Dash Navigation: Finally Here...Almost

Dash Navigation is one of the more ambitious, interesting and well-funded (to the tune of $42 million) start-ups of the past few years. It's also taken quite a while to get its networked-car gadget to market. Finally, Dash has announced that people can pre-order the Dash Express, which will cost $600 and won't be delivered till February. Not exactly a great holiday gift.

Dash has been showing me its concepts since early on, and I have to say I'd love one -- if it cost one-third as much. On its most basic level, Dash combines GPS mapping with wireless Internet, which together adds up to more than just navigation and Web access. Most intriguing: Dash-enabled cars will send anonymous data back to Dash about how fast they're traveling. This will give Dash real-time traffic information -- if all the Dash cars are moving 15 MPH on an eight-lane highway, there's probably a major traffic jam going on. Other Dash cars will be able to see that information if they plan to go that route, and can know to go some other way. If enough cars get Dash, it could have a major effect on the way people deal with traffic.

And these days, in most cities, that's a big big issue.

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