GPS (Global Position System) navigation remains a primary use for my Pocket PC. The cost of purchasing and equipping my Pocket PC for GPS navigation is substantially lower than the cost of purchasing an optional GPS car package, and the Pocket PC system offers additional flexibility. GPS gives you turn-by turn directions to almost any destination, and even if you already know how to get there, it will give you an estimated time of arrival, which changes if you're stuck in traffic, and help you detour around traffic jams and other obstacles.
Complete GPS packages for the Pocket PC provide you with a GPS receiver, which picks up signals from orbiting GPS satellites, and navigation software including maps, which translates the GPS signals into useable information. The maps used by most of the GPS solutions described in this article are from two major map data providers: NAVTEQ and Teleatlas. The only exception is ALK's CoPilot Live. ALK prides itself on maintaining its own proprietary map database. Map data files for the Pocket PC are compressed so that more maps can be stored on a device's limited memory. For example, you can store street-level maps for the entire U.S. on a single 1 GB SD card (priced around $60).
As mentioned, the GPS navigation application turns the signals received from the GPS satellites into useful information. It can display your location, speed, and direction on maps, and guide you to your destination. The look and feel of these applications differs, and the usability of the interface is important. But so is the accuracy of the map data and the under-the-hood routing algorithms. A navigation application with a pretty screen is nice, but one with a less attractive screen that provides you with a more accurate and efficient route is nicer.
Most of the solutions described here let you specify "shortest" and "quickest" routes, and allow you to specify roads you want to avoid (toll roads, ferries, and even sharp turns, which is great for RVs). I generally opt for the quickest routes, and the programs generally try to get me onto faster roads (like highways). This works great for me, unless a freeway on ramp is out for repair. Unfortunately, even the most up-to-date maps won't show that.
In testing about 20 different Pocket PC GPS navigation packages I've had the opportunity to work with about 10 different receivers. Although the navigation applications themselves vary, I have not noticed any significant difference in the sensitivity and speed of the various receivers. I'm sure there are subtle differences and the best place to look for those is a GPS enthusiast Web site. For me, the important thing is easily entering the beginning point and destination, and quickly getting a fast and accurate route.
Today, even the "worst" GPS packages are generally vastly improved from the best ones a few years ago. Virtually each package I tested had "a new haircut" – some enhanced graphics, maybe more optimization, etc. These packages just keep getting better, and you have to wonder where the ceiling is. My wife has a luxury truck with built-in GPS (which cost $2,000 extra). We use it when we're in her car, but I'm pretty confident that, if a street is missing from her GPS database, it's present on at least one of the GPS packages I have for my Pocket PC. Other than managing contacts and e-mail, GPS is the majorreason I have a Pocket PC. If it wasn't available, I'd spend time on the Internet or with fold-out paper maps pre-planning my trips. With a GPS-equipped Pocket PC, I just punch in my destination and hit the road!
Tight race for best GPS solution
GPS solutions for the Pocket PC elicit strong opinions, and the Best Software Awards 2005 vote was very close. For the first phase of the voting, we took the 12 nominations in this category and split them up into two groups of six each. We randomly assigned judges to test each title in a group. (Six judges tested all of the programs in one group; the other six judges tested all the programs in the other group.) Each of the judges selected a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place program and eight of the 12 products received a 1st place vote. The four top vote getters became finalists, and a completely different set of seven judges evaluated those four to determine winner.
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