Magellan Navigation
Encyclopedia
Magellan Navigation, Inc. is a producer of consumer and professional grade global positioning system receivers. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California
, with European sales and engineering centers in Nantes
, France
and Moscow
, Russia
, Magellan also produces aftermarket automotive GPS units, including the Hertz Neverlost system found in Hertz
rental cars. The Maestro, RoadMate, Triton, and eXplorist lines are Magellan's current consumer offerings. The company also produces proprietary road maps (DirectRoute), topographic maps (Topo), and marine charts (BlueNav) for use with its consumer GPS receivers.
, which purchased it in 1994. In 2001, Thales Group
purchased the Magellan division of Orbital Sciences for about $70 million and the Company became known as Thales Navigation
. Five years later, private equity firm Shah Capital Partners and other investors purchased Thales Navigation for $170 million and the company was officially renamed Magellan Navigation.
Magellan was the creator of the Magellan NAV 1000—the world’s first commercial handheld GPS receiver, which debuted in 1989. In 1997, Magellan also introduced the first handheld global satellite communicator—the GSC 100. Later consumer handheld products included the Magellan GPS 2000, GPS 315, Meridian, SporTrak, and Magellan RoadMate models. The MobileMapper CE and ProMark3 have been marketed to professionals like surveyors and GIS (geographic information systems) users.
The consumer division of Magellan was purchased by Mio Technology
subsidiary of MiTAC
on December 15 2008, who changed the name to "MiTAC Digital Corporation".
Current GPS products include:
Magellan GPS units include a variety of different viewing options, including a 3D bird's-eye view
, a night view, and pop-up visuals of upcoming turns. Some models use SiRFstarIII for position accuracy within three meters, and voice and onscreen prompts that provide directions on how to drive to a particular destination. Certain Magellan vehicle navigation systems are also Bluetooth-compatible for integration with mobile phones, and traffic upgradeable for real-time traffic information. The Maestro 4050 is the first portable vehicle navigation device to offer drivers the convenience of voice command capabilities. The Company has a partnership with AAA
that provides drivers with AAA TourBook guide travel information, AAA Member Roadside Assistance details, and AAA Show Your Card & Save Member Discount locations on specific models.
based maps. Map errors are handled by the Navteq Map Reporter. Errors can be reported using the Navteq Map Reporter map feedback page.
Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
, with European sales and engineering centers in Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Magellan also produces aftermarket automotive GPS units, including the Hertz Neverlost system found in Hertz
Hertz
The hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....
rental cars. The Maestro, RoadMate, Triton, and eXplorist lines are Magellan's current consumer offerings. The company also produces proprietary road maps (DirectRoute), topographic maps (Topo), and marine charts (BlueNav) for use with its consumer GPS receivers.
History
Magellan started as an independent company. It was once owned by Orbital Sciences CorporationOrbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital Sciences Corporation is an American company which specializes in the manufacturing and launch of satellites. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems...
, which purchased it in 1994. In 2001, Thales Group
Thales Group
The Thales Group is a French electronics company delivering information systems and services for the aerospace, defense, transportation and security markets...
purchased the Magellan division of Orbital Sciences for about $70 million and the Company became known as Thales Navigation
Thales Navigation
Thales Navigation is a global GPS company created in 2001 from the merger of the Magellan Corporation and Thales Navigation, S.A.-Magellan:...
. Five years later, private equity firm Shah Capital Partners and other investors purchased Thales Navigation for $170 million and the company was officially renamed Magellan Navigation.
Magellan was the creator of the Magellan NAV 1000—the world’s first commercial handheld GPS receiver, which debuted in 1989. In 1997, Magellan also introduced the first handheld global satellite communicator—the GSC 100. Later consumer handheld products included the Magellan GPS 2000, GPS 315, Meridian, SporTrak, and Magellan RoadMate models. The MobileMapper CE and ProMark3 have been marketed to professionals like surveyors and GIS (geographic information systems) users.
The consumer division of Magellan was purchased by Mio Technology
Mio Technology
Mio Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of Mitac Int'l Corp., is a Taiwanese electronics maker that manufactures and markets Pocket PCs, Personal Digital Assistants , smartphones and Personal Navigation Devices...
subsidiary of MiTAC
MiTAC
MiTAC International Corp. is a Taiwan electronics company established December 8, 1982. It is a subsidiary of MiTAC Inc. ....
on December 15 2008, who changed the name to "MiTAC Digital Corporation".
Consumer products
Magellan develops and distributes vehicle navigation, crossover GPS, and outdoor handheld navigation products. The Company also produces customized mapping software for topographic, marine, and street navigation.Current GPS products include:
- The Magellan RoadMate and Magellan Maestro series of portable car navigation systems
- The Magellan CrossoverGPS for automobile and handheld navigation
- The Magellan eXplorist and Magellan Triton series of outdoor handheld navigation devices
- The Hertz NeverLost car navigation system
Magellan GPS units include a variety of different viewing options, including a 3D bird's-eye view
Bird's-eye view
A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object from above, with a perspective as though the observer were a bird, often used in the making of blueprints, floor plans and maps.It can be an aerial photograph, but also a drawing...
