GPS manufacturers tout software features

Among some of the features manufacturers are touting in their GPS devices:

Garmin

Lane assist.  Some nuvi models, including the nuvi 755T ($499), are the first to use “lane assist,” which helps guide a driver to the correct lane for an approaching turn or exit. Models with lane assist also include 3-D views of some buildings.

The nuvi 765T ($599) adds Bluetooth, enabling hands-free calling. The lower-priced nüvi 265T, 265WT and 275T also have Bluetooth. Prices start at $299.

Where Am I? This program, available in some nuvi models, lets emergency responders know where you are, and it tells you where the nearest services, from hospitals to vehicle-repair shops, are located.

Free, real-time traffic updates. On new units, Garmin is doing away with subscriptions for traffic updates, and is providing “lifetime service” for free. However, advertising on the screen is now part of the service, which some drivers may find annoying.

“In the past, traffic data has been offered with a three-month trial subscription, and then a fee to continue,” said Baltes of Garmin. “This is the first time Garmin has offered traffic in this regard.”

Subscription fees have varied, depending on the type of service, Baltes said.

“Some of our products offered MSN Direct information, which costs either a one-time payment of $129.95, or an annual payment of $49.95. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

“Some Garmin products provide traffic through the Traffic Message Channel,” an FM-based service, which costs $60 a year, she said.

NuMaps Guarantee. Starting next month, within 60 days of first using a new nuvi or zumo device, a customer can check Garmin’s Web site for a free map update.

TomTom

TomTom TomTom's Map Share feature lets drivers make changes to the map database, share it with other TomTom users and download changes to the GPS unit others have recommended.

Map Share. This program is free and available on all the company’s devices, and lets drivers make changes to the map database and share it with other TomTom users.

“The idea is if you happen to encounter something on the roadway that is no longer up-to-date – for example, a one-way street that has changed direction — you can very simply tap the screen and note what is no longer up-to-date,” Murray said.

Changes are uploaded and downloaded via computer.

“To date, we’ve had about 4 million corrections that have been provided on a worldwide basis by TomTom users to our mapping database,” he said.

IQ Routes. On TomTom’s GO 730 ($450) and GO 930 ($500) devices, IQ Routes provides “very smart directions about what roads you should take to get where you’re going,” especially in traffic, Murray said.

“It doesn’t only look at the posted speed limit when it calculates what is the best combination of roads for you to go from A to B,” he said. IQ Routes looks at the speed of traffic on a road at a particular time of day, such as rush hour, and tells the driver what the true driving time will be, and also suggests an alternate route if one is available.

Help Me. This free program, similar to Garmin’s Where Am I?, is on all the company’s devices, and can be used when you’re lost and need help, or if you car has broken down. By pressing the “Help Me” button on the GPS screen, “it will tell you, no matter where you are, what the nearest roadside assistance providers are,” as well as the nearest hospitals and pharmacies, said Murray.

Magellan

Magellan Magellan's Maestro 4350, due out soon (retail, $499), features the company's "OneTouch" touchscreen for personal favorites including routes, searches, banks and services.

OneTouch. This feature, which comes with Magellan’s new Maestro 4350 ($500), displays a nine-icon touchscreen that drivers can use to “program in their favorite addresses or points of interest,” Wagner said. “For example, if you want to stop at a Starbucks, you would go to the Point of Interest search, select Starbucks and say, ‘Save it to OneTouch.’ And then, no matter where you are in the country, you press the Starbucks key and all the Starbucks in your current location are displayed.”

3-D views. Available on the Maestro 4350 and the new Maestro 4370, due out soon. “We’re really at the point now where the navigation device is coming very close to what we call ‘the windshield view,’ ” Wagner said.  “So what you’re seeing on the screen of the navigator is remarkably similar to what you’re seeing out your front windshield.”

Lane guidance and carpool lane assist. “Lane guidance is not only ‘turn right on Interstate 80,’ it’s ‘Move to the right two lanes and turn right on Interstate 80,’ and it shows you that on the screen,” he said. For those who carpool, “you can set the unit to ‘carpool lanes,’ and it will direct you en route to where you can make maximum use of those lanes.”

AAA TourBook. The Auto Club’s bible to eateries and hotels is featured in Maestro models, including the $280 Maestro 4210.  “If I’m sitting in traffic at 34^th and Fifth, I can just say, ‘Find a restaurant,’ and it will not only show me all the restaurants around me, it will tell me the star rating of the restaurant, a description of the cuisine and how much it costs, and the phone number,” said Wagner. “And if you have a unit which also includes Bluetooth, it can also dial the restaurant right from the GPS.”

MORE FROM AUTO TECH

Auto Tech Section Front

High-speed chase ends when OnStar halts stolen SUV $2 million Bugatti Veyron is tech-heavy GPS for autos starting to get ‘smarter’ The office on wheels 6 high-tech boosts for the auto industry Phones could be the keys to your car 8 races and race cars that rev auto innovation iPhone voice navigation gets road-ready Mainstream Ford Taurus goes high-tech Hybrid vehicles’ silence seen as posing peril Auto Tech Section Front   Add Auto Tech headlines to your news reader: