smart cars
Hey, car: Take me to a movie and good restaurant
By Ronald Rosenberg, Globe Staff
Predictions that onboard vehicle navigation systems will replace paper road maps in the next few years have been greatly exaggerated.
Maybe they will disappear like the AM-only car radio, but not for 7 to 10 years. By then, today's $2,000 to $2,500 factory-installed computerized talking maps that are in top-of-the-line Lexus, Acura, BMW, Cadillac, and Mercedes models may reach the majority of car buyers for $500 to $800.
Indeed, in-vehicle navigation systems - the kind that use global positioning satellites for location accuracy - have come down in price in recent years. And there are lower-cost systems, such as Garmin (www.garmin.com) and Delorme (ww.delorme.com), priced from $550 to $1,500, that can be installed in many cars but have fewer features. For example, you'd have to buy regional CD-ROMs with maps for your local area at a cost of $150 to $170 each.
Those who can afford the high-end systems have helped raise the bar by seeking services beyond just getting directions. Coming soon: restaurant menus and movie theater listings displayed on the navigation system's video screen, as well as traffic conditions ahead of you, transmitted from other vehicles on the same road.
Also ahead are navigation systems tied into the Internet that ''learn'' a driver's shortcuts and modify their route mapping accordingly. Others will show passengers a video of a tourist spot they are driving to visit, such as New York's Guggenheim Museum, and reserve a parking space at a nearby garage.
''Navigation will be part of a bundle of computerized products and services aimed at both the constant traveler and the person stuck in traffic,'' said Paul Hansen, publisher of the Hansen Report on Automotive Electronics in Rye, N.H. (www.hansenreport.com).
Current in-vehicle systems consist of a small on-board video display monitor (3 to 5 inches across, mounted on the dashboard) that shows highways, expressways and streets stored on CD-ROMs. All use a computerized navigation control unit with a GPS receiver and a dashboard-mounted antenna so travelers can see - and hear - directions to their destination.
As the map appears on the screen, a synthesized voice relays instructions for when and where to turn. Some systems also ''listen,'' with very basic dialog (You ask, ''Where am I?'' and it responds by naming the street you're on).
Owners of upscale car navigation systems such as General Motors' OnStar system (www.onstar.com) have some special services. Locked out of your car? Cadillac owners with OnStar can call an 800 number, give their password, and in a matter of seconds the car doors are automatically unlocked.
If you're in a shopping mall and can't remember where you parked, OnStar will remotely flash the headlights and honk the horn so you and everyone else knows where the vehicle is.
Unlike other manufacturers, Cadillac's navigation system provides safety with Big Brother: A person sitting in front of a video screen in Detroit can track your vehicle's movements. Push a button near the driver's visor and a voice greets you knowing your vehicle, model - even color.
OnStar will also play travel agent while you drive, booking a hotel room and dinner reservation.
And if the Caddy is in an accident and the driver's airbag is opened, OnStar is automatically notified and an ''adviser'' will call you. If you can't respond, the adviser will arrange for emergency services such as police and ambulance.
Since these services go beyond electronic mapping, General Motors charges a monthly fee.
Still other top-of-the-line navigation systems can automatically recalculate new directions if you've missed a turn, as well as provide quick directions to the nearest gas station, automatic teller machine, post office and historical landmark. That appeals to drivers of Acuras, where one in four buyers spend more than $2,000 for the optional navigation system (www.acura.com).
Down the road, future Ryder Cup hopefuls may get both directions and a video tour of the nation's golf courses, while visitors to northern California's Napa Valley can get similar map-and-go information about the area's vineyards.
Overall, the US lags behind other countries. ''We in the US are just getting started with vehicle navigation systems compared to Japan, which is about seven years ahead of us while Europe is about 2 to 3 years in front of us,'' said Harry W. Voccola, senior vice president of Navigation Technologies (www.navtech.com), which provides map databases on CD-ROM to navigation equipment makers such as Alpine (www.alpine1.com) and Clarion (www.autopc.com).
Navigation Technologies and its rivals are looking to package restaurant menus with travel directions on a CD-ROM or DVD disk.
He views in-vehicle navigation systems today like air conditioning in the early 1970s: an expensive option that most people would like to have, but choose to wait until the price comes down.
By then, navigation systems will be bundled with components, such as wireless telephones, multimedia systems and the Internet - a combination that will enable Boston travelers driving in Chicago to hear the Red Sox or Celtics radio broadcasts, and at the same time give a voice command to get directions to, say, McCormick Place, the city's giant exposition hall.
But even those who can afford to spend big bucks and leave the driving directions to satellites and electronic maps, human error still creeps in.
One dark night last year in Germany, a 57-year-old man with a new BMW relied on his car's navigation system to get him across the Havel River near Potsdam. But instead of bringing him to a bridge, the system led him to a ferry crossing - without the ferry.
The car plunged 13 feet into the water. The driver was pulled out safely, but we are not sure of the condition of the car - or the navigation system.
Ronald Rosenberg (r_rosenberg@globe.com) writes about technology and business for the Globe.
