Mio intros 'true' 3D GPS

When every sat nav unit on the planet does what every other sat nav on the planet does, how do you differentiate your own offering? If you're Mio, you up the eye-candy count, adding 3D landmarks and topography to your maps. Mio C620 Mio's C620: piazza express The first of Mio's GPS gadgets to offer the feature, part of its …

[Chris Wood]

Defeats the point of SatNav?

Sounds like a rubbish idea. If I'm coming up to the crest of a hill and can't see what's coming up, I can look at my SatNav to find out that there's a killer bend just over the hill. With a 'true 3d' SatNav I won't be able to see over the crest of the computer-generated hill either.

Also, the landmarks stop you from seeing the details of roads off to the left and the right, and surely if you can see the landmarks on the SatNav you'll be able to see them for real anyway? Maybe it would help in the route planning stage but it seems pointless to show this stuff while you're driving.

[Myself]

So make 'em translucent or something.

It's definitely nice to be able to navigate by landmark, but if only notable buildings are included, it's still nearly useless. I need the corner stores, the big trees, the details that actually go by as I drive around. Someone with a big Street View mapping project would be in good shape to start on such a feature...