(Source: Mashable & Guardian, UK)

Could the satnav (Satellite Navigation, for those not in know) – the saviour of many a long car journey – about to be consigned to the dustbin of history, alongside Betamax tapes and HD-DVDs?

After enjoying years of seemingly unassailable popularity with gadget fans and travelling salesmen, those little gadgets hanging on your vehicle’s Dashboards could become redundant excesses because of the threat from a new breed of mobile phones that feature the sort of mapping technology that wouldn’t look out of place on the most expensive TomTom. Google just released a beta version of Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0. operating system, a new tool, based on Google’s existing road maps platform, that will provide turn-by-turn directions, automatic re-routing and 3D street-level views. In short, pretty much everything your satnav can do, but without the need to worry about an extra bit of kit when you load up the car.

The share prices of leading satnav manufacturers, such as TomTom and Garmin, nosedived on the news. Garmin’s share price dipped by 18 per cent, TomTom’s by 13 per cent – a huge hit, and a clear sign that the market is taking the threat posed by Google very seriously indeed.

Here’s a quick overview of the features:

• Search in plain English – quickly search and navigate to places, businesses, landmarks
• Search by voice
• View of live traffic data over the Internet.
• Search along route – find locations near your current path
• Satellite view – you can view the same satellite imagery you’ve seen Google Maps, on your phone
• Street View – check out what the exact surroundings of a location look like
• Car dock mode – when you place certain devices in a car dock, a special mode activates that enables easier operation

GPS turn-by-turn navigation has historically always been something you had to pay for. Creating and maintaining a map of the entire world, together with points of interests and traffic info, plus developing the algorithms that make sure you don’t take a wrong turn, costs millions of dollars. But Google is now offering it for free. The result was devastating for shares of GPS navigation companies: Garmin’s shares fell by 16.4%; TomTom’s by 20.8%. We’re talking billions of dollars of market capitalization, gone in one day, just because Google presented another free product (they release new products on a monthly, if not weekly basis).

(Source: PR NewsWire)

NAVTEQ, the leading global provider of navigation services, has released some interesting findings after analyzing research data from several proprietary studies.  The findings point to key differences between the male versus female audience for navigation.

The results offer important insights into each group’s interest and interaction with navigation across different types of devices.

1. The female audience is equally aware of and attracted to the use of navigation, but they get their information in advance of a purchase from different sources than men.
2. Women are also having a very different experience after the purchase with their device. A much higher proportion are not taking advantage of advanced features such as POI search and Traffic, and thus not surprisingly, the satisfaction they report with their systems is dramatically lower than men.

Specific highlights from the analysis include:

• Familiarity with navigation among both women and men tops 90%, but unlike their male counterparts who rely more on information from media sources, word of mouth is the main source of awareness for women (41% for women; 26% for men)
• If purchasing a PND, the highest percentage of men buy at consumer electronics stores (34%), while a higher proportion of women buy online (26% of women) or at a grocery (8% of women)
• Women use features such as POI search and Traffic dramatically less than men; 15% of women “never” use POI search (versus 2% of men) and 39% never use Traffic features (versus 10% of men)
• 80% of men state that they are “extremely” or “very” satisfied with their navigation system; only 60% of women make that same statement

The results are based on analysis of six separate proprietary studies conducted by NAVTEQ in 2008. In each case, the sample sizes were substantial enough to allow for an examination of the findings based on gender. This is one of several announcements made by NAVTEQ this year on learning from the company’s proprietary research efforts, following previous reports regarding the positive impact of navigation on fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions as well as consumer learning on the desire for reminders on regular map updates.

Click here to read the entire press release.