If Christopher Columbus managed to find a continent with little more than a boatload of ignorance, why would we need an orbit filled with satellites to tell us how to get to Lisdoonvarna? Truth is, we don’t. However, if you’ve ever followed directions from someone who can’t read a map, the concept of being told where you are by a military-
standard satellite network will definitely sound like a good one.
Knowing where you are is only half the battle however; finding out where you are going and, more importantly, how you’re going to get there are the issues most likely to cause a spot of in-car ‘map-
rage’.
Step forward Navteq, which recently completed the first stage of creating a digital map of the Republic. Linked up to the 24 Navstar satellites currently orbiting the globe, this digital map will enable anyone to find their way around Ireland at the touch of a button.
Over the past decade, sat nav technology has evolved to the point where some mass-market car manufacturers are including the technology as an option on their entry-level motors. In fact, the technology has been become so cheap and compact you don’t even
need a car to enjoy sat nav. Thanks to companies such as Garmin and Magellan, you can now have guided maps wherever you are, on whatever device you want. Everything from an after-market car stereo to the humble mobile phone now contain GPS receivers
capable of telling you exactly where you are whenever you want.
Tracing the route
The Global Positioning System — the constellation of Navstar satellites currently orbiting the globe — is great, but it only really comes into its own when accompanied by accurate map information. Navteq, having recently completed the first stage of the digital
mapping process, has released the first set of ‘live’ mapping discs to device and car manufacturers. Getting to that point, however, has taken a lot of work and significant investment.
Mapping a whole country from scratch is no easy task. Taking a total of 15 man-years, the process is long, complicated and surprisingly manual. Before mapping can actually start, an information structure needs to be put in place taking into account existing data and the requirements of the many different device manufacturers. Ireland’s agriculture-based history presented the largest problem for Navteq. As the country was originally divided into townlands (for tax purposes, in the 1800s), the company had to produce in excess of 50,000 ‘localities’ within which it could define specific addresses. Compare this to somewhere like the UK, where the Royal Mail use only 24,000 localities for almost 55 million people. The lack of usable digitised map information meant the company had to commission orthorectified aerial photography. The data could then be digitised to supply mapping information for the major urban areas. For less built-up areas, Navteq uses a team of uniquely trained field researchers who drive around in a specially equipped car, with a laptop, recording everything from the centre line of the
road, to whether or not a particular petrol station still exists. This process started over 12 months ago and will continue for as long as the company maps the country.
Once data has been gathered, it needs to be matched up to practical information such as addresses and street names. An Post and Ordanance Survey Ireland recently completed a Geodirectory, resulting in over 1.5 million addresses being logged and given precise co-ordinates. Merging this information to the mapping data enabled Navteq to complete the process of mapping the country to a level ready for publishing. But this is only the first stage: With businesses closing and opening, land being developed and new roads built,
the system needs constant updating. To keep consumers up to date with the latest information, Navteq releases a new version of its discs every three months, ensuring your sat nav system doesn’t send you down a newly created one-way street.
Road angels
Although the mapping information is nearly always essentially the same, the range of sat-nav-enabled devices varies enormously. Andrew Little, Navteq’s marketing director explains: ‘Many key players in the PDA, smartphone and automotive industries utilise
Navteq data in their software solutions, as do nine out of 10 sat nav-enabled vehicles in Europe.’
Little plays down Navteq’s involvement in market direction however, preferring instead to highlight the device manufacturers as the key drivers behind the push into Ireland.
‘Our geographic choices are typically driven by our customers identifying where they have growing markets,’ he explains. ‘Accordingly, we responded to increasing demands for Irish coverage.’ These manufacturers include brands such as BMW, Mercedes and the Ford Group for in-car devices, and Garmin, Navman and Motorola for handheld applications.
Step into any luxury car showroom today and you’ll struggle to find a top of the range model that doesn’t come with sat nav as standard. The BMW five, six and seven series use a system called iDrive; top-end Mercedes models come with COMMAND; and
Audi’s recently introduced A6 features Multi Media Interface. While each system offers similar functions and typically includes an in-dash screen, much is made of each one’s individual input controls, which vary from BMW’s ‘wheel’ to Mercedes more menu-orientated system.
These in-car ‘infotainment centres’ can include anything from the car’s manual to a TV tuner, but the centre point is nearly always satellite navigation. A typical system, such as that available in Volvo’s new V50, uses a combination of on-screen maps and junction diagrams alongside voice commands. In the V50, the system controller, consisting of two buttons and a switch, is conveniently mounted on the back of the steering wheel, while
the screen is mounted centrally on top of the dash. Users can navigate through the system using a series of menus, which enable you to select a new destination, modify an old one or simply display a map showing your current location. Using the combination of
controls and menus, routes can be inputted quickly and easily by working through a selection process where you choose your required country, town, street and junction. You also have the option of avoiding particular roads, tolls or ferries and adding stop-off points along the route. If at any point in your journey you feel a bit peckish or find you’re running out of juice simply add a ‘special destination’ to your route and the system will automatically reroute you. Once you’re on your way again, the system re-adjusts the route before taking you to your final destination.
One thing virtually all in-car systems have in common is that they use either CD or DVD to store the mapping information. This has a number of benefits, including the ability to upgrade easily — specific country discs typically cost about €150 and most companies release new discs once a year. Companies such as Michelin, Merian and De
Agostini all offer tourist-focused discs that are compatible with both in-built and aftermarket sat nav systems. If you were travelling to Spain, for example, swap your local disc for a copy of the Michelin disc for Spain and Portugal and not only do you get detailed mapping for most of the country, but almost four thousand hotels and restaurants from the Michelin Red Guide are also available for selection.
