Starting from next week in the USA, Dell will begin adding GPS functionality as an option for the Dell Mini 10 Netbook as Dell believes there is a demand for GPS in Netbooks as well as mobile phones.
. “We’re betting that location services will be a hit in netbooks as well,” Lionel Menchaca blogger for Dell, wrote in a blog post
The option for GPS will come as part of a Dell Wireless 700 location solution card containing both hardware and software. The hardware is an internal GPS card with built in Wi-Fi.
“These two technologies work in tandem, which means the technology works both indoors and out. In other words, it can calculate your position using Wi-Fi access points or using GPS satellites. The Dell Wireless 700 is powered by Broadcom’s A-GPS and Skyhook Wireless’ Wi-Fi position solutions” Menchaca wrote.
As far as software goes, the Dell Wireless 700 location solution card also features CoPilot navigation software to help you on your way.
This software can provide you with detailed directions to wherever you want to go, along with map views in 2D or 3D and “lets you save up to 50 addresses for one trip, offers trip optimization to provide the most efficient route, can provide instant detour information when you encounter expected delays and provides continuously updated information about the trip” says Menchaca
What this means for users of the popular Dell Mini 10 range of Netbooks is that they can have a full navigation system on their Netbooks and can use their Netbook as a complete Sat Nav system if they want to.
Menchaca goes on to explain another location-based service Dell is bringing to market, a location aware portal.
“For it, we’ve partnered with Skyhook Wireless and Loki. Loki is a browser plug-in that comes preconfigured for Internet Explorer and Firefox. It works with Loki-supported sites to improve local search functionality by providing you details from nearby restaurants store locations and your friends’ location information from supported social media sites like Flickr, Loopt and BrightKite”
Initially, the GPS option for the Dell Mini 10 will require Windows XP operating system but support for Vista and Windows 7 will be added later Menchaca wrote.
There was no mention of pricing.
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