GPS for autos starting to get ‘smarter’

Web access will help
One way that navigation devices can become smarter is for them to go online and use the power of information gathered by other drivers, Koslowski said. Just as encyclopedia went from printed editions to CD-ROM-based editions to continuously updated online data sources, so mapping will evolve. It has gone from paper maps to disk-based, on-board systems requiring periodic updates, to online mapping that reflects real-world conditions.

With wireless connectivity in autos becoming increasingly pervasive, the same thing will happen with data that customers need when driving.

An early example is TomTom’s IQ Routes technology, which uses a wireless modem to devise intelligent routes based not only on real-time traffic conditions, but also on historical patterns, considering both time of day and the day of the week. This historical speed information has been gathered — with permission — over the years from TomTom customers by tracking their devices on the road, according to the company.

The TomTom GO 740 Live device checks for traffic updates every two to five minutes, and also offers additional services such as Google search, gas prices and weather.

But this information is available only by subscription for $9.95 a month, and subscription services are also likely to eventually become obsolete, according to Koslowski.

TomTom TomTom's GO 740 Live device checks for traffic updates every two to five minutes.

That's because similar information can be gathered from mobile phone users who have data plans, he pointed out.

With an already-paid-for data plan on a GPS-equipped phone, drivers should eventually be able to exploit information gathered from the movement of other such drivers, he said.

Construction delays alert
Israeli company Waze is building such a database in that country right now and plans to expand to the United States.

In addition to real-time traffic, Waze promises to be able to warn drivers of construction delays and even police enforcement — the mere presence of which can cause miles-long backups as drivers slam on their brakes and gawk at patrol cars.

“With today’s Internet-enabled GPS devices, such as smartphones, the need for real time or ‘live’ apps can be met,” said Noam Bardin, CEO of Waze. Users run a free smartphone app which lets Waze track their vehicle’s progress and warn other users if slowdowns are encountered.

This live data lets Waze calculate whether bailing off the main highway for a surface street will save time, because if that alternate route has been overwhelmed by traffic, Waze will know and can tell customers to stick with the highway or it can suggest Plan C.

In Israel, the company has achieved 15 percent penetration of the smartphone market, with 100,000 users in a nation of 7 million, said Bardin. The company will launch a beta test in the United States in July at Waze.com.

Because the system automatically generates maps based on where users are driving, no map database is required, and the company estimates that it will take customers about six months to create driver-generated maps of major metropolitan areas where the system is deployed. Those maps would include, for example, I-66 inside the Washington Beltway.

Such navigation services will eventually be much more flexible, accurate, timely and useful than today’s comparatively rigid Rain Main-style phone book recitations, matching encyclopedic knowledge with common-sense information.

MORE FROM TECHNOLOGY & MONEY

Technology & Money Section Front

Your shopping type: Black Friday? Cyber Monday? Can your name affect your career? Is Black Friday really worth the effort?   Navigating Black Friday   Is Black Friday the best day for deals? 10 tips to find seasonal work this year   Experts share financial advice   Stop holiday overspending before it starts   Is the recovery real on Wall Street?   Study: Wall St. execs cashed in before collapse Technology & Money Section Front   Add Technology & Money headlines to your news reader: