I could see rivialing a dedicated unit was iGuidance, technically it isn't for phones but can be hacked to run on a WM touchscreen phone easily. #ecoroutesesp
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Stikman008
11/05/09

@Mozoltov, motherfucker: by the way, when you roadtest units, what about individual units beats out phone based? Just curious. #ecoroutesesp
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trevisol
11/05/09

@Mozoltov: Well I think the Google Nav thing is aimed at people like, well, me. I have a smartphone and always will. Since I already have that, this cuts out the need for a basic GPS unit, which I also have.

I have a Garmin 750, and it is very useful, especially in Canada, where I refuse to turn my data roaming on. I can still navigate, and know the speed limit wherever I am. But honestly, if I had a Droid, I wouldn't need the Garmin for trips inside the US.

The point of Google Nav isn't that it's going to kill dedicated GPS units, it's going to force them to innovate. This is a perfect example. Here's a GPS that does much more than a smartphone easily could.

Garmin and TomTom et al need to come up with things for their devices to do that go far beyond the capabilities of a navi-phone. Like HUDs, integration with a non-navi smartphone, using its data connection to download free traffic data, etc. #ecoroutesesp
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met2art
11/05/09

@Mozoltov, motherfucker: I remember early, dedicated, GPS units being quite unreliable, unwieldy and a chore to program. Over the years they've grown to become extremely efficient and user-friendly devices that have added many additional (and often useless) features. My point being, I can envision that phone-based GPS could grow more mature, reliable and efficient within a short time. There's absolutely the possibility of maps being stored locally, and having additional features reivalling dedicated units. As GPS units have grown into PMPs, bluetooth interfaces and web connections, so too have phones become more of a platform than a dedicated device. The convergence between them, with most phones having GPS functionality, is inevitable. I think, within a short time, we'll see the two being on even footing, and competing in a healthy way, with many benefits to consumers. #ecoroutesesp
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not_a_virus.exe.vbs
11/05/09

@Stikman008: In my experience ease of use and feature bloat. I am currently using Copilot Live on my G1 since my nuvi bit the bullet. The UI is absolutely horrible, don't know what the designer was thinking, definitely not finger friendly, who uses styli any more? And you have to go through several pages of stuff to find what you need, I find the tree analogy of how menus are set up to be the most efficient. Have the main features you need on top and if you want to get more things you dig down deeper in the tree, the tree gets wider as you get to the bottom. #ecoroutesesp
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not_a_virus.exe.vbs
11/05/09

@trevisol: They already do that. #ecoroutesesp
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not_a_virus.exe.vbs
11/05/09

@met2art: I don't see smartphone GPS units going towards local maps, almost all of them out there are data based. They don't want to do that because they assume that if you have a smartphone you are going to have a data connection, like 99% of smartphone owners (I totally made that stat up) so streaming the maps is their first option. It could happen that both platforms are on equal ground but I don't see that happening for a while. I could be wrong. #ecoroutesesp
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met2art
11/05/09

@Mozoltov, motherfucker: Some third-party GPS apps (such as Copilot Live) for Android have maps stored locally, on the SD card. Google GPS uses a data connection, but that could change. As most phones (and all Android phones) have extensible storage via SD card, there is certainly the option to have on-board map data supplemented by data-connection when possible. Is it perfect for everyone? Probably not, but as a free service (that even in beta performs exceptionally well) it is likely to become quite popular, especially if it gains cross-platform support. Will it overthrow Garmin or Tom Tom? Probably not (at least not anytime soon) but it will suddenly give many people GPS anywhere, at any time, at no additional cost, and with potentialy endless ancillary benefits that only a layered, open-source and free system, can provide.

To sum up, I doubt Garmin or Tom Tom are getting coffin fittings, but I would place substantial bets that they are having lots of meetings and conferences to see what they can do to shore up their value-added revenue stream. #ecoroutesesp
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