GPS navigation launched in India

What is GPS navigation?

Global Positioning System (GPS) is a system that communicates with satellite to trace the location and position of vehicles on earth (This technology is widely used in mobile phones also).

How is it useful in cars?

A GPS enabled simple, smart and sleek gadget can be mounted on a car that determines your current location. This gadget accepts any destination and the navigator in the gadget will guide you, turn-by-turn, with graphical map instructions supported by voice prompts. Search for points of interest (nearest ATM, nearest shopping centre, nearest petrol pump, nearest attraction etc.,) will be available.

Where is it available in India?

MapmyIndia Navigator is currently available in two hardware models: Delphi and AMAX. These devices comes with pre-loaded maps that give complete coverage of streets and points of interest in 18 major cities.

"MapmyIndia Navigator" is currently available with car accessory and consumer electronics dealers in major cities. It is also available online via Indiatimes and MapmyIndia.com.

Want to know how it looks?




How much does it cost?

Techtree reported that in Delhi, the device costs Rs 21,000 while in other states, it comes for Rs 22,000.
Indiatimes is showing price range as Rs. 16000-19000 for online buying.

Is it worth in India?

In countries like USA, where there are names for each road, number for each block (building) the GPS gadget may be most reliable, intuitive and accurate. I doubt how much this will be useful in India, where roads dont have names. Even there are names for some roads, they change if government changes. Also, in India wherever you are, there are local people (or) auto-wallah who can tell you the best way to reach certain destination. I know most of us prefer that way, because roads become unusable or change (two-way to one-way) frequently in India and only local people will know better.

If you are a gadget savvy and have a car, tryout one.

courtesy: techtree, mapmyindia