september 2007 archives

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Consumer affairs programme challenges map update policy

The Dutch consumer affairs television programme Kassa dedicated a large part of last night's episode to outdated maps on newly bought navigation devices. The products have been out of the factory and on the shop floor for such a long time, that the maps have been updated by the map suppliers in the meantime. Thus, only days after purchase, consumers performed an update check on the vendor website and were advised to update the map on their navigation device. Kassa suggests navigation device vendors should indicate the expiry date or use by date on the packaging material. Both Garmin and Mio have informed Kassa they will more clearly indicate the expiry date on the shop floor.

Navigation device vendor	Map update policy
Navigation device vendor	Map version on packaging	Free update
Garmin	No	Yes
Mio	No	No
Navman	Yes	No
Sony	No	No
TomTom	No	Yes

On mapping sites, we're used to maps being (slightly?) behind. Disclaimers on online route planners always suggest that you should be cautious following printed instructions. The directions are strictly informational and only to be used as an aid in planning. Furthermore, mapping sites and their suppliers usually do not assume any responsibility. What else can we expect? The service usually comes for free. Last night's episode shows however that this stance of online mapping sites is not acceptable from navigation device vendors:

Is it reasonable that you buy a product for quite some money that does not operate properly because it is already outdated? The point of the product is navigation, so you may expect to buy a product that complies with the latest map updates (emphasis mine).

Consumer affairs programmes typically have great success in changing the awareness consumers have of their purchasing rights and in changing policies of companies, closing businesses down and pushing for law changes. TeleAtlas and Navteq provide quarterly map updates, but a Navteq spokeswoman recently stated that it takes time for new information to get to the public — perhaps a year or more. Will last night's television programme contribute to raising the public awareness of map updates? Will consumers start demanding real time maps one day? Then we are a long way off with the revision cycles of up to 10 years typical for topographic maps.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Map readers become map makers

Only a few months after map supplier AND started to recognise the value of UGC, making available not only the Netherlands to the OpenStreetMap community, but also the major road networks of China and India, the company affirmed its recognition of UGC with the launch of Map 2.0. Map readers become map makers, because the online editable map allows end users to directly provide map feedback, that is immediately visible on the map. Furthermore, mapping websites and navigation solutions providers can integrate Map 2.0 in their website or navigation system as mapping feedback tool.

With Map 2.0, AND combines the ideas behind TomTom Map Share that allows users to update their maps directly into their PND and receive updates from other users and the People's Map, a partnership between map suppliers Getmapping and the XYZ Digital Map Company.

Professional and private users maintain the People's Map by providing update information using the editing suite. The information is checked and compiled into high quality cartographic maps at all scales with fair and straightforward licensing.

To make changes to Map 2.0, users have to register first. However, the registration form is actually a bit difficult to navigate, because the cursor is invisible. Beyond this hurdle, you can change the road name and allowed traffic direction for each road in Map 2.0. The changes you make to the allowed traffic direction appear in the map immediately. The direction of the arrows indicating the traffic flow is changed or disappears completely if the allowed traffic direction is changed to both ways. However, when you change the road name, the road name disappears.

Following good Web 2.0 practice, the Map 2.0 online editable map is of course a (perpetual) beta release. New features will surely be added little by little and the geographic coverage will expand gradually beyond the Netherlands. The mapping client was built with Community MapBuilder — an Open Source JavaScript library — on top of an un-tiled OGC-compliant WMS. The interface is still very much geared towards fellow developers and map enthusiasts, not at the general audience. Particularly, the edit button only becomes clear through eliminating the other buttons. Furthermore, an address look-up would be very useful to zoom and pan the map view automatically to a specific location. All in all, Map 2.0 is well worth keeping an eye out for!

Sunday, September 09, 2007

From online to in-car

Car manufactures BMW and Mercedes Benz have recently teamed up with online local search engines Yahoo Local Maps and Google Maps. Users can look up a POI (e.g. a restaurant, store or petrol station) online and send its address to their in-car navigation system to use it as a destination when planning a route. Although this is an exciting step, it did not come just out of nowhere.

First of all, there have been previous initiatives that established the link between online and in-car. Already in February 2006, Google and Volkswagen Electronics Research Lab presented a working prototype of an in-car navigation system based on Google Earth at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Earlier this year, Dash Navigation ran a public test of Dash Express, its Internet-connected in-car navigation system.

Secondly, the idea of sending a set of POIs to an in-car navigation system is not new either. Owners of a TomTom device can download sets of POIs and scenic routes from the TomTom website or from the Royal Dutch Touring Club, ANWB website. Clicking on the hyperlink, the TomTom HOME desktop application is launched that asks you to connect your device to your computer. Once TomTom HOME has established a connection, the sets are subsequently downloaded to the device. Similarly, ViaMichelin GPS device owners can not only download sets of themed POIs, but also sets of commercial POIs of major ViaMichelin partners in Europe from the ViaMichelin website.

The novelty of the Mercedes-Benz Search & Send is that users themselves can search and then select the address of a single POI to send to their in-car navigation system, instead of providers publishing predefined sets on their websites. Once you have found an address of a location or POI on the Yahoo Local Maps website, you can then select the Send to car option. A new dialog window opens where you may enter a custom title for the address, e.g. my favorite taco restaurant, and your Tele Aid email address. Pushing the Send button, the address is then forwarded to your Mercedes-Benz in-car navigation system. Yahoo informs users that the actual results may vary slightly, between results shown here, and, the result you see in your vehicle. This may be caused by the difference in the geocoding algorithms on the Yahoo Local Maps website and in the Mercedes-Benz in-car navigation system: the address matches different longitude and latitude values.

The Send to Car option on the Google Maps website is not only compatible with Mercedes-Benz Search & Send, but also with BMW ConnectedDrive. While Yahoo Local Maps works for locations and POIs, Google Maps only works for POIs. In the new dialog window, you can select a particular POI from the result set. You then have to select the make of your car: BMW or Mercedes-Benz. Again, for sending the address to your Mercedes-Benz, you have to supply a Tele Aid email address. BMW owners have to select a BMW Assist country (Austria, Germany, Italy, or UK) and provide their account name. Finally, you can add some notes to the POI address.

Online	In-car
Online	Dash	VW	TomTom	ViaMichelin	BMW	Mercedes-Benz
Dash	Maps	—	—	—	—	—
Google Earth	—	Maps	—	—	—	—
TomTom	—	—	POI sets	—	—	—
ANWB	—	—	POI sets	—	—	—
ViaMichelin	—	—	—	POI sets	—	—
Google Maps	—	—	—	—	Individual POIs	Individual POIs
Yahoo Local Maps	—	—	—	—	—	Individual locations and POIs

Just as local search has changed the game of online mapping, it's now slowly changing the game of in-car navigation as well. The link between online and in-car is currently restricted to particular countries, car brands and online search engines. Hopefully, there will be a KML-like (de facto) standard for the exchange of global address information between any website and any navigation system. Or will drivers be able to execute an online local search query directly from their navigation system à la Dash Express?