Get ready to tech up your driving experience, as Garmin has unveiled a new accessory for its
nuvi line of GPS devices that lets you add a number of customizable gauges and monitoring utilities. The new ESP module tucks into the OBD-II diagnostics port on your car and communicates (via Bluetooth) all-important data like intake air temperatures and the fuel efficiency of your driving to the nuvi up top. Yea, it's been
done before, but Garmin is (
for the time being) a major force in navigation devices and could truly popularize this should there be enough interest. For our money, it's both a neat and geeky way to expand the functionality of the
now threatened satnav species. The full dish on price and availability can be expected at
CES 2010 this coming January.
posted Nov 5th 2009 6:15AM
Had this functionality on my Nokia N800 for over two years now. Bluetooth OBDII + Carman, add Wayfinder, your done.
"Bluetooth OBDII + Carman, add Wayfinder, your done."
YOU + ARE = YOU'RE
Let me guess, Jan 2010, Google will provide this for free on Android with dirt cheap module (I don't see it needs to be more expensive than bluetooth dongle).
not too far from now we will hear, in the immortal words used by Apple, but this time referring to Android..."there's an app for that..."
Some people are already trying to port obd2 apps to android. more importantly the nghost project for linux will feature ntune (obd2)
Carman is already open sourced under GPL, so get crackin'
Cool. Thanks for the heads up. So perhaps I'll get the N900 after all.
Does it support Heads Up Display mode? ie. flipped for reflection of the windscreen or semi-silvered contact sheet on windscreen.
That would be killer.
Om
About Time...
Pretty neat, would be cooler if it came with an ODBII bluetooth adapter instead of running a cord under the dash.
You're kidding, right? Did you read the article?
"The ESP module is a hideaway box that connects to (and is powered by) your vehicle's OBD-II diagnostics port. The device gathers information about your vehicle's performance and relays that info via a Bluetooth data connection to your Garmin Nuvi GPS device atop your dashboard."
Well, it says here that my air temperatSSKKKREEEEEEEEEE! BANG!
This looks pretty cool.
"Now threatened satnav species"? WTF are you talking about? Yeah, I want to rely on a phone and continuous Internet connection for navigation. That'll work great way out in bufu Egypt, or in case I want to use my phone for something else during the trip.
Um, I don't think the phones that use the new google GPS require anything near a constant internet connection.
It's true, GPS standalones aren't going to go extinct, but there is no doubt in my mind they will have worse profitability... that's why Garmin's stock value is plummeting.
BUT, if Garmin keeps being stubborn like this, by finding ways to improve their product, they will survive in the more competitive world.
This is a great idea. I will buy it if it's not too much more expensive than a normal satnav.
We'll see, but so far the phone navigators don't store any of the map data. To work without the connection, they need to be able to hold gigabytes of map data in memory.
I wish Garmin would increase the resolution of its screens and reduce the cartoonishness of its graphics. But this product is a really cool idea.
"cartoonishness"
/runs for dictionary
@ Information Central
The Google app actually caches your route (and the immediate surroundings, I believe) so as long as you don't get too far off course you won't have to worry about losing signal.
I like the cartooniness of their graphics. It makes it better for me to operate the thing at an arm's length. I've used TomTom and Mio, and I much prefer my Nuvi to them both.
I think a great many people would not want to constantly take out their phone and attach it to some holder and stare at a small screen when they can get just use a standalone GPS unit.
I think the bigger competition is builtin units that are secure from theft and don't need to be hidden manually.
I want to know what car has 13psi of boost at idle?
Turbolag? what lag?
Could be a Diesel, its says its @ 20% throttle. If it is a Diesel then the RPM scale on the Tach is a bit Optimistic.
If it uses a diagnostic port then it should give the actual real data not some optimistic guess, else the existence of a diagnostic port would be pointless if you could not diagnose with it.
And RPM sensors are simple and pretty foolproof so I don't see that go wrong, they either fail completely or are correct. Pressure sensors are more likely to drift.
Any word on compatible Nuvi models? I hope it's a go for my 760. It does have bluetooth, afterall.
Only the bluetooth-enabled 1200/1300/1400 models and the 1690 for now.
Seems like any smartphone could have a application like this, since they all have bluetooth, and there are already bluetooth ODB-II adapters out there.
I use the iPhone OS app called Rev and the KiwiWiFi ODB-II adapter.
I might actually regret getting the cheaper non blue-tooth 255WT instead of slightly more expensive 265WT. I thought I was just missing out on blue-tooth hands free phone integration, now Garmin comes out with this? Shenanigans!
If this is cheap-ish, as I expect it may be as a mass market product, and it has an open/hackable protocol, this will be of great help to the Car-PC guys, as from what i've seen most of the ones so far have been made in a shed, and thus fairly expensive.
