For navigation devices currently mobile devices are in vogue. An alternative is the classic automotive supplementary sets or the increasingly popular
PDA navigation systems as well as navigation software for mobile phones. Devices are available with monochrome displays, which often indicate a direction arrow as a direction indicator, or with colour displays, where detailed maps are issued. People who choose monochrome displays save money and still have full basic functionality. The mobile solutions are particularly convenient and can be used as needed in different vehicles. However, they have smaller displays and do not always offer additional features such as the information transfer from the speedometer or from sensors, which can become apparent during route guidance. Consequently in tunnels and underpasses, the GPS signal (Global Positioning System) is constantly interrupted, and the device can no longer calculate the route correctly. Users who value a large display and additional information should therefore be looking at fixed installations, however, this comes at a price. A real alternative is the software now available on PDAs and Smartphones. These can, like the mobile devices, be securely mounted with retrofit kits in the vehicle and have the additional advantage that you save on having another device.
Trends and developments
The market for navigation devices is booming. This lies naturally also in the rapid price decline of SatNavs, which mostly affects mobile devices. The fact that producers, in spite of this price fall, can still drive significant revenue growth, shows the enormous growth dynamics of the market - and it seems at the moment that this development will not slow down significantly. Since mobile devices have run the fixed mounted devices from their rank, now comes a similar rivalry from within the group itself: Now competing with the specialized mobile navigation devices is the software on PDAs and smartphones. Here, the PDA and smartphones have the great advantage that the user saves on having another unit and they can also be used on foot. But this is not quite as easy as it first sounds. First, such devices must use a special GPS-equipped module in order to allow a localization of the user. And second is that the usual maps are optimized for car navigation, and except for the simple localization or positioning, are unhelpful for pedestrians.
Outdoor use places manufacturers with new challenge
There is as yet hardly any routable map material for outdoor use - Pedestrians use, after all, other avenues and routes to motorists. Still, that's the meaning of a navigation device: it serves to define not only the position but also shows the shortest route to the desired destination. This variation is difficult, because there is still hardly any routable map material for outdoor use. Even more so this applies to open areas such as forests - it is extremely difficult for the current navigation solutions to calculate a sensible route from point A to point B. Those expecting useful routing for outdoor use will be disappointed. Otherwise, however, the navigation solution for PDAs and smartphones, as applied to car navigation, are comparable with those of other devices.
GPS versus Galileo
While all this is rather a decision based on taste or personal preference, in the future a completely different factor might intervene much more importantly in the buying decision: At the end of 2011, the European satellite navigation system Galileo will be operational. In this way Europe wants to be independent from the US controlled GPS system. GPS was once nothing more than a military positioning system, which was artificially "kept out of focus" by the Americans until the year 2000 - the uncertainty was about 100m which was too much for a proper positioning in vehicle navigation. Since 2000, the standard deviation is only about 10m. But not without reason is the concern that the Americans could, in times of crisis or for military-strategic reasons, again artificially defuse GPS or switch it off altogether. In this way, all civilian navigation would grind to a halt. Galileo will therefore bring independence to the Europeans. But the existing GPS and Galileo will not be compatible with each other - although both systems use the same frequency, they use different coding, modulation and bandwidth to their signals. The result for the user is therefore that he either remains on the old GPS system or opts for the new standard of Galileo. A treaty was signed between Europe and the United States that states that Galileo will use the same channel coding as the new generation of GPS satellites. This will enable the industry to develop integrated circuits for GPS and Galileo to be combined in one device. However, until all the old GPS satellites are replaced with the new standard, which will take some time - it will mean the customer has to choose one of the two systems, "old" GPS or "new" Galileo.
