Navigation is the Source

Phone Based Navigation

MapQuest NavigatorSprint and MapQuest's collaboration to bring MapQuest to Sprint phones will help ensure you never get lost again. Available on many of the Sanyo phones from Sprint, the service is an extra $4 a month and provides access to maps and driving directions through MapQuest.

The Sanyo 3G phone and Sprint service worked very well. The multimedia streamed quickly and the display, while small is very bright and easy to see. Video and song options were plentiful for downloading while the menus were easy to navigate. The audio on the phone and conversing with someone using the phone was excellent. The phone itself is a little bulkier than many comparable models available and takes up a lot of room in your pocket.

The MapQuest feature is much handier and less expensive than the 411 directions available through other providers. Text directions can be loaded directly to your phone preventing you from searching for a pen while driving off the freeway. The phone will also display your location in the world on the screen, moving with you.

An example would be TomTom partnering with Eclipse. It also provides a solution to plugging in a PND device into an in-dash unit so that you can use it while driving a car but you can also take it out. These are the first steps in that direction, but they don't go far enough. And we'll probably see some of the major application providers offering solutions that are more holistic. You will see brand new partnerships between different companies in different industries. One example I would like to point out where this is happening to a certain extent is in Germany. BMW partnering with Google to allow a user of Google Maps whose looking for a specific business to send the address information to a BMW vehicle that has a navigation system embedded in it. So that's a really good example of how that connectivity between the web environment or even the work environment and a vehicle can occur going forward. But that's just one very specific example between one dedicated vehicle manufacturer and Google.

Life CycleBy the end of this year, a lot of in-dash and PND offerings will have to move on significantly, meaning that the companies will not realize the significant profits that they had over the last couple of years. They will be forced to look into other options of how they can really establish and continue to have a longterm premium value to their customers. I think ultimately that we will see, at least in short term, the vehicle manufacturers getting into such relationships that would allow that simply because the vehicle manufacturers have been challenged earlier with the fact that they have to compete now with the in-dash aftermarket and PND offerings, compared to their costly embedded devices. So they're looking at ways to come up with new propositions that give them a little bit of a lead. They also have much more marketing bonus to make those partnerships work. It just takes one company to come up with a better-integrated approach between the different environments and different devices and at that point I think we'll see the whole market taking on that direction.

VZ NavigatorAn option for Verizon customers is Networks in Motion's VZ Navigator software. Compatible with a number of Verizon phones, a subscription costs $9.99 per month or $2.99 a day (a perfect option for when you're in an unfamiliar city when traveling). It's easy to download onto your phone, and once on, it has relatively quick response times. The easy-to-use GUI is intuitive, and the bold graphics are bright and easy to read, even when the phone is in a cupholder and could only spare a glance. Initial routing and rerouting time is satisfactory, but not as quick as an HDD in-dash navigation unit. Voice prompts sound just when you need them and they are loud enough to be heard over moderate volume music or a noisy engine. I was surprised at how effective the tiny screen and voice prompts were. Two main deficits came clear during the review: poor POI's and the inability to make a call while navigating. You can receive calls, but to place one, you have to exit the navigator software. For people who want an all-in-one device, or just want to minimize the number of gadgets in their arsenal, a phone loaded with VZ Navigator is an ideal option.

Market Saturation[Product introductions] will eventually slow down as soon as consumers have a better understanding for what other platforms are out there to get navigation. Most consumers are still in the phase of catching up to the fact that they can buy a device, a PN device, that can give them an alternative to embedded navigation solution that is costly from the manufacturer, so that's still something that will continue to happen in this year, but you will see some of the phone-based navigation companies offer more awareness campaigns over the next couple of months. It also depends on the carriers; it depends on the cell phone manufacturers, and so on. And companies that offer third party GPS solutions for Smart Phones, for example. But it is getting much more ubiquitous going forward. The hardware will be there, and the awareness will be there as well. Again, it just takes one device to be extremely successful. As cell phones become stronger, from a computing perspective, they are competing with the PND devices more and more. The portability aspect of a cell phone, I think, ultimately will win over the fact that the PNDs are too heavy and may not provide relevance that consumers are looking for. However, in some cases, if someone goes on a weekend trip or a road trip for a while, in those cases people may prefer having a bigger display and that will justify them to get a dedicated PND. What we'll see, I think, is at the top of the market where you have the high-end consumers looking for navigation as something they want to use on a daily basis for specific purposes, those consumers would probably choose multiple platforms.

What To Connect To Itoptional cable for iPod and iPod video, backup camera input, optional XM and Sirius satellite radio, optional Bluetooth module, optional remote

The highly anticipated D3 brings a nav unit from a major player into a more affordable price range. It comes from the same gene pool as Pioneer's higher priced offerings, but doesn't provide the same fancy features, such as adaptive routing and voice command capability. Nonetheless, the unit impresses with quick routing and rerouting, not to mention copious and easy-to-find POI's.

The D3's GUI is intuitive with multiple soft keys on an accurate touchscreen. They've done good work on the map detail and all the menus are easy to understand. You can choose from five map views and customize up to five soft shortcut keys for your most commonly accessed features. For instance, we chose a route overview button that came in handy. Why did it come in handy? Because of the D3's often quirky routing.

Although the unit would always get us where we wanted to go, the routes it chose weren't always the most efficient. For instance, even though we chose "fastest route" in the preferences, the D3 would often take us on a slower path. Upon taking the known quicker route, the unit would reroute and actually adjust its projected arrival time to an earlier one. It basically acknowledged its mistake. This quirk happened quite frequently in our dense metropolitan area, but in a less crowded area with fewer options it probably wouldn't cause much consternation.

On the upside, we love the POIs. The intelligent search software will find your request in any part of an entry. You can search by city or do a vicinity search. For instance, if you type "library" for a particular city, you'll find all entries with that word in them as opposed to having to think of the exact name of the library. The database is current and there are many useful categories. Another plus is that most entries have a listed phone number that appears in a clickable scrolling bar. Despite the great POIs, they aren't infallible. At least one entry had the wrong address entirely and another had the location on the wrong side of the road.

The prompts are generally on time, but sometimes they aren't. Rerouting can also be slow, but this isn't due to processing. Instead, both problems stem from the GPS receiver, which isn't pinpoint accurate. It can find you several hundred feet from where you actually are.

The D3 has many multimedia features. Unfortunately, most of them are add-ons, which increases the overall cost. In addition to AM/FM, your primary source out of the box will be the DVD/CD player. But, since this unit relies on DVD-ROM navigation, you have no open drive to stick your disc in. Once you start navigating, you can remove the DVD-ROM and play a CD, but you need to put it back in to go somewhere else. CD playback is simple, and it plays multiple file formats.

If you primarily listen to AM/FM or an MP3 player through the mini Aux-Input, the AVIC-D3 is a satisfactory solution out the box. However, if you want to listen to anything else, you'll want to purchase several hundred dollars worth of add-ons, defeating the purpose of a low-cost in-dash navigation unit. - Brook HowellGrade: B

I like the unit for its complete feature content, connectivity and unique approach to otherwise standardized functions. Unfortunately, I was a bit put off by its small screen and navigation routing. If your needs weigh more heavily on the former, place this unit on your "check out" list. - Casey ThorsonGrade: C+