TomTom announces a weak Q1
TomTom announced yesterday lower than expected revenues in the first quarter, with an operating margin ranging between 0% and 10% (instead of the usual 20%).
This is not surprising given the impact of the price war we have been seeing in the recent months. The prices and margins of entry level PNDs are plumeting, while still making for the biggest part of the market.
What does it mean ? To our opinion, it indicates even more than PND manufacturer need to :
1) beef up their PNDs with additional services that can be sold to end-users, and generate revenues through subscriptions (e.g. traffic, weather, speedcam, gas prices, parking availability, etc)
2) convince PND owners to buy higher-end models to benefit from these services
Traffic information is clearly one example of a service that people will pay for, and it is no surprise TomTom has been closing a number of agreements with Vodafone in this respect. But as more connected PNDs hit the market this year and in 2009, we expect PND manufacturers to be very creative and launch a number of value-added services that will make a difference. And NAVX will actively contribute to this business :-)
HP announced the 
Yesterday Garmin announced the 
of MioMap 2008 navigation
application (developed by Hungarian navigation software company NavNGo) with the
It's something we've been expecting: Garmin has decided to open its devices to developers. The news was released this morning, right at the start of the Where 2.0 conference, 
Garmin has announced two new Rinos, 
After the N95 and 6100, Nokia will release Q4 2007 a new GPS phone :
LG released today the new GPS device LN-735, announced in january, at CES2007. With 3.5″ LCD screen, 3hr Battery Life and 2GB Built in Flash Memory, the LN-735 ($350) is not the only option of the line. Have a look to LN-740 if you want something more advanced. This second one has a bright 4-inch display and a slim design, pre-loaded USA and Canada map with millions of POIs, access to traffic data service via a supplied RDS-TMC. But if you don't want to pay $450, head the other direction, LN-730 which costs 300$, it's also good. This device includes 2D or 3D map options, day and night screen modes,
high-power speaker output and up to a four-hour battery life. 
Mio unveiled a new GPS device : 
There will be a new version of the RIDER, TomTom's navigation system for motorcycles ! A flash animation of the RIDER 2 was on the TomTom website but apparently the animation was revealed a bit earlier than planned : Currently there’s no sign of a new RIDER on the website. We have no detailed specifications or recommended retail prices. It means that we’ll have to wait a bit more until it is officially announced. 
As we already mentioned in February 
While we are looking forward for breaking news from CEBIT, ViaMichelin has already announced that they will release two new GPS systems at Hannover : the ViaMichelin X-960 and ViaMichelin X-970. According to 
And The ViaMichelin X970-T will have Real-time traffic info, bluetooth, voice guidance x 15 languages, SiRF Star III GPS antenna and an exclusive MICHELIN® Guide content. The main difference with ViaMichelin X-970, is that the X-960 will be equipped with a more powerful processor (400 Mhz). The European model is expected to cost 399 €.
The TomTom Go 715, like it’s predecessor the TomTom GO 710, sports Bluetooth but what appears to be a new feature is that it has a SIM card slot! Yes : the GO 715 has two ports of extension for a memory board SD and a SIM card. For the first time, it will be possible to send informations and services directly from the integrated SIM of the GPS device, (maybe 
Concerning the second device, TomTom One XL, this GPS will be very similar to the current ONE with a couple of exceptions. The ONE XL will come with a widescreen display, probably about a 4.3 inch, a port for memory board SD, the whole in two versions: the first version with 1 Go of internal storage and the second only accompanied by one memory board SD. You can have a look 
Maybe you have already seen some photos of Nokia's E90 Communicator. At the 3GSM the company has dished out all of the specs on the device: The E90 is quad-band GSM, with both WiFi and HSDPA radios, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and....has built-in GPS and Nokia Maps software !!The E90 Communicator is expected to ship sometime in the second quarter of this year for around $1,000. Looks nice and surprisingly thin, isn't it ? Click to see a 
Gpsgazette
Le fabricant automobile Volkswagen a choisi 
Au CES, 
A l'occasion du salon international CES 2007, Mio a dévoilé le nouveau Digiwalker c520 qui sera commercialisé vers la fin de l'année. Le c520 a un écran de 4,3 pouces et intègre Bluetooth. On n'a pas encore d'information à propos du prix, donc à suivre ! Plus d'info sur 
