The new IS Gen5 Navigation unit is awesome, and with its power, screen resolution and bluetooth phone interface... it "could" easily access the web via GPRS/UMTS.
Maybe to update navigation POI's (like TomTom) or for other internet services (mail, browsing, etc).

Obviously the nav unit should have a sort of (permanent) internal storage for these infos, that I do not know if is actually available (an HDD was with Gen1 nav units, dunno with Gen5, other than DVD, that's 'fixed' storage).

Otherwise some updates and customisation could happen by (unofficially) modifying the DVD disk. I don't know if in other ways...

Any ideas?
Ciao

 

onlyway to do it int he states is with edvo or EDGE protocol not aviailable in most areas still (i'm assuming ur going for wireless broadband)

 

in fact, wireless broadband services are available almost everywhere in the US....certainly covering, off the top of my head, at least 150 million POPs. not so sure about your state SC lol. gmeardi, i don't think update capability is possible with the current nav units.

 

wireless broadband service is available yea.. you can go our and buy the package do what you want. but the vast majority of metropolitan areas still don't have EDGE, only a promise of deployment.

 

You are right. The migration path for GSM services in America is not nearly as good as CDMA with Sprint and Verizon. Cingular is going to have a problem one day, not anytime soon, but one day later. We'll need the higher speeds (or WiFi or WiMax or similar) to accomplish the realtime updates mentioned by the OP, even with an HDD.

 

So the new nav units have not any sort of permanent storage? (except, obviously, some little flash space to store user settings)
For what concern wireless access, I know there're actually a bit less possibilities in US to get simil-bband wireless access speed, but in Europe, and particularly in Italy (and in Japan, where Lexus comes from), it's everywhere available at least gprs speed (+/- 56kbs) and quite often the faster umts. So it would have been nice if Lexus had put a nice "wireless backdoor" to its powerful system...

And probably this backdoor exists... Btw, I cannot well read japanese texts, but... I think - from their website - that some sort of wireless access is indeed available for japanese IS models, together with a *nice* digital TV button...
--> new question: no idea, yet, of aftermarket devices to connect a digital TV tuner to the nice IS screen?

Bye,
Gianluca