I'm curious to know if I will have to plug in my Garmin GPS when driving through parts of Vermont that have no 3G coverage.
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Well there are maps in the car just not for the google maps screen.
OK, I understand. I heard somewhere that Garmin had a role in the Model S NAV system. Is there any truth to that?
The navigation software is "Navigon", which is a Hamburg, Germany-based company that Garmin acquired in June of 2011. They seem to be operating as a subsidiary and haven't shed the Navigon branding from their products.
Interesting. So is there actually integration between Google Maps and the Navigon software? Or is the Google map just an independent location display?
Will the voice commands not work?
The 4.0 release notes state "Note: This feature requires connectivity". My guess is they licensed the service based offering from Nuance who is the leader in this space. Both iOS and Android require connectivity for similar functionality.
Based on my short experience during test drives the Google Maps data is used for POI searches as well as the primary screen display. Once you select to navigate to a destination it sends that destination information to the Navigon app which runs on the separate Tegra-2 based system in the dashboard. This also leads to another interesting result of this mashup. The Google Maps data is distinctly different than the mapping data in Navigon which leverages Navteq maps. (Navteq ended up being acquired by Nokia in October of 2007). Especially outside of the United States there can be dramatic differences in mapping data accuracy. Just look at the drama this week with Apple Maps and folks in Australia needing police rescue.
So to navigate us we have Google, Garmin/Navigon, and Navteq/Nokia all with some role. Better than a static DVD-based system in any case.
I'm curious about the nav update as well. With the tech package it says you get 7 years of free updates. What happens after that?
Unless the updates are very reasonable (e.g. $10 - $20) You don't upgrade unless there is a very compelling reason to do so.