Microsoft announces new operating system for navigation devices
By Hilary Powell
Microsoft has released a new operating system to help companies to build portable navigation devices that also can connect to computers, networks and the Internet. Windows Embedded NavReady 09 is the latest took a trip to store shelves this week. Windows Embedded operating systems are made available to device manufacturers and software developers who use Microsoft technologies. The new operating system is Microsoft’s first geared specifically for portable navigation devices.
According to PC World, the OS is “is aimed at companies building handheld electronic navigation devices and includes several features to make them Web-friendly, such as easy connections to online services and the Internet, as well as links to mobile phones via Bluetooth, and to Windows-based PCs.”
Companies are looking to cash in on an increasing demand for portable navigation devices, or PNDs. (One device in this market is the HP iPAQ Travel Companion used by Medill students for this spring’s “locative storytelling” project.)
In 2006, PNDs were the most popular segment of the consumer navigation market, representing 62% of the total worldwide market, according to technology research firm IDC. IDC also estimated the entire consumer navigation market to grow by 53% worldwide by 2007, according to BNET Today.
As the market for navigation-enabled devices grows, the price tag for GPS technology is likely to head downward. Technologyreview.com reports NavReady can cut the cost of building and testing Internet-connected GPS devices. The review said OS is also more efficient because it makes it easy for GPS receivers to share data with other hardware such as cell phones and PDAs.
“Whereas the desktop version of Windows adds new functions and requires more memory with every release, embedded operating systems sacrifice versatility for leanness and efficiency. Currently, most GPS companies, such as TomTom and Garmin, use their own custom-built, proprietary operating systems. Others use off-the-shelf embedded systems that may not be ideal for GPS technology,” wrote Duncan Graham-Rowe of Technologyreview.com.
Technologyreview.com suggested that Microsoft sees a big opportunity in connecting navigation devices to other consumer electronics and the Internet. “I think Microsoft is laying the foundations for what we see as one of the big frontiers for navigation devices — connectivity,” says Clint Wheelock, chief research officer with ABI Research.
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