Quest GPS knows what's important: Location, location, location

Companies such as MapQuest and Microsoft (with its MapPoint Location Server) are at the forefront of location-aware enterprise applications, using location data to build a customized data display or to give telemetry back to a datacenter or reporting system.

Those technologies are complicated, however, requiring service licenses and custom applications. In contrast, the new generation of handheld GPS (Global Positioning System) clients, typified by Garmin’s Quest, can be integrated into a client/server environment, either by downloading information from a desktop or notebook PC, using a built-in database, or connecting to a mobile device.

The Quest includes detailed, street-level maps, dynamic route planning, turn-by-turn directions, and customizable internal database. (Garmin also markets a GPS system built into a Palm-compatible PDA, the iQue 3200.)

Although the Quest can’t run custom applications directly — its software is burned into the ROM — the 6-ounce device is much simpler to deploy for mobile workers who simply need driving directions, without all the bells and whistles of a centrally managed, enterprise-oriented geographic application. Better yet, it doesn’t rely upon specific wireless technologies or on partnerships between carriers, vendors, and enterprise datacenters.

The Quest expands on modern automotive GPS systems from Garmin and Magellan with 115MB of RAM, which can be synched with a PC via USB port. Quest includes MapSource, a Windows application that controls communication with the device; units sold in North America also include coast-to-coast street-level maps, which can be downloaded into the device.

Garmin says its GPS is accurate to 10 feet, but in my experience it’s closer to 30 to 50 feet while driving. That’s sufficiently accurate to tell you which street you’re driving on, but sometimes it misses a turn if streets are too close together.

The Quest’s software offers generally accurate route generation. On a recent trip to Washington state, when the recommended highway was blocked by an accident, I took an early exit — and the Quest instantly generated a new route. Later, when I accidentally went east instead of west on state highway 520, the GPS recognized that within a few seconds and quickly got me heading in the right direction. In other cases, Quest didn’t choose the best route, but it did get me to the destination.

Destinations can be predefined in the MapSource software by clicking on a map, typing in an address, or entering a latitude/longitude coordinate. All three options are also available directly on the handheld as well, although keying city names and street numbers and names on the screen-based keyboard using a rocker switch and an “OK” button is cumbersome.

For lightweight customization, business data is easily entered into the MapSource application and from there downloaded into the Quest. To integrate the GPS unit into custom applications, such as preprogramming a list of delivery stops for the day, Garmin offers an SDK for communicating with the device, including the transmission of data sets.

Unfortunately, the company does not offer developer support for the SDK, so you’re on your own with the integration efforts. If the GPS is going to be used to relay real-time position information to a handheld or laptop PC, the Quest speaks the industry-standard protocol, NMEA 183.

The Quest is an impressive system, designed for field staff and business travelers who need intelligent routing and directions to specific addresses. Unlike many GPS systems, it can be integrated into business applications and easily prepopulated with critical business locations and resources. The Quest is a better solution, both in terms of cost and complexity, than Internet-based, location-aware systems.