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To me it looks like this might offer manufacturers an easier solution for them to customize their offerings in comparison to what some others like Alpine and Pioneer bring to the table.

From car shopping a few months ago, I doubt that's going to happen. The nav system on virtually all cars is a 2k option. Options generally have a 50% dealer markup, so the car company has $1k to put in a nav system. Currently, they're putting a WinCE box, a GPS, a DVD drive and a touch screen. Those parts aren't cheap, but they can't be paying more than $500 for them in bulk.

The thing is, almost all buyers want a nav system these days, so the cheaper they can make them, the more profit they can take home. No one picks a car on which as the better nav system, so there's no reason to try and have the best.

Matthew