First comes the
fallout at Dash, and now this. Apparently GPS manufacturers are finally caving to the realization that the vast majority doesn't want yet another monthly fee tacked on in the form of a connected GPS -- particularly when so many of the non-connected navigators work so well.
TWICE has it that Magellan has "suspended development" on its
Maestro Elite 5340 with Google Local search, noting that even though it "believes there is great promise in connected navigation, in the near term, consumers have shown an unwillingness to pay a steep price for PNDs, especially with the recent economic downturns." If you'll recall, we actually toyed with this very unit back at CES, and sadly, it seems those
hands-on shots are as close as any citizen outside of the company will ever get to it.
[Via
GPSTracklog]
posted Nov 3rd 2008 4:02PM
maybe they also noticed that there's a recession going on.
whose unit did you toy with?
Definitely wasn't mine!
Recession or not, I'm getting tired of companies trying to nickel and dime me to death. No, I don't want to pay for stupid crap or things that *ought* to be included standard (traffic details). Tell me how much your product costs, period, for a working, fully functional version. If I want it, I'll buy it.
You know you hurt the Maestro's feelings, if you don't call him maestro
Maybe it's because they've realised that there's no point in competing with Nokia who are now the world's largest GPS device manufacturer.
Yeah, Nokia sells more GPS devices than all others in the world. Already.
Low ranked you on account of your user name alone. Fanboi.
I'm only a 'Fanboi' when it comes to your mother, L0Lz.
The market is saturated with well designed cheap GPS units. GPS is not something that someone will buy multiples of. And with superior all in one devices such as iPhone who wants an expensive GPS?
They quit developing this the same day Dash announces they'll sell their technology to whoever wants it?
Sounds like a match made in heaven.
OK, Bob Cobb
Why would anyone want a stand-alone PND?
My Sprint phone can do all this and more for only $99/mo on an unlimited plan (plus it makes phone calls too!).
I give Kudos to Garmin for recognizing that convergence devices are the future. Dedicated GPS units are over priced and are limited in functionality compared to other similarly priced devices such as UMPC's. MIDS and Netbooks, cell phones, etc that are easy to shove GPS into or get an external bluetooth receiver for. Only in the low end segment are dedicated gps units a viable investment.
Why would anyone want a stand-alone PND?