"Filed under: Gaming"
I'm not sure I get how this relates to Gaming and not GPS, Misc. Gadgets or Science.
Does Engadget have some kind of a contract with Google where they have to mention their product twice in every GPS-related post? Enough with all the predictions of doom; Garmin has twenty years of experience in this market and still has a product that's dependable and feature-rich...plus not everyone wants their GPS to be built into their phone. Garmin will do just fine no matter how badly the Engadget staff wants them to sink.
As joshua pointed out, the stock actually dropped of GPS manufacturers, it's not engadget that makes that up it's the scared investors that made that happen.
But I agree, phones will not replace dedicated units.
What Joshua did NOT point out is that Garmin and TomTom have been back on the rise since the announcement; nor did he point out that Google stock dropped the same day.
You shouldn't treat everything Engadget says as gospel.
I love all of the nay-sayers of Garmin when most of them tend to be completely obvilious to Garmin's orginal market. Aircraft navigation. Sorry, but google will never be able to cut it with me through ad-supported devices. Frankly, I think Garmin's business practices are sound and they have recognized the changing market and offered very affordable pieces to very expensive ones.
I will gladly say I will buy this gadget and any matching nuvi device when it comes out given my experience with a low-end Garmin, i know I can expect a substantial product out of them. Google however... I don't always know my route and I certainly don't always take good care of my phone nor do I like looking at a tiny ass screen.
Sadly Garmin tends to agree with the nay-sayers enough to list two seperate items in the risks section of their 2008 10-K filing. Strange you bring up Gramin's origins in aviation, which they still produce products for. However 70% of their revenuves are from the automotive/moble device segment. So I don't see their aviation expertise saving them at their current levels of production/size.
From the 10-K: http://www8.garmin.com/aboutGarmin/invRelations/reports/10-K_2008.pdf
Our financial results are highly dependent on the automotive/mobile segment, which now represents over
70% of our revenues and may be maturing leading to lesser growth than we have experienced in the past.
We have experienced substantial growth in the automotive/mobile segment of our business in recent years
as the products have become mass-market consumer electronics in both Europe and North America. This market
growth may now be slowing as penetration rates increase and competing technologies emerge. Slowing growth,
along with the significant price reductions that have occurred during the past two years, could result in lower
revenues. As margins have also declined in this segment, slowing growth may also result in lower earnings per
share.
The demand for personal navigation devices (PNDs) may be eroded by replacement technologies becoming
available on mobile handsets and factory-installed systems in new autos.
We have experienced substantial growth in the automotive/mobile segment which has resulted in
GPS/navigation technologies being incorporated into competing devices such as mobile handsets and new
automobiles through factory-installed systems. Mobile handsets are frequently GPS-enabled and many companies
are now offering navigation software for mobile devices. The acceptance of this technology by consumers could
slow our growth and further reduce margins. Navigation systems are becoming more prevalent as optional
equipment on new automobiles. Increased navigation penetration on new automobiles could slow our growth and
further reduce margins.
Garmin has 1.8 billion dollars in the bank, zero debt and a diversified array or products including Aviation, Marine, Fitness and Automotive. Garmin's automotive PND market might shrink a bit but there won't be a mass market adoption of smart phones because Google offers a "free" NAV app which really isn't free is you have to pay $30 every month for a data plan.
Garmin PNDs will be around for years to come. They just might be packaged a little different. Probably in OEM deals with car manufactures.
Bottom line, Garmin will survive.
They should just make a deal with a car manufacturer to become their factory installed GPS supplier, stock would rebound instantly .
Garmin aviation product cycle is coming around for another leg up the aviation food chain.
The G1000 glass cockpit retro fit certification is expected the 1st half 2010 for Cessna CitationJet (Model 525, serial numbers 0001-0359)
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Garmin-Announces-G1000-bw-1416088901.html?x=0
The G3000 next generation glass cockpit which is all touch screen and is expected to receive G3000 Technical Standard Orders (TSO) certification in the second half of 2011.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82SNct8xw2Q
This is a 2 billion dollar market and Garmin is a leader in this market. Once certifications are nailed down Garmin will be just fine.
Wow, where have you been?
Drew Tech has won over 20 (TWENTY!) SEMA Media awards for this product.
It is called a DashDAQ and it has been available since 2007.
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/11/06/sema-2007-revisiting-the-dashdaq/
Check out a real vehicle monitor at www.dashdaq.com
Agreed,
DashDAQ is an excellent product. The EPS is probably using an ELM based OBDII interface. If you haven't used an ELM based device before, they are SLOW..... The gauges can barely be usable. These guys probably don't have a skin editor like either.. My DashDAQ allows me to create all kinds of custom themes. Garmin probably doesn't use manufacturer proprietary information either. I love my DashDAQ.