Attendees and panelists here at the lively GPS Wireless 2008 convention in San Francisco have different forecasts about what's coming next to the navigation world. That's no surprise. Put a representative from a cellphone company and a portable navigation device (PND) manufacturer in the same discussion, and you'd better expect different forecasts. These people have to eat, plus they have hungry shareholders to feed.

But one thing most seem to agree on is that PNDs will become more connected in the near future. People, they say, will demand real-time traffic and weather, Internet access, and other gotta-have services. Some also say the industry needs to move in that direction because it can't survive by cranking out $150 barebones devices.

One question expert panelists are wrestling with is how to pay for these added services and who is going to create them. Another is specifically what the most important services will be. More than one panelist dodged that question. Once again, they have to eat. Can't be giving away the store and all.

In terms of paying for it, there are a couple of ways to go. Subscription fees could do it, but it hasn't been proven that everyone will fork over 10 or 12 bucks a month for traffic, weather, and whatever. "Bundling" products together, much like cellphone plans do with voice mail, text messaging, etc. is another possibility, and one that can be an easier sell than a la carte services, especially to a wired public whose cart is overflowing with connectivity fees already.

And then there's another, and possibly even less appealing alternative: Advertising. But that alternative is so unappealing that panelists don't even like to use the "a" word. They prefer "sponsorship." As in, "I see you asked for directions to the nearest coffee. Howzabout a coupon or discount code for Starbucks?"

By doing this, some say the subscription cost to the user could be cut by half, or eliminated altogether.

Note to self: Stop blogging. Go buy a barebones unit right now.

—Jim Travers

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