Some 2,000 fortunate testers recruited by Dash Navigation will receive a free Automotive GPS for the duration of six months of road testing being carried out by the company. Testers will have the opportunity to provide feedback which will influence the design of Dash Navigation’s GPS device. The company recently completed a successful six-month field trial in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dash Navigation’s new Dash Express, the first Internet-connected GPS, was named a 2007 “Best of CES” Award winner by CNET and LAPTOP Magazine. Dash was also recognized as an Innovations Honoree by the Consumer Electronics Association.

Conventional traffic avoidance software available with current car GPS devices uses information collected by a Traffic Service and delivered by via an FM transmitter. Using a similar principle to social bookmark swapping Internet sites, the two-way Internet connected Dash Express collects real world and real time traffic information from other Dash Express users. Dash call it their Dash Driver Network. “The success of future navigation devices will rely on their ability to share and receive relevant information,” Thilo Koslowski, vice president and lead automotive analyst for Gartner is quoted on Dash Navigation’s website.

Those interested in joining the GPS trial can apply by visiting Dash Navigation. Drivers will be selected based on responses to a short survey and will be notified via email if they have been chosen.

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