Never be lost again
The market for personal navigation devices has taken off spectacularly as costs have fallen and vehicle manufacturers have begun fitting cars with them. Now, thanks to the incorporation of GPS functionality into the latest generation of mobile phones, millions of people will soon be walking around with satellite navigation in their pockets too.
Ian Gallacher, GM of Avnic Trading, which imports and distributes Garmin’s market leading GPS devices, expects that in the next 12 months, up to 200000 phones will be sold in SA that either contain GPS receivers or come bundled with small, portable Bluetooth receivers and software and maps on memory cards that will turn phones into GPS devices.
Those fortunate enough to have a GPS in their cars will testify to the fact that they are invaluable not only in providing directions — often through spoken voice instructions (turn left, drive 500m, turn right at the traffic light) — but also in finding restaurants, shops, filling stations and places of interest. The cost of the technology has kept it out of reach of most consumers. But once GPS receivers are widely integrated into mobile phones, millions of people will come to rely on them.
But what exactly is GPS? Officially known as the Navigation Satellite Timing & Ranging Global Positioning System (Navstar GPS), it is a network of two dozen medium-earth orbit satellites, paid for and maintained by the US defence department at a cost of US400m/year. Despite the high costs, use of it is free for civilian purposes worldwide. GPS has become essential in land surveying and mapping, road freight, aviation and shipping; and in the military (for which it was originally designed).
The first Navstar GPS satellite was launched in the late 1970s, though the system became popular for civilian use only in the 1990s.
Some countries have expressed concern about the US military’s control of GPS and have begun building alternatives. Russia operates the only functioning rival, the Global Navigation Satellite System (Glonass). But Glonass lacks Navstar’s wide coverage.
Now the European Union is developing a system, known as Galileo. The EU system, which also enjoys the backing of India and Korea, is expected to be operational by 2010. The Chinese are also building a system, known as Bediou, which will provide coverage of China by 2008, and which will later be extended to serve the rest of the planet.
For now, though, most GPS manufacturers are developing receivers using Navstar GPS. Nokia, the world’s largest cellular handset manufacturer, is readying its first GPS- enabled smartphone, the N95, which it will release in SA in the next couple of months.
But Gallacher believes it will be some time before GPS receivers become standard issue in cellphones. For now, the technology will be restricted to more expensive models. He predicts a fast-growing market for separate Bluetooth receivers that connect wirelessly to mobile phones, giving the phones full navigation capabilities. The idea is that consumers will mount the Bluetooth receivers, which cost less than R3000 and which are available “free” on some cellphone contracts, in their vehicles.
Gallacher does not expect the market for standalone GPS devices to go away any time soon. He says cellular GPS solutions will complement personal navigation devices. “Some people prefer their GPS as a GPS and their cellphone as a cellphone,” he says. “But there will be a huge market for onboard navigation on cellphones.”
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