Windows Embedded NavReady 2009

GPS Navigation devices are super cool, gone are the days of needing to take a passenger with you on a road trip just so you have someone to read the map (or have someone to blame for holding the map upside down!).

Navigation devices are especially useful for the "last mile" routing - driving on major roads between cities typically isn't an issue, getting lost in an unfamiliar city, especially one with roundabouts and one-way systems is painful. Driving a vehicle with turn-by-turn voice navigation is great. GPS navigation devices are becoming smarter, and more complex (at the hardware and software level) [interestingly, keeping the user experience simple is one of the key differentiating features for GPS device manufacturers].

Devices are now shipping with integrated hands free bluetooth, and the ability to use your data connected smartphone to get current weather (why not just look out the window!), current traffic information (for dynamic routing), and in some cases local search based on your current location (finding the nearest Starbucks for example).

Just announced is Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 - this is a set of operating system components for Windows CE 5.0 that adds Local Search, Bluetooth Hands Free Profile, SideShow, and MSN Direct to the CE 5.0 Platform Builder Catalog. Adding these components to the Windows CE 5.0 catalog makes it easier for PND (Portable Navigation Device) manufacturers to bring their devices to market without needing to license and integrate 3rd party technologies/stacks onto the CE 5.0 operating system.

You may notice a number of web sites reporting Windows Embedded NavReady as "Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 GPS operating system" (Engadget), this is somewhat misleading, in much the same way as Windows Mobile is often referred to as the Windows Mobile Operating System (Wikipedia), which is also misleading - In both cases, Windows CE is the underlying operating system, Windows Mobile adds applications, user experience (shell), and some mobile specific technologies (connection manager for example), and in the case of Windows Embedded NavReady 2009 this is shipped as a set of technology add-ins for the Windows CE 5.0 catalog that add technologies that accelerate development of GPS Navigation devices.

- Mike

Comments

• Anonymous
  June 17, 2008
    Ever wonder what we do in the way of GPS devices? well quite a bit, actually. So much that we've

• Anonymous
  June 17, 2008
  This blog has been created to share useful information. Thanks and greetings!

• Anonymous
  June 18, 2008
  why do they use windows ce 5.0 as a base and not windows ce 6.0?

• Anonymous
  June 18, 2008
  Jack, Well spotted! - Most of the GPS devices that are using Windows CE today are based on Windows CE 5.0. There is a reasonable porting effort to move an existing CE 5.0 project to CE 6.0 due to the operating system architecture changes in CE 6.0 - shipping the NavReady features to target CE 5.0 makes it easy for exsiting GPS device manufacturers to integrate the features with their existing projects and get to market quicker - without needing to take the CE 6.0 porting hit.

• Mike

• Anonymous
  June 20, 2008
  What do you think the primary data connecton is going to be?  BT to a smartphone, or integrated 3G?

• Anonymous
  June 20, 2008
  that's completely down to the OEM to implement, if they wan to build a device with integrated data connection then that's fine - if they want to use Bluetooth to a connected cell phone, then that's also fine.

• Mike

• Anonymous
  June 20, 2008
  Mike, thanks for the fast response.   The SideShow seems like a cool idea - it'd be great to find another use for a PND,  streaming photos and enabling other useful gadgets, to create an additional display/control. -Scott