If you're keeping tabs on
Mio Technology's GPS happenings, you'll be interested to dip into some facts that
PC World has uncovered about the company's upcoming offerings. According to the mag, the next version of the electronics-maker's MiBuddy satnav unit will dash the underlying Windows CE architecture for Google's newer and far more suave Android platform. The new device will be pushing into MID territory, boasting a 4.7-inch touchscreen along with a hardware slider keyboard, the ability to browse the internet, and WiFi and Bluetooth onboard. Call us crazy, but it seems possible that devices like dedicated PNDs running Android could easily adapt Google's
new turn-by-turn system as their primary mode of operation. Alternately, you could switch between Mio's proprietary version and Google's variation... or they could axe the big G's altogether, though that awkward situation makes far less sense to us. No word on timing or price just yet, but we'll keep you posted.
[Via
NaviGadget]
Update: Seems this is all just a great big mixup, and the whole Android thing is
just untrue. Bummer.
posted Nov 2nd 2009 9:22AM
Is google giving andrios away for free?
android
From source.android.com:
"Android is the first free, open source, and fully customizable mobile platform. Android offers a full stack: an operating system, middleware, and key mobile applications. It also contains a rich set of APIs that allows third-party developers to develop great applications."
Yes. Android OS is open source. Meaning it is completely free to whoever and whatever. Hell, you can go get it for all they care, lol.
Open != Free of charge.
It just means the source is open for viewing. Now alot of open source software is free, but not all of it is. It is a common misconception and often used as FUD by some parties. Now google is using it to get a foothold into markets. Furthermore Mio is just tagging along ont he Android Hype (yes I said it, it's a Hype nothing more nothign less), they could as well have used a Linux or BSD distribution, which is alot more open then Android. Google's own Services aren't OPen Source, and they aren't allowed to redistribute then without permission, as is shown by a custom Android build who was send a Cease and Desist letter. So I don't know if they can just use Google's new "Turn by Turn" features for their mapping service when it comes out. (Not that new, since Bing (MS) and Nokia already had similair services).
So really it is more to tag along on the Buzzword that is Android, and at the moment (Just LIke Apple only 1 or 2 years ago) everything Google touches turns instantly into gold. IF they really wanted an Open Platform, they would have choosen for a Linux Distribution (Yes, I know Android is based on Linux, I more mend some of the others like Open Moko or one of the others). But that name isn't as well known as Android
Andriod ISN'T the first Free OPen Source Fully Customizeable Mobile Platform. Open Moko already existed before that or MObiLinux. Or MotoMagx (based on MOntaVista Linux targetted at embedded devices that was alreayd around in 1998 ;)).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MotoMagx
http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobilinux
So please, don't say things that aren't true. It really doesn't suit Google that they try to look like they invented it :D.
Hey try Google Android 2.0 on your pc here
http://www.zjtechlive.com/?p=1315
I was thinking the same thing Engadget.
Android 2.0 gMaps Navigation...with some added "oomph" thrown into the mix. That would make it the must have OS for every GPS unit.
I'll be in Italy next month and will need GPS to get around. Whatever solution I use would have to include locally stored maps or the roaming charges would kill me.
This solution might work for Americans who don't leave the country too often but I don't think it will be a success here in Europe until Google can eliminate the need to connect to the network.
You're totally right, I live in Germany and was thinking the same thing. But I really think that the issue lies with the carriers. Roaming charges within Europe for data is obscene. And now as phones become more and more like PCs, data is becoming an integral part of them. Carriers in europe have to work out some sort of deal to eliminate roaming charges for data otherwise real smart phone usage will never really become feasible.
That's why I was saying with the "oomph."
If they get a little boost from a GPS company they haven't alienated with this move, lol, they would make a killer GPS navigation.
Google's Android 2.0 navigation app is PROPRIETARY and it relies on 3G data instead of being stored on the device.
Android is open-source, but the Google Experience Apps (maps, navigation, GMail, Android Market) are NOT!
I know, I am terrified enough of people who follow their GPS blindly, thus making turns where they shouldn't. What are they gonna do when this thing is giving them instructions to turn but has a weak data signal and is unable to load the map to show them where? Unless this thing has a way to download and cache maps, I see it as pointless.
I often find that my GPS reciever is most valuable in the middle of freaking nowhere when I am looking for a gas station, restroom or hotel exactly the kind of places where you won't get a reliable data signal.
Wonder how hard it would be to port a WinCE build to Android.
It's very easy to mod the older Mio generation, you could have 3-4 different map services running on it to get he best of each. I have a C520 and it's a powerful little unit.
anybody notice how android and iPhone os are playing out. while apple's mobile os is happy to be running on a couple of closely controlled hardware models... android is entering anything and everything that can be considered a mobile device.... & this despite Apple having a 2 yr headstart & android just completing 1 yr from behind....
Mobile devices are where the future is... and nobody understands that better than Google...
Sounds like MAC vs PC of the 80s all over again...
no prizes for guessing who will end up in the niche segment of the market again!
I agree. I will give credit to Apple for undoubtedly giving a kickstart to the Mobile device arena with the slick and intuitive interface of the iPhone OS. However, Apple hasn't exactly done much to evolve the OS since inception. Yes they added the App store, and finally implemented things like MMS and Copy/Paste, but in reality those had to have been envisioned from the get go. Apple has long held to a pattern of building something extremely impressive and then letting it stagnate. Once developed they seem to rely on cosmetic changes to the case and incremental capacity increases rather than significant evolution of the technical abilities of the product. I see them continuing on this route with the iPhone for the next few years, while Andriod and perhaps even Windows Mobile 7 catch up or even pass the iPhone.
That being said, in the end, I think the rigidly controlled environment of the iPhone will be the biggest contributor to the competition gaining ground.
ummm, how to find a MIO retailer in the US? Didn't they have a press release saying they gave up selling GPS units over here?
"Google's newer and far more suave Android platform"
How is Android more suave than Windows CE? Josh are you a developer, do you have any clue what you are talking about? Seriously dude go get some baggy pants.
(Sarcasm) Yeah, because adding Web Browsing and Wi-Fi capabilities to an in dash device is such an AWESOME idea! (Sarcasm)
First of all, that's not how tags are formatted.
Second: There's no reason that your PASSENGER can't look up restaurants, stores, phone numbers, whatever on it while you drive.
awesome post
Somebody ban this jagoff.
Using android :is it possible to pre-load maps?.
Let's say, there are a lot of places where you can't connect to the net, for example in a tunnel, in a valley surrounded by mountain and such.
That's not dependent on the OS. It's dependent on the device or the GPS application software.
Such Andnav?.
Yet another defeat for WinCE and yet another victory for Android!!
good stuff!!
Hah I eat at that McDonalds almost every morning