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Ground Transport

Portable GPS units enlist social media to compete with smartphone navigation

Rich Jaroslovsky

Skift Take

Will drivers want to purchase portable GPS units when they already have navigation apps on their smartphones? Doubt it.

Makers of portable global-positioning systems are caught in a squeeze. Once a luxury item, in-dash navigation is showing up in cheaper cars, while smartphone apps like Google Maps and Apple Maps are adding more nav-system-like features such as spoken- turn-by-turn directions. Mitac International, the maker of the Magellan line of GPS devices, is taking the if-you-can’t-beat-’em, join-’em approach. Its new $249 SmartGPS takes advantage of the Cloud and social media in an effort to co-exist with smartphones rather than compete with them. The SmartGPS looks like an overgrown iPhone with a five- inch screen. It plugs into the cigarette lighter in your car and attaches to the windshield with a suction-cup mount. On half of the screen, the unit provides 2D and 3D maps and turn-by-turn directions spoken in a clear, robotic voice. You can

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