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Sat-nav for your mobile

Coming soon –

satnavs for all, says
linton chiswick

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Satellite navigation systems are getting cheaper and that's a good thing, since the art of map reading is becoming almost as rare as the hand-knotted bow tie. It's already possible to buy a dedicated satellite navigation unit for under £100 (the no-frills but solid Medion Gopal PNA 210, £79.99, PC World) but the buzzword is convergence - satnav capabilities built in to or added to other portable devices.

Many PDAs can be converted into functional satellite navigation units. The TomTom Navigator 6 system (£120, ebuyer) includes Bluetooth, GPS receiver and a memory card packed with maps.
 

Push the card into your PDA or smartphone, and connect to the GPS receiver via the wireless Bluetooth system.
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But the very PDA itself is becoming a victim of convergence. So-called ‘smartphones’ are getting cheaper, smaller and smarter. And even budget mobile phones have useful address book and diary functions. Satnav on a mobile phone. That's the Holy Grail of lost geeks.

Nokia N95 and 6110 phones and T-Mobile's MDA Compact III CoPilot all include GPS right out the box, but they're expensive, high-end phones. What about satnav for the rest of us, on

 

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