Microsoft launches Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 GPS operating system
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted Jun 16th 2008 12:06PM
posted Jun 16th 2008 12:06PM
[Image courtesy of Jim Clark]
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How do you turn left on blue screen?
Thats not his wife.
That would be one of those novelty, bobbin' hula dance girls. Its just a toy man, its just a toy.
damn it, it looked so real. No wonder she is so quiet.
That should have been your first clue right there.
Great. Another buggy product that will kill off innovative competition. Why doesn't Microsoft just use their resources fixing and improving their current products?
Because their slogan is:
"Me, Me, Me."
Well no matter how much they fix their products, people will always criticize Microsoft. Microsoft haters criticized XP until Vista came out and they will criticize Vista until Windows 7 comes out.
Personally, I enjoy XP over Vista and OS X. And if I want OS X, I'll put Ubuntu and skin it so it looks like OS X, since they are both based on Unix.
@ Astrostream
Is that because they're copying (you-know-who) "Mobile Me"?
I think it makes complete sense that a software company would like to make software to run PNDs.
Do you currently have a GPS? Chances are it is already running CE. Over 50% of the PND market is already powered by the OS. They seem to work fine as it stands.
Do you have any justification for writing this of as 'another buggy product'? Or is this generic omg its microsuck!1onetwo crap. Because it's wearing thin. And sounding rather tired. CE is a pretty reliable OS to start with.
@letstakeawalk:
Why don't they fix their "software" first.
"josh
Do you currently have a GPS? Chances are it is already running CE. Over 50% of the PND market is already powered by the OS. They seem to work fine as it stands."
The one on my dash is running linux.
@ letstakeawalk
Are you serious? Microsoft came out with Windows Me in what... 2000? Just because all you pay attention to is Apple products and services doesn't mean someone else hasn't already came up with that idea. Also, when was multi-touch integrated into an Apple product? Microsoft came out with "Surface" several years ago, does that mean Microsoft copied Apple? It must be that Microsoft can see into the future!!! :-O
Bob... do you think that Apple started working on multi-touch the day they announced the iPhone in 2007?
Be fair... Apple is well known for keeping upcoming products under the rug until it's prime time to get the hype machine going. Microsoft is well known for talking about products well before they hit market (Longhorn was around in 2002, 5 years before the release of Vista), which is why they are often labeled as being slow and producing vaporware.
More people knew about the iPhone the day it was announced than all the people in the world who have heard of Microsoft Surface to date. Surface just isn't meant to have the same market penetration.
I'm not saying that Surface came after the iPhone... but both came after Minority Report, which made the idea famous, and that came well after the idea of multitouch came into existence.
@Astrostream
Actually, if you don't mind me saying, the slogan is more like: "me too", "me too", "me too"
@ Astrostream:
What's up with the microsoft hating? Honestly, they haven't released the product yet and you probably don't even know what it looks like, so why do you assume it will suck?
P.S. This is coming from a Mac fanboy.
Almost all GP devices already use windowsCE, but of course the one-before-latest edition always, when 5.0 was out they all used 4.0 and when 6.0 was out they all used 5.0, so holiday season 2008 would bring CE6.0 and then next year if MS brings out a new version this incarnation might appear on devices.
@bob
Perhaps I should've checked back sooner. Yes, I was being sarcastic. AS stated MS had a slogan "Me, Me, Me" Apple fanbois always say MS copies Apple, so I referenced the "Mobile Me", as it was currently in the news. Sorry if you didn't get it. I use iMacs at work, and they are my pit of dispair and frustration. Sarcasm, dude. AS got it, he lobbed it back...
Some competition is always good.
@Anton
"Some competition is always good."
Yes it is. Is it still good coming from a competitor with a monopoly on the desktop market OS? The clues are all there.
"The software is based on Windows Embedded CE, and combines navigation tools enriched with Live Search, MSN Direct, and Windows SideShow integration, coupled with an emphasis on Bluetooth connectivity."
In 0 point 5 miles make a .....
*BLUE SCREEN OF DEEEEEEEEEATH*
In 0.5 miles, stop off at your local organ donor site and pick up a brain.
A majority of all GPS solutions already run on Windows platforms just fine.
