Rusty Wallace Signs on To Promote New Microsoft GPS Package
Rusty Wallace, a long-time successful NASCAR driver is now working for Microsoft to promote the Microsoft Streets & Trips 2006 with GPS receiver package. This is a neat offerring that combines a very capable mapping and routing program with a no-hassle GPS receiver that simply plugs into a USB port (on a laptop or smaller Windows Mobile device like a PDA) and gives the user continual positon updates, trip logging and even turn by turn voice directions.
Why is this news worthy to me? Streets and Trips has been around for several years and has been USB GPS-ready for some time now. But like many Microsoft products, it has only been actively marketed to Microsoft’s primarily geek (oops, I mean “Computer Professionals” target market). Rusty is as down-home and mainstream Americana as you can get. This means sales for Microsoft but it also means big time increases in market penetration of GPS.
About the only news for my ‘pet’ industry I think that could be bigger is if Google were offerring such a product.