Satellite navigation – where we are now

When the GPS (Global Positioning System) developed by the US military became available for commercial use it opened the door to the birth of satellite navigation in our cars.

In 1994 the first European navigation systems were fitted into the BMW 7 Series and only covered Germany, providing a map display and directional arrows – but no voice instructions and little in the way of Points of Interest like restaurants, hotels and banks etc.

That first BMW in-car GPS navigation system included a CD with NAVTEQ maps restricted to the key German towns and cities and main roads in between.

Despite its limitations, that first system was cutting edge technology and led to one of the fastest growing markets of its time – personal navigation.

Quickly available on most high end cars and eventually on the vast majority of car models, the map coverage also continued to expand – NAVTEQ had around 20 countries by 2000, which was also the year the DVD was launched and suddenly one disk could hold a map of the whole of Europe.

By 1999 full, detailed map coverage of Great Britain was available followed by Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in 2005.

By 2003 new methods of compressing data were an important step in the growth of small, portable gadgets: first PDAs with navigation and then neat, dedicated systems (PNDs).

Next came the mobile phone with a separate GPS receiver, which was very quickly overtaken by the ‘smartphone’ with not only built in navigation software but also built in GPS technology.

Popularity of all the options continues to soar.

By the beginning of this year there were nearly 300 million turn-by-turn navigation systems worldwide including about 45 million fitted, in-dash models, over 116 million PNDs and an estimated 120 million navigation-enabled mobile phones, smartphones and PDAs.

So why has navigation captured the imagination of the world’s drivers? Well it’s a great way to find your way around. The Points of Interest can be very helpful on the road when you need a pitstop or somewhere to stay.

Research from mapping company NAVTEQ shows that more effective routing saves time, fuel and money and reduces CO² emissions.

In fact drivers using a navigation system can reduce the overall distance they drive per year by over 1,500 miles and save over £300 in fuel costs.

Today, one navigation system can help you travel around six continents and these global maps are continually updated to help systems calculate routes as efficiently as possible.

The ability to have a system in your car or a small gadget you can carry with integrated maps and GPS and which can be constantly connected to the internet means endless possibilities for services and applications.

Connected technology offers instant access to the very latest maps including updates literally only days or even hours old!

Imagine a world where a component in your car knows exactly where the vehicle is on the road and automatically controls your speed coming up to a sharp bend or crossroads; or calculates ‘green’ journeys using the least possible fuel by taking into account road surfaces and driving conditions.

Or a world where mobile gadgets are essential to carry at all times. With this gadget you can order and pay for items online; access real time information on traffic flows and public transport timetables; use GPS signals and WiFi networks to navigate and to locate friends using a ‘buddy finder’ feature.

And all evolved from a German map in a BMW system 16 years ago.