Dash Express

Guide Note: The GPS navigation system Dash Express, by the company, Dash Navigation, was released in early 2008. The device is designed to access real-time data on traffic, gas prices, and other things useful to drivers, and to feature connectivity via GPRS, cell networks, WiFi, and email.

Buzz: The social-networking capabilities of the unit have created a buzz among technophiles, while critics say that the price (and therefore the opportunity cost) is overly steep, totaling around $400 for the hardware and $13 per month for the service, in a market richly supplied with inexpensive, traffic-enabled navigation systems. Quotes:

1. "While the Express is pretty great on its own, it's only going to be really great if lots of other people are using it too, filling in traffic data and populating the my.dash.net site with content. That's called the network effect, friends, and when we asked Dash, they were pretty upfront about it -- although they've gotten solid traffic data in DC with just 20 beta testers and even better data in LA with 40, the goal is (obviously) to build a strong community of Dash users who frequent the portal and add to the traffic data pool, which can then start filtering out bad data and become even more accurate."—Engadget