We used to get the help of autowallas,taxiwallas or a bypassing pedestrian. But with the Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs) you won’t seek help. PNDs available in India now comes with a huge database of digitised maps covering 55,000 towns and villages, 150 landmarks and 18 cities as well as local places in 52 categories. This will help you to reach the destination easier. Delhi-based MapmyIndia — a sister concern of a leading player in the Geographical Information Systems (GIS), CE Info Systems — launched two new models of what are being called Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs). All you should do is buy one and mount it on your dashboard. This palm sized naviagtion gadget displays the distance and time to the destined place while on the move. MapmyIndia’s navigator can either be mounted on the windshield of the dashboard while driving or carried in hand while sitting in the backseat. The MapmyIndia Navigator is available for Rs 21,000 in Delhi and Rs 22,000 in other states. This is a one-time cost for the entire navigation-ready product, pre-loaded with complete all India maps and standard accessories such as car and wall charger, windshield and dashboard mount, manuals etc.
But you may think why should a pay a sum of Rs20000 for navigation in the age of google maps? With GPS enabled phones and blackberryies you can only plot a route between two locations but with the mapmyindia navigators turn-by-turn navigation is possible which cannot be done with the former. When lot of navigators are available in the market what makes the mapmyindia navigator unique is its larger database. More than easier navigation you can avoid quarrel inside the car espescially when you are going for a new place with your family.
Mapmynavigator covers
* Delhi NCR (New Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad, Ghaziabad)
* Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula
* Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane
* Pune (including Pimpri Chinchwad)
* Bangalore
* Chennai
* Hyderabad, Secunderabad
* Kolkata (including Bidhan Nagar)
Availability:
The MapmyIndia Navigator is currently available at 50 dealers across major cities- Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Chandigarh and will be available across 2000 retail outlets by the end of 2008.
Future map upgrades
MapmyIndia map future upgrades will be available twice a year for the entire country and will include updates to existing coverage in addition to new coverage. Users will have an option to purchase the upgrades at a reasonable price. In the next one year MapmyIndia plans to release over 1000 cities and 500,000 towns and villages along with 1 million points of interest with these upgrades.
However the gadget does not inform the traveler of any changes in the route in real-time or suggest alternative routes to the destination.