Callaway

I was at my MB dealership on Thursday for another non related reason and happened to bump into the senior sales manager.

I asked him what MB Australia had told him the reason for the DVD delay is.

He said (which is a fact) that MB changed their supplier of the COMAND system (I think it was from Bosch to Becker).

Hense,they said the delay is caused by the new company having to remap and convert all the data from CD to the DVD format,which is a very big job.

Sounds logical.
What do you guys think?

monakh

Have no idea what it entails to convert data from CD to DVD format. It can't be all that difficult. After all, data is data--the format or the media it is on should be kind of irrelevant.

It is certainly yet another reason.

Callaway

Yes,but what if you had no previous data.

What if the the data from Bosch is copyrighted and Becker has to map and format all the areas without the prior companies assistance.

Then the job would be a lot bigger!!

monakh

Definitely then the job would be a lot bigger. But wouldn't MB own the data? If they own the system (granted through Bosch) they should own the data. Ahh..we are speculating!

mwillems

Hello all,

Changing supplier makes a big difference, sure. But the format change (CD-DVD) is irrelevant.

Of course if MB used open standards they could plug any supplier's system (Garmin, anyone) in quickly and easily!

Mike

drb

I heard MB changed the company many months ago. About a month ago, an MBUSA contact said they were in the final stages of testing, debugging and quality control. This sounds to me more like software integration and verification. I suspect the mapping data bases are routinely updated and sold by one or more professional mapping companies. I have used Garmin, Magellan, Alpine and MB navi systems in different cars over the last 6 years. There is a local road that is not recognized by any of these systems which makes me think the data base for each company must be managed centrally. I could be wrong about this, but I wonder why each system navigates around this one road. The road is not selectable, when I drive on it each system has reported an error, or recalculation.

kaneman

I believe Navtech is the company that supplies the navigation data to almost every Nav system manufacturer. They supply BMW, MB, Porsche, Acura, Jaguar, Trimble, Garmin, etc etc. The actual navigation data is the same, but the depth of information available and the format of that information is different from system to system. Thus, if Mercedes is changing from one Nav system supplier to another and they're redesigning the system, Navtech would have a *ton* of testing and QA to do.

jhb

Oddly enough, my sales manager indicated that the change in vendor is the problem too. Apparently, MB has moved away from Bose for all cars, or something like that. But, I think mwillems is correct as to the delay. I don't think it is converting data. I think it is system compatibility and testing etc. We will see, soon, I hope.

Jeff

Dema

It's pure planning/management mistake. MB should know that changing a vendor is time consuming operation. It's simple to predict that. It's shame on MB, because so old maker can be hooked on such simple things.

bboerit

Becker is the new audio manufacturer. People sometimes incorrectly assume it's a Harmon Kardon system. Harmon Kardon only supplies the sound (speaker) piece of the system.

skymast

Sales B.S. --- Most of the world is mapped and remapped at this point.

They may have changed suppliers but the mapping software / CD / DVD is pretty standard stuff and developed by external companies for the radio companies. Even if becker didnt have a nav system before, they would have developed it to work with the existing standards, techologies, devices and software.

pfphipps

Becker and Harmon are one in the same now. In 1995, Becker became a part of Harmon International. If you look at the Becker USA site http://www.beckerautosound.com/, it is now called Harmon/Becker. Besides, Becker and Harmon/Kardon, JBL, the old time speaker manufacturer, is also now a part of Harmon International.

Most all the USA mapping information is derived from US governement data bases. Navtech and others refine and add some but most of it is still from the old government data bases.

Harmon/Becker has been supplying BMW and others with navigation systems. They have had a naviagation system for about five years. Even though they had a navigation system, it takes a lot of time to change to a new manufacturer's requirements but converting the data base from CDs to DVDs should take only a few hours. Not a big deal.

Still, under any conditions, there does not seem to be a reasonable excuse for the delays in having the navigation system. It certainly seems that there should have been more long range planning.

Lov2xlr8

CD's can only hold 700MB, but DVD's can hold at least 4700MB (4.7GB). so the new company is probably making a new nav. program and more advanced map with more graphics and easier to read meps.