Mount Mio
2009
It is essential to locating the best GPS devices and software
There isn’t a driver in the world who hasn’t wanted, at least once, to drive into a wall in frustration with their GPS (global positioning system) navigation device. Or at the very least to burst into tears after missing the same turn for the third time or discovering that what is supposed to be a surfaced road is actually a boulder-strewn camel track.
While it might seem that most of the GPS upgrades in the last few years were purely cosmetic, that is not really the case, and
navigation devices do make finding your way easier. In the past year, GPS devices have appeared that render buildings in 3-D and that
indicate road lanes and complicated intersections. Some will tell you out loud, in clear Hebrew if you want, when to turn.
Beyond their main purpose of helping you to navigate, today’s devices sport extra features. Mio, for instance, offers regular traffic updates.
“GPS navigation has long since expanded beyond the gadget freak community. It now belongs to an older, less technologically adept population,” says Guy de Picciotto, CEO of Ronlight (company motto: “Only smart stuff”), which imports the Mio navigator. Moreover, he predicts, the number of added features will continue to expand.
Another developing trend in these navigation devices is that it doesn’t pay as handsomely as it once did for burglars to break into your car to steal them. The average price of a 4.3-inch-screen device was NIS 1,000 a year ago. Now you can get it for NIS 750, and in a few years GPS devices should pose no temptation to thieves.
That isn’t because their developers want to spare you the inconvenience of hiding your positioning system in the glove compartment, it’s because of mounting competition from mobile phones.
And that competition is fierce. Market sources estimate that about one fifth of Israeli drivers have a GPS device in their cars, and that the figure is increasing by 10% a year. Cell phone operator Cellcom, on the other hand, reports a 253% increase in use of its GPS software in 2009 over the previous year. Pelephone says that subscribers used its navigation software 12 million times last year, compared to 9 million in 2008. The monthly cost of using GPS navigation on a cell phone is lower than that of stand-alone devices, and there are even some freebie options. It’s also more convenient – the phone stays with you, and you get traffic reports and map updates for free.
Shlomi Amitzur, who edits WiseBuy’s Web site, predicts that as the GPS software available for cell phones improves they will take a bigger and bigger bite from the car-mounted standalone devices.
But just as cell-phone cameras have yet to replace compact digital cameras, purpose-built GPS devices are far from obsolete. They still have bigger, more convenient screens, more powerful processors – which means greater accuracy on the map as you progress along your route – and they don’t lose reception in built-up areas as mobile phones often do. Moreover, maps for foreign countries cost around NIS 150 – infinitely cheaper than paying mobile roaming charges abroad.
How to choose your GPS? TheMarker checked out some of the available options, with the aid of WiseBuy. The best, in our opinion, was the chinacargps.com
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