The only people you hear complaining about them are those who havent tried them -- incidentally, anti-microsoft bigots.
Come on people, quit knocking Microsoft, it's old and lame. I will *NEVER* buy another Apple computer again in my life. Although I may buy an iPhone, but that's not a computer (technically). I have a Macbook Pro and I don't like it. I constantly get the GSOD (gray slide of death), Safari constantly crashes, my desktop constantly boots to just the wallpaper, I constantly have other programs crash... All this even though I have *everything* patched, all updates and everything. I had a Toshiba Satellite before my Macbook Pro, and when I go to upgrade, I'm going to upgrade... and go back to Toshiba.
As if we need more systems to be less reliable!!!
Please turn left on ERROR!!
Virus Infected!!! your home has been GPS address has been linked with porn sites
BSOD Jokes = FAIL
True said, kernel panic jokes FTW.
Gives new meaning to the word "crash"
Makes perfect sense as they have all that mapping software already on their Live site.
[ from Windows NavReady 2009 ] "...your requested destination "The Apple Store" could not be found...Did you mean "apples at the grocery store?"
Yeah!?
sweet so now i can search for diretions while using my sat nav.
Whats the betting someone will hack this to run as a mac.
Hey guys its actually cool to see one company besides apple getting all the "innovation" crap. I love all my windows products.
Cheers boys.
What's innovative about this?
Lets all forget all the Windows CE based Nav systems.
What I like about this is the very catchy product title...
Has a nice ring don't you think?
gives new meaning to the word "crash"
buying a computer: $1000.00
monthly internet fee: $30.00
setting up an account on engadget: $0.00
posting the exact same comment someone else did half an hour later?
priceless
You mean half a decade later?
Is it voice activated?
Cuase this could be used with a Garmin Nuvi type device
and i have to give them credit cause they finally have something ready for the holiday season
good for you microsoft
nice job :-)
yeah, it'll bsod. don't forget uac. and bill getting a pie in the face. and is that steve ballmer crazy or what?
there, did we get all the stupid ms bashing covered?
whaaaa...whaaaa...whaaaa...i hate microsoft. i use solaris unix! i'm so cool!
I sure hope they write this software for the iPhone. No, no, I don't.
They can't write this for the iPhone. While Microsoft does not restrict the type of applications that you can write for their OSes, Apple restricts people from writing turn by turn applications using their software.
Nohone:
That's not technically accurate. The "no turn by turn directions" is in reference to using Google Maps for that such feature. It's literally copied out of the Google Maps TOS.
Moreover, TomTom has already stated that that line has no such bearing on their software release.
Listen... Just so you know, excluding TomTom which is linux-based (and I'm not sure about Garmin), the vast majority of Nav devices on the market are WinCE based. As much as you want to bash them, they are the preferred OS. A good developer actually can hide the OS so well you wouldn't even know it ran CE. The fact that there's a nav ready version, makes it a billion times easier for us CE developers so we don't waste precious months on platform and BSP development.
Dosnt Tomtom or navigon already use embedded CE for their base? (are belong to us) Haha.. I just had to.
Holy crap. That would explain why my GPS crashes all the time and locks up in an on-and-off cycle after 40mns of use. I'm not kidding. My GPS does that.
No Rob,
That's just user error or faulty hardware.
You wouldn't happen to own a Mac by any chance would you?
I will wait until wm7 with some better gps app
And it will crash and burn, sorry, freeze at the moment you need it to perform the most!
Disclaimer: Based on my previous experience with Windows CE based devices
People are skeptical for one very good reason.
When BMW released iDrive for the first time in one of their cars, the two major bugs in the software caused the car, traveling at highway speeds to shut down with no warning. And it caused the CD player to spit CDs at the passenger. (Reported in the New York Times.)
So, regardless of whether we needed such a thing now that iPhones have GPS and Tom Tom seems to be coming up with software for them, I have my doubts I'll ever buy a stand alone unit now.
Yeah that's all good and well, but who the heck needs the iPhone for TomTom when TomTom has already been out for years on WM devices.
You can sit there waiting for God knows how long until you get your TomTom, I've already been using mine, free of charge, for the last 1+ year.
