GPS Online Connectivity on the road
The Global Positioning System that helps us navigate the highways was a brilliant idea. So brilliant that industry watchers at ABI Research Inc. in New York say there will be 900 million such devices in use worldwide in another five years. But many GPS devices aren't very bright. Yes, they can tell us how to get where we want to go - but not much else. Travelers need lots more information - the latest traffic conditions, for instance, or the weather. Such data is easily available over the Internet, but that's not much use when you're rolling down I-93 or 401 unless you've got a GPS with a wireless communication system. Then you can tap into those databases for real-time information on the road. A growing number of GPS devices have gone online. We tried out three: the Dash Express from Dash Navigation Inc.; the Go 930 from TomTom International BV; and the Nuvi 780 by Garmin Ltd. The Dash Express, cheapest of the three at $399, lacks some of the attractive features of the...