[ABI Research consumer survey results show text-to-speech, voice recognition and multimedia functions are beoming more common features in nav devices and systems.]

London -- A new consumer survey conducted by ABI Research reveals that text-to-speech, voice recognition and multimedia functions are becoming more common features in navigation devices and systems. Of the navigation users surveyed, text-to-speech and voice recognition are used by about 46% and 19% respectively. The integration of multimedia features is clearly being appreciated by some, with more than 20% of the respondents having used audio or video playback on their navigation devices.

“The use of navigation devices for multimedia consumption is important for the future of PNDs,” says ABI Research director Dominique Bonte. “With 42% of the respondents using their navigation device less often than once a week in emergency situations or while travelling, non-navigation use cases will contribute to a more intensive use of PNDs, and greater perceived benefits.”

While 31% of the respondents have access to traffic information, over 70% among that group benefit from lifetime or temporarily free traffic info services. However, 67% of the traffic users confirmed they would definitely or probably renew their subscriptions.

The survey also confirms the dominant position of Garmin in the PND segment and Verizon Wireless in the handset-based off-board navigation segment, with respectively 45% and 57% of the respondents using these brands. The results also confirm continued price erosion, with an average price of $250 for PNDs purchased during the last 6 months.

A new ABI Research Brief “US Navigation Survey Highlights” (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/research_brief/Location-Aware_ Services_Research_Brief/104) presents the key findings of this web-based survey, which asked 750 in-car navigation users in the US about a wide range of topics related to navigation usage. The survey was focused on navigation form factors, use cases, navigation feature usage, price evolution, satisfaction, and brand/vendor market shares.

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