So, I realized there's no section for this to go in. We don't have a general GPS chat so it's going here.
So, it's now time for the great debate, Android vs WinCE... from a purely Sat Nav and Head Unit perspective. Now, before anyone gets going, answers like "android got more apps, android better OS, yay!!" are totally mundane and stupid, because that isn't the point of what I'm getting at. We need to look at this from the perspective of someone who wants to buy a SatNav Head Unit for their car. Not someone who wants to be able to play Angry Birds. Anyone who wants to play Angry Birds while driving is a total retard. We also need to look at the bigger picture and prioritize the things that are useful in car. So, I'm going to start with some pros and cons of both:
Android
Pros:
Apps- Despite what I said in the intro, it's hard to ignore the fact there are some apps out there that could be useful while driving. TuneIn Pro is one that I think would be very useful, for digital radio especially. No, Angry Birds is not useful...
Customization- Android is easy to customize. You can load new launchers, or even build your own. It wouldn't be hard to make it individual. Rooting China 2Din Android Units is a piece of cake.
Multimedia- It's easy to obtain various multimedia codecs and software, and you can pretty much turn it into a multimedia hub for your car.
Internet Access- Obviously it's hard to ignore all the goodies an Android loaded 3G head unit would bring. Instant access to YouTube and other cool online services.
Sync- It wouldn't be hard to sync your head unit to your phone or PC. Theoretically, you could select somewhere on your PC and navigate it using Google Maps in your car.
Cons:
Cost- Android head units are the most expensive of the China 2Din's around. The hardware is often more powerful than WinCE counterparts, and the general cost to build is higher. Android also takes more adapting to the hardware specification as it's designed for so many different devices.
Ergonomics- There is still an ongoing debate about whether an adapted form of WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointers) is the best layout for mobile devices, including head units. Is having WIMP in your car a smart move? Is it really precise enough, small icons etc?
Hardware- While the hardware in Android China 2Din's is higher spec'd than WinCE competitors, it generally pales in comparison to tablets and phones. One device being retailed for £300 online, has a single core 1GHz processor, and only 512mb of RAM. To put that into context, a Samsung Galaxy S1 is faster. Running Android requires much greater processing power than WinCE, and a WinCE device with 600MHz and 128MB will almost certainly appear faster than an Android with 1Ghz processor and 512mb RAM even when browsing.
Software- It really isn't hard to create a ROM for Android, I assure you. Making a ROM for Android that is stable is a totally different matter. There isn't any guarantee that the ROM you are getting supplied with the head unit you buy is even close to stable. It's not hard to find people on the Internet who have bought China tablets, China phones and they're borderline unusable due to the poor ROM supplied with the phone.
Obsoletion- Android is a rapidly growing OS. The pace in which it has grown already is phenomenal, but cracks are starting to appear within it's own environment. People still using Gingerbread 2.3 are finding that new app updates are breaking their phone, yet older versions are becoming unsupported and some are being forced to update. There is little chance of ROM updates for an Android head unit, so the likelihood is within 2 - 3 years, your device will be totally obsolete and many apps will stop working. To add insult to injury, most Android Head Units are still using 2.2, with a few using 2.3 and some now starting to use ICS. That's two versions behind the latest.
Sat Nav Packages- Finally, Android has a fairly small selection of major Sat Nav Packages right now. iGo, Co-Pilot, TomTom (hit and miss) Google Maps and Sygic are available, however there are 100's of tinpot Sat Nav apps that might not really be that good.
WinCE
Pros:
Cost- As expected, it's the first on the list. WinCE tend to be the best value devices around, and you can pick up a fairly functional WinCE tablet sat nav for under £50, and the head units retail at around £100 for the cheapest.
Obsoletion- WinCE 6 is unlikely to be made obsolete by updates any time soon, seeing as Microsoft has finished development for it years ago. Yet, WinCE is still a very commonly used OS for sat nav products around the world. Trust me, if you have WinCE 6, the newest version of iGo Primo will be designed to work on it.
Software- WinCE is a fairly easy OS to adapt to hardware, even for a manufacturer. In most cases, the boards are designed specifically for WinCE and therefore there is little scope for problems and bugs in that respect.
Sat Nav Packages- Most major packages are available for WinCE. There are some smaller Sat Nav packages too.
Cons:
Apps- There are none... well, there are, but don't expect to find TuneIn Radio. Most WinCE apps are functional tools, such as Task Managers etc. Those that are generally outdated and haven't been updated in years (see Opera Browser) I've heard it's possible to port WM6 apps over to WinCE, but I'm yet to be shown how to do that.
Customization- Again, there is none. None whatsoever.
Memory- There are devices coming out of the factory that simply haven't got the memory requirements to run the necessary software. It's not always easy to tell which though.
Interface- Could be good, could be bad, but unfortunately the lack of customization means a bad UI usually results in you being set for the rest of the device lifetime.
Discuss people.