The afterthought
Many companies now offer aftermarket systems that can be fitted into most cars, some of which can be transferred from car to car or even used on foot. Companies such as Navman have a range of products that vary from stand-alone sat nav units to miniature
devices that work in conjunction with a PDA. Garmin have gone one step further with its iQue 3600. Based on a Pocket PC, the device has a built-in GPS receiver and aerial, and when not being used to look up a phone number or your next appointment, it can be used
as a hand-held map, guiding you on foot, or in the car, to wherever you want to go.
The only downside with these kinds of devices is the available memory. Most devices are capable of storing data for whole countries — a typical country can now be stored on a 256Mbyte memory card — but some require you to download each route, as you need it. Not ideal if you’re not near an Internet connection or your PC. Magellan has come up with a solution to that problem. By providing a 10Gbyte hard drive in its new Roadmate 700, the device has enough memory to store mapping information for the whole of
Europe, and much more besides. In fact, almost three quarters of a million points of interest are included as standard. Everything you might need on a journey or outing is available, from a ‘hole in the wall’ to a restaurant and everything in between.
No doubt then that we’re well served on the functionality front, but all those options must have a price. Magellan’s Roadmate has just gone on sale in the UK for about €1,500. Whilst that might seem to be one hell of an expensive map, it is typical for that type of
product. Last year, Blaupunkt, eyeing a gap in the market for budget sat nav, launched its entry-level product, the DX-R52. Sold as a standard head unit, the system includes all the normal functionality of a car radio/CD-player alongside a nifty but basic sat nav system
(no screen or maps here, simply voice commands and junction diagrams displayed on the front of the stereo). Whilst that unit is now available for less than EUR*1,000 in Ireland, the company has recently introduced an upgraded version dubbed the E1. Resolving
some of the few foibles of DX-R52, the E1 is not only cheaper but also includes more functionality than its predecessor.
Universal benefits
With the range of devices expanding and the cost falling, you’d expect a rush to the shop counters. The argument remains, however, that in a country as small as Ireland, finding your way around just isn’t that difficult, and surely not complicated enough to warrant the expense. Andrew Little dismisses these issues, as he sees the benefits of navigation being universal, irrespective of the size of the country. ‘Few people are likely to be totally familiar with every single road and street in the Republic and could therefore
benefit from using sat nav.’
While that might not seem a thoroughly convincing argument, add in the fact that the ability to download new map data, or simply change a disc as you change country, makes sat nav thoroughly international. The idea of never being ‘lost in France’ again should be enough to convince even the most hardened cynic that sat nav is indeed, the way forward.
Beyond all that however, one fact still remains. Despite the best efforts of our European sponsors, Little highlights Ireland’s biggest problem with navigation: ‘The road signage in the Republic is notoriously ineffective; it could be argued that Ireland is the ideal place to use a navigation system’.
Indeed it could.
*James Beechinor-Collins is editor of T3 magazine
Suits you, sir
Sat nav products for every budget
Volvo V50
From €30,000
www.volvocars.ie
A compact estate that’ll have traditional Volvo drivers quaking in their boots. Choose the T5 model and you’ll get a very competent in-dash sat nav system thrown in!
Blaupunkt E1
€1,000
www.blaupunkt.co.uk
Sat nav for the masses. The German company has taken sat nav back to what it should be – someone giving you directions. A competent product that does more than just read
maps; it plays CDs and it’ll blast out Gerry Ryan of a morning, if that’s your thing.
Garmin iQue 3600
EUR*840
www.garmin.co.uk
A Pocket PC that’ll not only tell you when you’re next appointment is, it’ll show you
how to get there. An excellent device that does exactly what it says on the tin.
Magellan Roadmate 700
EUR*1,500
www.magellangps.com
A purpose-built sat nav unit that comes with a 10Gbyte hard drive – enough to store mapping for the whole of Europe and over 750,000 places of interest.
Navman GPS 4460
€380
www.elara.ie
Bluetooth enabled GPS device designed to work with Palm OS5 handhelds. Provides
navigation for 16 European countries with an extensive ‘points of interest’ library that
can be easily updated.
An Irishman at home
Yachtronics is a specialist reseller of marine electronics and has been supplying GPS equipment for marine use since the technology was first released to the market. Its owner, Tony Brown, is an avid user of GPS and sat nav, describing the latter as ‘a great bit of
kit’. Using GPS in the traditional sense, where the only information your device supplies you is a basic set of co-ordinates, whilst good, hasn’t been without its shortcomings.
Brown explains some of the advantages of a sat nav device over a standard GPS receiver. ‘The main benefit of sat nav, with its on-screen mapping, is that your position is almost always in real time,’ something you don’t get with a basic GPS device. On the road, Brown uses a Garmin iQue, which he likes for its flexibility as he regularly uses different cars. The ability to route to a specific address and the facility to add service points en route, such as petrol stations, are other key benefits of the device, the latter being one that has kept him out of trouble. ‘I once found a petrol station within a mile of my fuel light coming on’.
While the level of detail in Ireland is still at a relatively basic stage, Brown reckons the main urban areas are quite well covered and improve every year. The fact that sat nav is international is a massive advantage, insists Brown, particularly for anyone who takes their car abroad regularly. ‘I went from London Docklands in rush-hour to Lymington (on the south coast of England) and the system performed flawlessly, even taking me down one-way streets, the right way!’
The only requests Brown has of the Garmin device is improved battery life, which isn’t a major issue as the unit can be powered through the cigar lighter when in the car. Better rural mapping – something Navteq is in the process of resolving – is the only thing lacking for sat nav in Ireland right now, but in the meantime Brown is considering using his device for more than just navigation: ‘I’m tempted to install the Chinese voice option, just for a bit of education!’
19/07/04
Subscribers 0
Fans 0
Followers 0
Followers