Navigating the future

[News Hound]

A popular discussion in the world of personal navigation devices (PNDs) these days is whether dedicated portables as we know them will continue with their explosive sales growth of late, or if cell phone-based navigation will come to dominate. Here at the GPS Wireless Conference 2008, 200 or so industry experts and professionals are wondering aloud about that, too. The experts don't know the answer, either. Or if some do, they're not talking. Some say the marketplace has room for both, comparing the scenario to that of camera-equipped celphones and conventional cameras. Phones haven't put the camera industry out of business, they point out, and draw the same analogy between smart phones and personal computers. They contend people will want one of each. Still, one has to wonder what's coming, especially with phone giant Nokia's bid to takeover mapping data provider Navteq, and their increasing emphasis on navigation. A Nokia representative speaking at GPS Wireless today said his company alone will ship more navigation-enabled cellphones, an estimated 35 million units, in 2008 than the entire industry did last year. Also interesting is portable GPS market leader Garmin's planned entry into the cellphone business. Speakers here joke about how every year for the twelve years of this conference, people have been walking around saying, "This is the year" for their industry. They're saying it again this year. It's just that nobody really knows what that means, and whose year it will be. ?Jim Travers For more information on portable GPS navigation systems, see our Ratings and buying advice and watch our video guide. Discuss GPS devices in the forums.

More...