Eric:
That would be a valid criticism if this were actually MS's first attempt at doing a GPS OS. It isn't. My Magellan PND is powered by Windows CE and it works fine. As others have pointed out, more than 50% of the current market is also Windows CE-based.
The GPS application that runs on top of Windows CE is another matter. You along with a lot of other people here are confusing the two. It's no different than any other computer (a PND is just a tiny computer with a touch-screen). Windows runs in the background, the GPS application runs on top of it. Typically the GPS applications are designed by the various hardware manufacturers, and nothing's going to change there.
In other words, this is simply an upgrade to the current OS many PND's already use, and nothing much is going to change here.
Thats good MS !
But GPS OS X is going to be released soon !!! :D
Apple doesn't have the resources to compete with Microsoft on the GPS front.
Its a futile effot.
resistance is futile
Oh, and for those of you who haven't used Microsoft Live Search, you are really missing out.
It's a voice recognition based yellow pages / GPS / bargain hunter / web browser / etc all wrapped into one very clever package.
Sucks to be a Mac fan since you will be missing out on it.
Its an embedded system, meaning its designed, setup, and rigorously tested to work on a specific platform for a specific purpose. This makes it inherently more stable then general purpose devices.
Think of how much better Windows would be if Microsoft only sold it as an embedded system that would only easily work on Microsoft hardware. Then again that's not a very realistic model since everything would be proprietary and more expensive due to economies of scale. That and it probably wouldn't be well accepted in the corporate world because of that proprietary architecture and added cost. Though you could probably hammer out a niche market, maybe 5% or so of total market.
Sounds kind of Apple-ish, too bad that Apple's still have even more inherent security flaws, still crash like nobody's business, and still require 3rd party hardware solutions to complete their setup.
Not worth trying to carve out a niche when that niche is only 5% of a market. There's a reason why Apple will *NEVER* become number 1.
Amen to that Hamidxa.
You mean like Windows Mobile phones? The OS is built specifically for the device by the OEM. Now I can't speak for all WM phones, but the two I've owned (WM6 + 6.1) were/are LOADED with bugs and often behave in unexpected ways. As an embedded developer myself, I don't think WM is in any way a release worthy product. Honestly, if I tried to release a product that had as many problems, I'd lose my job and that's why so many people hate Microsoft products.
@Hamidxa - umm, you must be a hardcore Apple hater, that's fine, I used to be one too. Nevertheless, to suggest OS X is less secure and less stable than CE is just ignorant. Not saying OS X is the greatest either, but CE really is a crap embedded OS; its only benefit is it shortens time to market for OEMs. In the end, neither Microsoft or Apple will be anywhere close to number one in the embedded market.
can i haz viruses on my gps???
Has your X360 gotten viruses?
Wow hamidxa, never thought about this one.
You won an internet man!
Will it come with Ctr, Alt & delete keys?
No.
Microsoft live search on mobile is very good at finding places ive always taken the details from it and put it into tomtom this would be pretty good!
cool, IN THEORY
in the real world: bad idea.
Imagine doing 75+ mph on the highway and then getting lost or in an accident because you bumped into this....
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j75/lgt13/DSC04155.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j75/lgt13/DSC04160.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j75/lgt13/DSC04165.jpg
No i think i will pass...
If you get lost or into an accident because of anything that pops up on your GPS you should probably just die in the inferno and spare the world your stupidity.
Uhh guys, this is nothing new. Windows Automotive has been on the market for years and is currently used in most, if not all of Pioneer's navigation systems. I personally have a Z1 and have had absolutely no problems with it.
Hey, let's bash Micro$oft because it's cool!
(Not a fanboy, you guys are just being idiots. Sorry)
When the GPS crashes, your car crashes as well.
Unless your car happens to have the engine or steering wheel directly manipulated by your GPS, I don't think so.
There's already a lot of GPS systems that run on Windows CE. It's just now they're making a specific version targetted at GPS devices.
Windows CE is actually modular in design, and device manufacturers in the past have just picked and chosen which modules/components of Windows CE to load onto their device.
BSOD jokes stopped being funny quite a few years ago.
It was fun laughing at the people who made the jokes though. Do you guys have no knowledge of GPS units, or are you running a GPS on Windows already and didn't even know it?