Integrating GPS receivers into consumer mobile electronics

Automotive electronics manufacturers are gearing up production lines to implement Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers in a new breed of location-information-based devices called telematics products. These GPS-enabled devices-car navigation systems and mayday systems-now debuting in the luxury vehicle market, will soon find placement in mid-sized vehicles and mini-vans as automotive manufacturers finalize plans to make telematics products more mainstream. GPS-enabled telematics products possess a combination of functions that make driving more pleasurable, safer and easier. These devices are a part of the larger plan to put mobile multimedia products in the cars of today and tomorrow. Although the technology behind the devices remains transparent to the driver, the benefits are realized dramatically. Car navigation systems, which use an electronic map database and provide vocal turn-by-turn routing instructions, ensure confidence when traveling through unfamiliar places. Mayday systems, using an on-board, on-demand communications device, provide the driver with the peace of mind common to owners of monitored home security systems. Car navigation systems and mayday systems each have their own hardware feature set on which different functionality can be built