Connected PNDs are now entering the navigation market, driven by TomTom's product line. Following their high-range products (740 and 940), the Dutch company recently introduced a mid-range TomTom XL priced at 220 euros.

It makes no doubt that the PND market will soon be split in two: on one side, cheap devices with basic functionalities, on the other side mid-high range devices loaded with connected services (e.g. live gas prices, Internet search, traffic, park space availability, etc). PND manufacturers will generate extra revenues from their connected devices through subscriptions.

So, how will the market grow ? Based on forecast published by Berg Insight, a market research company, and on our own analysis, we estimate there will be 560 000 connected devices in Europe by end 2009, and 5 millions by end 2010.

After the boom of Personal Navigation Devices (PND) from 2004 to 2008, we have been expecting "Connected PNDs" to revive the category and bring innovative services. So, where do we stand today ?

Connected PNDs are navigation devices able to receive dynamic information, mostly through an integrated SIM card with a GPRS/3G connection.

Typical examples of dynamic information are gas prices, traffic and incident information, location of mobile speedcams, parking space availability, weather information, movie times, Internet search, etc.

We reviewed the market and listed the devices available or about to be, and there are plenty, from both big names and small start-ups :

Now that TomTom has showed the way with both mid-range and high-range connected devices, we expect other big names to follow. In a future article, we will try to estimate the market size.

From Monday 16th to Thursday 19th, NAVX will be demonstrating its innovative location-based services: real-time geolocalized information, user-generated content, community management, mobile applications.

Come and visit us: our booth is located within the TeleAtlas space, Hall 8, C118.

We expect the MWC 2009 to be packed with news. In particular, we will carefully look at Garmin's Nuvifones, how Microsoft and Blackberry take up the challenge against the iPhone, which mobile social networks get traction...

We recently had the pleasure to share our respective visions of the market with Ludovic Privat, co-founder and editor of GPSBusinessNews. Where is the market heading ? Are connected devices going to make any significant impact in 2009 ? Is geocontextual advertising ripe for growth ? How is the LBS value chain transforming ? That was indeed a good brainstorming session !

It was also an opportunity to show him what we are cooking in our labs, and to do a nice interview (here).