Today’s portable, wireless technology has lots of potential to deliver powerful, real-time information to drivers in their automobiles. To date, that potential hasn’t been realized, ABI Research (News - Alert) said today in a new report—but it soon will be.

 

Motorists, ABI said, soon will have access to more than just traffic accident data. The research firm see a growing trend in which service providers and data aggregators are paying attention to the type of information motorist are enthusiastic about paying for, and finding ways to deliver it.

 

“Connected navigation” applications, as ABI dubs them, will deliver information such as traffic flow data, weather reports, instant messaging capabilities, and contextual answers to queries about local products and services.

 

ABI analyst Dan Benjamin noted in the report that delivering this type of information requires an Internet connection. Trail blazing companies in this arena include TomTom (uses Bluetooth connection) and Dash Navigation (uses cellular modem and WiFi (News - Alert)).

 

Benjamin also said that, to stay competitive, vendors of navigation products and services must begin thinking about these types of applications.

 

“Navigation vendors should be partnering with various data suppliers in order to differentiate their offerings and incorporate the new data into their routing algorithms and applications,” Benjamin said in a statement. “There are also many opportunities for data aggregators in niche areas.”

 

Yet, while opportunities may abound for service providers, data aggregators, and other companies in the navigation industry, a few wrinkles do need to be ironed out, Benjamin said.

 

The primary challenges, according to ABI, are: