A few months after the first mass market GLONASS+GPS car navigation devices appeared on the Russian market, supply has been rising rapidly and prices have started to fall.
Two navigators, the Lexand SG-555 and the Explay GN-510, were introduced fewer than two weeks ago by their producers, Lexand and Explay, at the recommended retail prices of 5,490 rubles ($195) and 4,990 rubles ($177) respectively.
They have already lost as much as $30 each in their retail prices. The Lexand SG-555 is currently sold in the online store of one of Russia’s largest electronics retailers, M.video, for just 4,740 rubles ($168), after a 5% discount is applied at checkout, and includes free delivery within Moscow. The Explay GN-510 is available in certain Moscow online stores at a price starting at 4,237 rubles ($150).
Both devices seem to be OEM products of the same Chinese supplier. The Windows CE-based pieces of hardware feature 5-inch screens, built-in media players, and maps of Russia produced by Navitel, a leading Russian publisher of navigation software.
The dual GPS+GLONASS chipset inside both devices is produced by Taiwan’s MStar Semiconductor.
Compared to GPS-only solutions, the GPS+GLONASS combination can, in certain cases, improve the performance of location-based services (LBS). For example, services that calculate device position require at least three satellite signals, and devices that use both GPS and GLONASS almost double the number of usable satellites in the sky compared to GPS alone. As a result, positioning is more accurate, especially in dense “urban canyon” environments.
