Today was a big day for personal navigation devices. Navigon, Garmin, and Sony all announced additions to their PND product portfolios. While the expected enhancements are all there - 3D, touchscreen, Bluetooth, thinner form factors one underlying theme underpins all the devices - Real Time Traffic Updates. For free (for the most part).

The days of helicopters hovering high above or sensors being put in the road to determine traffic conditions are becoming a thing of the past. While each manufacturer opts for different solutions (i.e. RDS/TMC versus Navteq Traffic) for their traffic data the evidence is clear - the wireless network will be what empowers the next generation of traffic reporting. The primary sources of data will be mobile phones and PNDs themselves providing flow data based on their movement (immediately indicating traffic slow downs) which can quickly be aggregated and then distributed to the masses.

In a world where location based services are the future - knowing where people are, how to get them where they need to go next, and reach them on their travels will be necessary. Traffic is merely the beginning of these services - as the technology penetrates deeper (and is distributed via 3G and 4G networks) the opportunity for location based advertising, couponing, and specific recommendations based on route will only increase further.

Will the PND be the device that delivers all these services or will they be usurped by the mobile phone? There are argumens both ways - but what is clear is that the device will require pervasive connectivity on the Anywhere network to enable these new features. This is just the beginning.