KEY POINTS:
The local market for GPS navigation systems is about to heat up, with fast-growing global brand TomTom announcing its first foray into New Zealand.
Dutch-listed TomTom has decided to go up against local success story Navman and US-based Garmin for a slice of the growing in-car and hand-held global positioning system location device market.
GPS navigation tools have become increasingly sophisticated and reliable over the past few years. At the same time the cost of the devices has effectively halved.
Dick Smith was this week selling three different GPS mapping products for between $397 and $599.
TomTom has yet to announce pricing for the two devices it is launching locally next month, but the company's managing director for Australia and New Zealand, Andrew Cooper, said it planned to be competitive in the local market. Its marketing strategy would be aimed at educating buyers about the benefits and ease of use of GPS navigation.
The company, already in more than 30 countries, including Australia, is close to announcing a New Zealand country manager to steer its new local business.
The strategy of putting its effort into "educating" consumers about the benefits of the latest generation of navigation systems makes sense and will be vital if TomTom is to grow itself a worthwhile share of the market.
While in-car navigation is ubiquitous technology in some markets, such as Japan, Kiwis have yet to embrace it. Perhaps an element of our national psyche is an aversion for navigation aids. Or maybe it's just that a map book is still a cheaper option.
While GPS newbies may question the practicality of having a small-screened device attempt to guide you through unfamiliar streets, the units are surprisingly intuitive and simple to operate. They need to be - anything that sits on a car's dashboard has to be straight-forward enough not to be a distraction.
In fact, TomTom's marketing department has come armed with research (commissioned, in part, by the company itself) which claims satellite navigation has a positive effect on driver and traffic safety.
The European survey found the systems heighten driver alertness and reduce stress. Drivers who do not have the use of a satellite navigation system have 12 per cent more damage claims to their vehicles.
Cooper says some European insurance companies have responded by offering discounts to drivers with GPS systems.
Then there are the productivity gains from having a computer tell you where to go.
The research claimed TomTom systems reduced travel time when driving through an unknown area to an unknown destination by 18 per cent.
This will not come as surprising news to many New Zealand businesses, an increasing number of which are turning to GPS as a productivity enhancer that pays for itself surprisingly quickly.
While TomTom is initially only launching two products in New Zealand, both aimed at the consumer market, a number of specialist providers already offer GPS technology to local business fleets and the technology is saving commercial drivers hours of wasted travel time per week.
Connecting on the cheap
A comment in last week's column that connecting to the internet via Wi-Fi is a cheaper option than connecting over a cellular network was challenged quick-smart by one of the two cellular network operators.
Vodafone spokesman Paul Brislen points out that while the company at the centre of the column, Kordia, charges customers $79.95 for shifting up to 1 gigabyte of data over its Wi-Fi network, Vodafone charges only $59.95 to move the same amount of data.
Several factors make an apples-with-apples comparison between the two services impossible.
Vodafone's charge relates to a single month's usage, whereas Kordia will let you stretch your consumption over six months.
Laptop users wanting to connect over Vodafone's network may have to buy a data card whereas most laptops now have Wi-Fi connectivity built in.
My own Wi-Fi roaming tends to be free, or more correctly, cross-subsidised. I typically connect to Telecom hot-spots (free for Xtra broadband subscribers) or at airports (free if you buy an Air New Zealand Koru lounge membership).
And the high costs of data roaming for Vodafone customers travelling overseas also means Wi-Fi will be a cheaper option for international travellers.
But I accept the issue is not always clear-cut. The recent introduction of new plans means cellular data prices have dropped significantly.
Depending on where and how often you access the internet when you're away from a fixed connection, it's possible a cellular network connection may indeed be a cheaper (and more convenient) option than Wi-Fi.
Choosing the best value option when both are available is a matter of doing your homework to assess the different charges and conditions, and guessing just how much data you will use.
