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Unlike other car navigation devices, the Dash Express has built-in wireless networking so that it can update its software with new features. Today, Dash Navigation is announcing its first update, which will make the device much smarter.

The two-way global positioning system (GPS) device will now have a feature called MyRoute. If you drive a regular route, such as to work, you can ask the device to memorize the route, which is then highlighted in pink on the device’s map. The device can look at traffic data and decide whether your route is the best way to go on a particular day.

Another cool feature of this update is the ability to make Yahoo Local search results more relevant to your particular commute. If you use the “Search Along Route” query, the results will come back based on how close they are to your MyRoute. You can thus find all of the places that, for example, serve a mocha along your drive.

The $299 Dash Express will update itself wirelessly. It has built-in cell-phone connectivity and WiFi access. That means your car can download the update while it’s parked outside your house if you have a WiFi router at home.

The update also has a new GPS fix called FasterFind. This is a software update built into the latest Sirf Technology chips that enables a GPS device to get a fix in a few seconds. The Sirf InstantFix technology makes calculations based on its last known location, its connectivity to satellites, and other tricks to speed the time to fix. That helps when you’re near trees or in a dense urban environment and can’t get a direct satellite connection.

Lastly, Dash sped up the software in the device so that it can draw its maps 50 percent faster. People who pay Dash a $12.99-a-month subscription can receive ongoing software updates throughout the year including historical traffic information from the Dash Driver Network, new features, software improvements and updated maps.

There are now 30 partner-created DashApps available for the device. One of the newest is EveryBlock, which collects and publishes neighborhood news in cities such as Chicago, New York and San Francisco. It sends data on local crimes, restaurant inspections and building permits as well as user-contributed knowledge.

Can a GPS device really be a platform for developers? Dash Navigation, a Silicon Valley company that offers a GPS-enabled technology for your car, is betting so.

And that’s bringing some cool Web-based applications to the automobile.

The company launched its vaunted Web 2.0-style global positioning system navigation unit for cars in March. Now it is revealing today that third-party developers can make applications to run on the Dash Express unit.

Dash, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., has built a GPS device with two-way communication so that drivers can access data while driving and transmit their own personal traffic data so that Dash can calculate drive times for routes. The company released its applications programming interface (APIs) so that developers can create applications called DashApps to give consumers access to a variety of web-based content in the car.

This is a great move, and comes after we originally criticized the company for being too closed.

The first applications from five developers will be available on May 15. They include a way for Dash drivers to access real-estate listings and property details from Coldwell Banker. It lets drivers instantly create a route to properties up for sale. Another is the Funambol calendar button, which allows Dash users to access their electronic calendars from the Dash device in the car.

The Mediaguide, meanwhile, lets Dash drivers find out the names of songs playing in their radios. The Trapster warns drivers in real time about live speed traps or red-light sensors. And WeatherBug can provide current weather conditions for drivers. The company will show the DashApps at the Where 2.0 conference today in Burlingame.

Navigation 2.0 arrives today with Dash Navigation’s Dash Express GPS navigator (global positioning system). The gadget represents a new generation of smarter car navigation devices because it has two-way communication between Dash and the user.

One-way GPS systems from the likes of Garmin, Mio Technology, Magellan, and TomTom and can only be so helpful to you. They can show you where to go, using satellite signals to fix your location as you drive. You can search the on-board memory of the devices for “points of interest” that you may want to visit, like the city hall in a town. Some of them even send you traffic conditions over a one-way radio for a fee of $5 a month or more.

But Dash connects your gadget back to the company’s servers over cell phone (the nationwide GSM/GPRS network of Jasper Wireless) or Wi-Fi wireless Internet connections.

Dash uses “crowdsourcing,” where its own fleet of users communicates back their positions, speeds, and other data (including traffic reports from Inrix in Kirkland, Wash.) so that Dash can calculate traffic on both freeways and major side streets. This is a big advantage over other kinds of GPS navigation systems, and Dash recently decided to cut its price from $600 to $400. It goes on sale today at Amazon.com.

“There is an element of Web 2.0 meets GPS here,” said Mark Williamson, director of services for Dash. “Others get you from point to point. We can tell you what is around you.”

My colleague Matt isn’t so fond of the Dash Express, which I will acknowledge has some drawbacks. One of the problems is that it costs $12.99 a month to use some of the best features beyond GPS navigation. The question is whether users are going to care about all of the slight advantages that Dash has over other dumb GPS gadgets. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the latest action:

1) Dash Navigation opens platform
2) Flock releases new browser, with Facebook in sidebar
3) Patriots successfully sue ticket scalper, StubHub
4) Google’s great quarter: Net income up 46 percent
5) Brad Greenspan’s tell-all essay on MySpace
6) Microsoft releases Popfly, allowing non-geeks to build apps
7) Comcast steps away from Net Neutrality

Dash Navigation opens platform — Dash, you’ll recall is the cool GPS device that you can use in your car, and which will be constantly connected to the Internet. The company orginally said it was going to release its product this fall. However, last month, it delayed the release and will come next year. Notably, at the Web 2.0 Summit today, it also declared it will be an open platform. So you can do mashups with maps, and use Zillow, for example, to track the values of homes as you drive by them. That’s a good turn, because earlier year we criticized the company for being closed. That’s when it signed an exclusive contract with Yahoo to offer people search. What’s the point of letting people use the Web from their car if you’re going to shut them out from using other services? We still think this company is somewhat hyped. Accessing a decent, reliable Internet connection from your car is going to be a very difficult thing to do, and there’s loads of competition out there. As mobile internet access gets more robust, however, this device will get more attractive.