, a night view, and pop-up visuals of upcoming turns. Some models use SiRFstarIII for position accuracy within three meters, and voice and onscreen prompts that provide directions on how to drive to a particular destination. Certain Magellan vehicle navigation systems are also Bluetooth-compatible for integration with mobile phones, and traffic upgradeable for real-time traffic information. The Maestro 4050 is the first portable vehicle navigation device to offer drivers the convenience of voice command capabilities. The Company has a partnership with AAA
American Automobile Association
AAA , formerly known as the American Automobile Association, is a federation of 51 independently operated motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a not-for-profit member service organization with more than 51 million members. AAA provides services to its members such as travel, automotive,...
that provides drivers with AAA TourBook guide travel information, AAA Member Roadside Assistance details, and AAA Show Your Card & Save Member Discount locations on specific models.
Professional products
The MobileMapper CE, ProMark3 and ProMark 500 are marketed to professionals like surveyors and geographic information systems (GIS) users.- MobileMapper CE assists surveyors with its embedded GPS capability and a fully integrated, 14-channel receiver that delivers sub-meter accurate data positioning in real-time, and a GPS/Differential module that offers sub-foot mapping with post-processing. The device maintains its high precision with multi-path mitigation that is able to perform in urban canyons and dense foliage.
- The ProMark3 is a survey system that performs centimeter-accurate static, stop and go, and kinematic surveys, as well as GIS/mapping. The device allows for GPS surveying under poor satellite tracking conditions. A simple interface that’s available in nine languages, intuitive software, a large color touch screen, and an alphanumeric keypad combine to simplify the deployment process.
- The ProMark 500 is a survey system that performs centimeter-accurate static, stop and go, and kinematic surveys, as well as GIS/mapping and RTK. The device allows surveying under poor satellite tracking conditions by using High SensitivityHigh Sensitivity GPSHigh Sensitivity GPS receivers use large banks of correlators and digital signal processing to search for GPS signals very quickly. This results in very fast times to first fix when the signals are at their normal levels, for example outdoors...
as well multi-path mitigation performe.d GPS Glonass and SBAS systems supported by BLADE technology.
Maps
Magellan products currently use NavteqNAVTEQ
Navteq is a Chicago, Illinois-based provider of Geographic Information Systems data and is a dominant company in providing the base electronic navigable maps...
based maps. Map errors are handled by the Navteq Map Reporter. Errors can be reported using the Navteq Map Reporter map feedback page.
See also
- Automotive navigation systemAutomotive navigation systemAn automotive navigation system is a satellite navigation system designed for use in automobiles. It typically uses a GPS navigation device to acquire position data to locate the user on a road in the unit's map database. Using the road database, the unit can give directions to other locations...
- GarminGarminGarmin Ltd. , incorporated in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, is the parent company of a group of companies founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao , that develops consumer, aviation, and marine technologies for the Global Positioning System...
- GPS
- GLONASSGLONASSGLONASS , acronym for Globalnaya navigatsionnaya sputnikovaya sistema or Global Navigation Satellite System, is a radio-based satellite navigation system operated for the Russian government by the Russian Space Forces...
- Map database managementMap database managementMap database management stems from navigation units becoming more common in automotive vehicles . They serve to perform usual navigation functions, such as finding a route to a desired destination and guiding the driver to it or determining the vehicle’s location and providing information about...
- NavigonNavigonNavigon GmbH is a Hamburg, Germany-based manufacturer of GPS devices and GPS navigation software. It is privately owned, however in June 2011 it was announced that Navigon is to be acquired by a subsidiary of Garmin...
- NDriveNDriveNDrive Navigation Systems, SA is a worldwide provider of navigation services to mobile platforms. Founded in 2001, the company has a staff of 60 people and is headquartered in Porto, Portugal with sales offices on all continents....
- Point of InterestPoint of interestA point of interest, or POI, is a specific point location that someone may find useful or interesting. An example is a point on the Earth representing the location of the Space Needle, or a point on Mars representing the location of the mountain, Olympus Mons.The term is widely used in...
- TomTomTomTomTomTom NV is a Dutch manufacturer of automotive navigation systems, including both stand-alone units and software for personal digital assistants and mobile telephones. It is the leading manufacturer of navigation systems in Europe. TomTom's customer service is located in Amsterdam, Netherlands...
- TeleTypeTeleType Co.TeleType Co., Inc. is a privately held company in the United States, specialized in developing software for GPS devices. It was founded in 1981, under the name TeleTypesetting Company and it is based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company's product line includes automotive and commercial GPS...
External links
- Magellan Consumer GPS
- Magellan Professional GPS
- GEO Professionals Nederland - Magellan Professional GPS - Ashtech Benelux
- Navteq Map Reporter
- maps4me.de, free OpenStreetMapOpenStreetMapOpenStreetMap is a collaborative project to create a free editable map of the world. Two major driving forces behind the establishment and growth of OSM have been restrictions on use or availability of map information across much of the world and the advent of inexpensive portable GPS devices.The...
maps for Magellan - wiki.openstreetmap.org OSM Map on Magellan — Details on Magellan map making