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Nav System upgrade scope

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by larrywal, Jan 21, 2008.

  1. larrywal

    larrywal New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2008
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    Location:
    Seattle
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Hi all -- I just purchased a 2008 Prius and I like it very much, though I'm disappointed with a few aspects of the nav system. Specifically I miss features that previous GPS systems I've used have had:

    - I miss Text to Speech (TTS) -- this feature on my newer portable GPS speaks out street names (i.e. "Turn left on First street, then quick right onto I-5 North"). The Prius system does TTS on state highways and interstates, but not local names.

    - These are less important, but I also miss '3D view' like Garmin has (where it appears you're driving on the map "into the screen").

    - One feature I've never had but I know I'll want in the next few years is traffic updates and route detection to minimize drive time based on these updates.

    I know nav systems can be updated to include new map data, but my question is whether or not nav system updates can also include features like the above. While I know traffic might be too much to hope for (needs a data link), TTS would be very nice and 3D view would be icing. Does anybody know if I'm just setting myself up for disappointment hoping the 2009 update disc could provide these?

    Thanks.
     
    #1 larrywal, Jan 21, 2008
  2. mkiefer83

    mkiefer83 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 15, 2007
    45
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    Location:
    Ypsilanti, MI
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    Hi Larry,

    If you're hoping for an update disc to add this functionality, I have a feeling that you're probably setting yourself up for disappointment.

    Text-to-speech is a pretty good size module in the navigation software and other features may have to be dropped to implement that feature.

    The 3D view, similar to text-to-speech, requires additional software that would take up a large amount of space in the system to be able to render that properly.

    Traffic, as you mentioned, could require additional hardware as well as additional software to function as you've seen on many PNDs (personal navigation devices) as of late. The high-end Lexus navigation system support XM NavTraffic, but beyond that, there's no implementation of traffic in the states (I believe Europe gets traffic data over TMS-RDS).
     
    #2 mkiefer83, Jan 21, 2008
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