Flock offers new version of its broswer to the public here — We’ve written about its sidebar, which lets you operate within some of your social networking accounts without actully going to their site. New is the ability to access your Facebook account, and do upload photos directly to that account from your browser (see image).

Sports: Patriots successfully sue StubHub to gain ticket resellers’ identities – Stubhub, a marketplace that lets people buy and sold tickets they have purchased for sports games, concerts, and other events, was forced to divulge the identity of 13,000 of its users to the team. The Patriots claimed reselling tickets violated a Massachussets state law against reselling tickets for over two dollars the price at which they were purchased. EBay-owned Stubhub has begun notifying its affected users that the Patriots have their names, addresses and phone numbers. The Patriots management says it may revoke the tickets of people who resold on Stubhub. The Boston Globe has more. The team is now spying on its fans, after having been busted for spying on its opponents, as others have noted.

Google widens lead in search – Google’s said net income in the third quarter rose 46 percent compared to a year ago. Sales climbed 57 percent, beating estimates. Its profit margin declined somewhat, but its market share keeps rising, and competitor Yahoo said its revenues had grown just 12 percent.

Funky macro economics — We’re not certain how this will affect start-ups, but the dollar is an all-time low, at $1.42 to the euro, and the price of crude oil also hit a record, briefly breaching $90 a barrel yesterday. This could mean inflation, but housing woes are keeping things in check. (Details here).

Comcast steps away from Net Neutrality — Web companies like Joost and BitTorrent that have business models based on peer-to-peer sharing rely on the concept of “net neutrality,” meaning all traffic on the internet will be treated the same. Net neutrality isn’t a law, though; internet service providers can manipulate traffic in other ways if they wish. Comcast, the nation’s second largest internet service provider, has now been shown to be selectively blocking some peer-to-peer traffic, with no regard to the source of the traffic — in other words, they don’t care whether it comes from illegal file sharing or a legitimate business, they just don’t want it.
It’s not time for P2P-based companies to panic just yet. Comcast was already notorious for heavy-handed tactics to limit their bandwidth, and the bad publicity may force them to drop the practice. On the other hand, if the company manages to set a precedent, Joost et al. could be in trouble. And to make matters worse, many customers can’t vote with their feet by leaving Comcast — in many areas, only one or two service providers are available to choose from.

The tell-all essay of Brad Greenspan, Myspace “founder” – Greenspan played an early role at a company called eUniverse, which gave birth to MySpace. However, while he claims to have been a founder of MySpace, Myspace executives dismiss his role there. Greenspan writes in a long, unedited essay on the anti-Myspace site: I was forced to leave eUniverse at the end of October as [venture capital firm VantagePoint Venture Partners] took control of eUniverse and Myspace. His screed, complete with court documents, tells the story of how he was the driving force behind Myspace, and how a cast of characters took the company out from under him. Greenspan has already tried suing News Corp over his grievances, but his case was dismissed. See our previous coverage of the issue here. Found via YC hacker news.

Software giant Microsoft’s drag-and-drop Web mashup development tool, Popfly, now open for public testing — Its for people who don’t know how to code, and gives anybody the ability to build applications. As it becomes easier to mix and match programs, like building a house from Lego pieces, maybe the rest us will really start building applications. This may have limited popularity, but it won’t be a blockbuster.

updated

Dash, the start-up offering the first car navigation device designed to be permanently linked to the Internet, has raised $25 million in a second round of funding.

The Mountain View Dash will launch its device in the Bay Area in late April, and nationally this fall, goes up against a host of other market incumbents, none aspiring to be as continuously connected to the Internet.

These other players are Garmin, TomTom and Magellan. Last week, Garmin released its own bluetooth gadget that turns your cellphone or PC into a naviation device.

Here’s our earlier coverage of Dash.

The round was led by Crescendo Ventures with new investors Artis Capital, ZenShin Capital Partners and Gold Hill Capital. Existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sequoia Capital and Skymoon Ventures also participated. Artis is the hedge fund with family connections with Sequoia Capital, and continues to benefit from that relationship. It is one of the few hedge funds that invests alongside venture firms in Silicon Valley start-ups. It won a coveted position as the only other investor beside Sequoia in hot video-sharing company, YouTube.

Back to Dash. The company won awards at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES)
last month. It is uses Yahoo for local search, so drivers can find things like bars, restaurants and movie times, along with maps. It uses Tele Atlas for maps, and Inrix for traffic pattern data, which can used to help drivers steer clear of traffic jams.

The GPS navigation market has been on fire this year, with the market tripling in 2006 compared to 2005, said chief executive Paul Lego. He expects the device to price within the $500 to $800 range, along with the existing leading devices.