Dept. of Missing the point: The HP iPaq Travel Companion 310

It has to stop to ask for directions.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

I hope and expect that the majority of dash-top GPS products for cars that are released in 2008 will have one new feature that's missing from most 2007 and earlier models: A way to preprogram waypoints and routes via a Web site, and then send that information to the device. From Google Maps you can already send locations to certain BMW and Mercedes cars and some TomTom navigation units, and this is one of the cool new features we're anticipating in the upcoming Dash Navigation product.

But let's hope that other GPS manufacturers don't follow the HP way in designing Web integration, because the advertised online capability on the new iPaq Travel Companion 310 is horribly bungled. Here's why: Although you can create a route on the new iPaq Navigate Web site, and although the iPaq Navigator has a Bluetooth radio that lets it connect to your mobile phone and through it presumably to the Internet, the only way to actually get your online itinerary into your device is to connect it to your PC with a physical cable.

This is comically lame. It requires you to keep your GPS unit with you when you want to program it, not, say, in your car where it belongs. It also means that if you're on a road trip with the device, you've got to remember to pack a USB cable in addition to the car charger to use the online feature, and that you can't use the feature from a borrowed PC, since transferring route data requires a software install on the PC.

The Navigator Web site is pretty poor, too. It's much too complicated, and it's a completely new experience for people accustomed to Google Maps (although it does use Google's KML format for export).

HP's own Google Maps mashup

To be fair, Google Maps' own integration with cars and devices is very limited--you can only send business listings to your device or car, not complete routes--but it's simple to use and doesn't require a technology dance involving two pieces of hardware, proprietary software, and a cable that you'll probably lose.

See also: CNET editor Bonnie Cha's Miss Direction blog.

[listen_to_webware]

Hi Rafe, Have you tried the GPS service on your blackberry? It costs $10 a month. It has some really cool features. My favorite one is 'Search along the way'. It works and works really well. I recently travelled to Whistler and this service was a life saver. I am surprised why people spend $$$ on expensive gigantic sized GPS devices when a better quality service is available at a way cheaper price on a commodity device.

http://blogbard.com/blodio/blogmainpage?type=blogbard&playurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.webware.com%2F8300-1_109-2-0.xml

[LyteWing]

listen_to_webware, while I appreciate what you are saying I can't completely agree with you. You talk about how expensive standalone GPS units are compared to your Blackberry but I can't help but see a flaw in your thinking. You see $10 a month as a small fee, and relativly it is, but what you fail to conside is that A. you had to spend money on the Blackberry in the first place and last I checked even if you got a discount for opening a new line of service with your wireless provider and got a low end model, that is still $200 to $250 for the unit...probably more. And B. $10 A MONTH....every month......$120 a year. You can get a dedicated car GPS unit for about $130. Admittadly there are low end models, but starting at about $250 you can get much fuller featured units like the Garmin Nuvi 350 my boss recently purchased and there are NO MONTHLY FEES. So going cheap in the Blackberry line I have minimum $320 in the GPS the first year and going dedicated GPS I have $250 for something moderate with better GPS features and a bigger screen and no monthly fee. Even if you factor in map updates every three or four years (some units have free map updates) you are still ahead of the curve. Just my two cents worth.

[DeviceMan]

Let's see ... a USB cable to load content on a handheld device; iPOD, anyone? I don't think that slowed Apple down much.

[listen_to_webware]

I do agree that monthly subscription model may be expensive over the long term(a couple of years). But I like the flexibility of carrying around my blackberry when I ride my motorcycle or travel to Canada.

Plus blackberry can't do a lot more than standard GPS devices, mail, regular web browsing, calendars, a regular phone, camera just to name a few.

GPS as a standalone device is not very appealing given the choices we have available now.

http://blogbard.com/blodio/blogmainpage?type=blogbard&playurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.webware.com%2F8300-1_109-2-0.xml

[DeviceMan]

Connecting content to a mobile with a USB cable seems odd? How could all those iPOD users be wrong?