Software
Third party applications are starting to pop up for the Auto PC. Microsoft has repeatedly stated at Windows CE developer conferences that the applications that come with the Auto PC were intended to be "Notepad" versions of the applications, referring to the Notepad application the comes with Windows. Their point is that these applications do nothing more than the minimum in the area that they are addressing. One of the stated reasons for doing this was to encourage third party software vendors to write full-featured applications to replace those that come with the Auto PC. This, in turn, would help stimulate growth in the Auto PC development community. The jury is still out as to whether this approach has worked, but one company in particular has stepped up with a winning replacement for the Directions application.

Infogation's Odyssey
Infogation (at http://www.infogation.com) has recently released their Auto PC Navigation System called Odyssey. It is a full-featured navigation system with turn-by-turn directions, moving map display, speech user interface, spoken and visual directions, off-route detection, and an array of ways to select and specify a destination. I have been using this product for some time now, since I was part of the beta test. I am quite impressed by it and have successfully used it on trips to visit clients located in places I had never before visited. Odyssey uses a map database from NavTech that must be purchased separately from NavTech. The NavTech map database has limited coverage of areas outside of major metropolitan areas. This limited coverage cripples Odyssey when navigating in smaller cities or rural areas. It would be good to see Odyssey use map data from multiple companies, such as TravRoute, which has more complete coverage.

Other companies that have introduced software for the Auto PC that offer completely new functionality include:

OmegaOne
OmegaOne (at http://www.omegaone.com) has a number of offerings for the Auto PC, including a freeware package that synchronizes the Auto PC clock with the GPS clock for super-accurate time. OmegaOne's software offerings include a program called Active Volume, which dynamically adjusts the volume of the Auto PC's audio output based on the speed that the vehicle is traveling. This compensates for road noise as you speed up and slow down. [Oh, now that is very cool! - DG] OmegaOne also sells two games for the Auto PC, Dominos and Mind Melt. Both have full speech control of the game to keep the players eyes on the road.

Mecel's freeware
Mecel (at http://www.mecel.se) has three downloadable freeware programs for the Auto PC. One is Mecaclulator, a speech based calculator program for the Auto PC. It has some unit conversion features such as Kilometers per Hour to Miles per Hour in addition to all the basic features you would expect in a simple calculator. They offer a James Brown sound scheme for the Auto PC as well as a new clock screensaver that uses the GPS to display your vehicles current longitude and latitude.