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gpspassion
93392 Posts |
 Posted - 01 févr. 2004 : 14:07:37
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Note: Article written using Business Mobile Navigator, the version released prior to MN4
What's interesting with GPS Assisted Navigation, is that there are always new subjects to discover! Even if TMC (real time traffic info  broadcast in FM) has been discussed quite a bit in the French forums with input from French TMC provider, Visionaute, it makes a big difference to experience it in person!
I've been testing Business Mobile Navigator de Navigon, and I'm quite impressed with the way TMC data is integrated and managed to make the life of the driver easier (see coverage map of TMC on the right). TMC data is acquired using a GPS/RDS receiver at no additional cost for the end user(a TMC licence would have been purchased by the GPS manufacturer or the software editor, to be confirmed). Concerning the Navigon software in itself, check the Pros and Cons GpsPasSion Analysis (in French for now).
 The concept is simple enough: collect traffic info and then build an itinerary that takes it into account. Much like for GPS Assisted Navigation, the idea is to free the driver from worrying about finding the best itinerary and let him focus on the driving. Even in areas that we're familiar with in terms of roads and traffic patterns, we're generally tempted to use the same itinerary and hope that it won't be subject to congestion...and if it happens to be, then hope that things will clear up...With a GPS receiver, it was possible to "wing it" by leaving a clogged road, but it required manual intervention and you never knew what you would find on that new itinerary. With TMC, you let the let the software do the thinking and rely on it to optimize the itinerary based on traffic conditions (in this case, TMC events that are broadcast over the air). In areas we're not familiar with, it's a "no-brainer" of course.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are a couple of examples to see how it works:
Example #1 with/without traffic info (itinerary in blue)
 
Example #1 with/without traffic info (itineraary in blue)
 
It's pretty clear that the itinerary has been changed by the software to avoid problem spots. Of course the ultimate test would be to drive thes two itineraries simultaneously!
TMC messages can also be viewed as text messages bu clicking on the green "TMC xx" line at the top, xx being the number of messages currently being broadcast. Unfortunately, you can't then click on a message and be shown the spot on the map.
 
To be continued...in the meantime, questions/comments are welcome!
The official TMC site
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Discounts and Assistance/Réductions et Assistance (Club GpsPasSion)
Best "GPS" PocketPC/Choisir un PDA ou un Kit "GPS" |
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MickJ
United Kingdom
129 Posts |
Posted - 02 févr. 2004 : 09:54:28
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When is this available for the UK ? If it works I'm in ...
Continuing my testing theme ... it would be fairly easy to get two cars driving through a known trouble spot (no shortage of those) and when the itinerary changes compare the results. |
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swing
United Kingdom
346 Posts |
Posted - 02 févr. 2004 : 11:23:08
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It's available already (*) (direct from www.navigon.de - I don't believe they have any UK resellers as yet) - comes with the dedicated hardware in the box - total price €499 (about £350). Neither the software nor TMC support are new (Navigon have had a TMC solution for a while, but it's only in the last month they had added UK maps with TMC support, and a lot of other European countries too).
(*) However, their website does mention (in the FAQ section, which is out of date in other respects) that they only deliver to German-speaking countries.
Steve |
Edited by - swing on 02 févr. 2004 11:37:17 |
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gpspassion
93392 Posts |
Posted - 02 févr. 2004 : 11:56:58
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Correct, I have an email into Navigon to get a few more details. What's confusing is that the French TMC providers are saying that "pay TMC" is not available in France on PDAs, yet the TMC info I'm getting here is on the normally encrypted France Inter broadcast...this is getting confusing! Not sure if TMC data is encrypted in the UK. The "plus" of encryption (and having to license it) of course is that you normally get better quality service.
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Discounts and Assistance/Réductions et Assistance (Club GpsPasSion)
Best "GPS" PocketPC/Choisir un PDA ou un Kit "GPS" |
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swing
United Kingdom
346 Posts |
Posted - 02 févr. 2004 : 14:08:32
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It's certainly licensed here in the UK - for example, Renault has yet to sign a license, and hence despite all their car systems supporting TMC, it's not available for them. However, my understanding in this case is that as they are not yet licensed, they cannot supply the additional TMC data on their navigation CDs - however, if you purchase, say a VDO Dayton navigation CD (and VDO have got a TMC license), and use it in the Renault, then it works fine (well, TMC works, there are other small problems, but in principle most people believe it's worth it).
I've no idea if part of the TMC data provided on the CD includes the encryption license, or whether the only way to get the TMC data is to have the license. As such, I've no idea whether the information in the UK is encrypted.
However, there are pictures on the English Navigon website showing TMC data from central London, so it should work, irrespective of whether it's actually encrypted :)
Certainly the general information available on TMC does seem to indicate that all data is encoded (as opposed to encrypted), but I think the description of public and commercial TMC services does imply that it's possible to restrict access to the commercial services, and this is likely to be a simple encryption system. |
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jobuzo
USA
6 Posts |
Posted - 21 oct. 2004 : 16:20:33
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| when will this be available in North America? |
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gpspassion
93392 Posts |
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** ARTICLE: Navigon - the "magic" of TMC! **
