3 Reasons Why the Portable Car GPS is Becoming Extinct

The portable car GPS has some tough competition when it comes to navigation devices. In-dash GPS systems, emergency communication services, and smartphones are all better alternatives. Read this article to see how they are making old portable GPSs obsolete.

1. In-Dash GPS Systems From Auto Manufacturers Provide Additional Features

The biggest hurdle for portable car GPS manufacturers is automobile manufacturers installing their own GPS systems directly into the console of their cars. Drivers won't have to buy GPS devices, the windshield mount, or dash mount to secure it. Streamlined in-dash GPS systems are ready to go as soon as the owner drives off the dealership's lot.

GPS is usually just one part of the In-Dash system offered by automobile manufacturers. For example, Ford's Sync and MyFord Touch system not only provides turn-by-turn directions, they also provide personalized news, stocks, and sports scores. You can even access some of the car's features including climate control, and radio through the MyFord Touch interface. In-dash systems are simply superior to portable car GPS systems.

2. Emergency Communication Services Monitor Cars and Provide Assistance

Another competitor of portable car GPS devices is monitoring services such as OnStar. OnStar equipped vehicles wouldn't need portable GPS devices. With just a push of a button, you are immediately connected to an advanced navigation system. Just ask where you would like to go and OnStar will provide directions. You can even speak to an actual person, or Advisor, while driving to guide you to your destination. They are available 24/7.

OnStar also provides emergency services such as road side assistance. It will send emergency help to your location after a crash, even if you don't ask for help, thanks to OnStar's crash-detecting sensors. Other services available with OnStar include vehicle diagnostic reports, hands-free calling, and stolen vehicle support. It can also unlock your doors when you leave your keys in the car or honk the horn and flash the lights to alert you to the car's location.

If your car features a service like OnStar, expect to receive a discounted insurance rate for your vehicle with national companies like those found on Auto Insurance, as lower response times to an accident brings down the overall cost of insuring the entire driving force.

3. Smartphones Feature Apps That Provide GPS Mapping and Directions

Smartphones have replaced so many devices, that the portable car GPS only had so much time before it was its next conquest. The two companies that have propelled smartphones to the GPS and personal navigation system market is Google, and Apple. Google maps is a popular app that provides detailed directions, accurate maps, and interesting travel information including the location of restaurants, hotels, and shopping malls. It also provides realistic street view perspectives, and public transportation information.

Apple has a mapping application as well, but it isn't as accurate as Google's. Its flyover feature and spoken directions are two advantages over Google Maps.

As more people upgrade to smartphones and new car owners buy vehicles with navigation systems, the portable car GPS will eventually die out. It's only hope is to retain as many of their current subscribers as possible.  

Welcome Driverless Cars

Summary

The SEO Berkshire team within digital agency Cayenne Red is interested in all things technical of course, so we were fascinated to learn that soon our roads will be packed with driverless Google cars. But is this a gimmick, or a meaningful step forward towards something that will help mankind?

The SEO Berkshire team within digital agency Cayenne Red is interested in all things technical of course, so we were fascinated to learn that soon our roads will be packed with driverless Google cars. But is this a gimmick, or a meaningful step forward towards something that will help mankind?

You can’t quite imagine Messrs Clarkson, Hammond and May getting that excited by the Google driverless cars. These are not the rocket propelled supercars that so many people like to drool over. Instead, they are quite plain cars with computers taking over the controls.

They’ve been tested in the US and also in Spain, and have shown to be reliable and safe. However, the cars were strictly controlled and in the case of Spain mimicked the use of a ‘lead’ human driver at the front of a convoy.

But, in terms of how quickly technology advances in a matter of months, it’s likely that driverless cars will quickly be a reality on the streets.

And we should welcome this advancement with open arms. Okay, yes, driving can be fun and yes, there’s nothing like running through the gears in a swift car on the open road. But, the sad truth is, modern day driving is all about negotiating hugely busy roads when the chance of breaking the speed limit would be a rare thing indeed.

Also, driving is ever more demanding, with local authorities seeing road furniture (signs, sleeping policemen) as a chance to keep the driver’s eyes anywhere but the car in front. Drive down an average City road these days and you are confronted with so many visual instructions that you’ll soon need a computer to figure them out.

Now, driverless cars are super clever. They don’t get over-stimulated by signs, don’t start flashing the finger to bike riders and certainly don’t wish to separate a traffic warden’s head from his shoulders.

Nor do they get fatigued, which is a major problem with today’s roads. They don’t have to stop every two hours on the motorway to get refueled with a KFC and super Cola.

So, we should embrace these wonders of technology. The only issue is what happens when there is an accident? Will it be a similar situation we have with bank ATMs, a presumed sense of innocence?

Anyone who’s been short-changed by an ATM will know how difficult it is to prove the injustice of not getting the right number of notes. It’s like hitting your head against a brick wall.

So when the driver-less, highly intelligent car decides to throw a wobbly and smash into you – try proving to the judge that simple you, who doesn’t have a computer processor for a brain, was not at fault!

Move over Top Gear.

Attribute to: Biljana Dimovska, Cayenne Red.

Biljana Dimovska is a member of the digital marketing team at SEO Windsor agency Cayenne Red. She is a regular contributor to the media on how companies market themselves in the digital age.