location based services
James Keh might be both the toughest critic of and the most passionate booster for the auto-navigation industry.
"We're the guy they love to hate," he said.
Why? It's simple. "We're not afraid to get into someone's face and tell them (what we think) because we live this stuff," he said.
Keh opened his Auto Nav 2000 Plus retail store on South Bascom Avenue in San Jose in 1996. He added locations in Palo Alto in 2005 and in Cupertino in 2006. His are among the few navigation-only retail stores in the country.
He sells 15 different brands of portable navigation devices to consumers at his stores, over the Internet and to fleet customers such as police departments. He talks about his plans to sell new portable navigation devices through vending machines and used ones at flea markets.
He recently opened a rental business through his www.gps4rent.com Web site. Daily rental rates range from $8.95 to $15.95 with three days minimum.
It's a great way for people to try products, he said, and it helps deal with an industry problem - very high return rates.
Auto Nav - the 2000 part was added just before the turn of the century - first started selling the Rockwell Pathmaster product. That device was subsequently bought by Magellan, and Keh started his relationship with the Santa Clara company. That relationship allowed Keh early access to the company's new navigation products, which he evaluates without mincing words. He
An example: Keh met with some people from the investment group that purchased Magellan in 2006. One executive told him, "Magellan has a great name, and that's why we're doing well. I said, `Atari used to have a great name.' Everybody looked at me like I can't believe this guy's challenging them."
He tells similar stories about meetings with people from Garmin, TomTom and other brands. He gives rapid-fire descriptions of other portable navigation devices - Alpine ("overpriced"), Sony ("a bad interface") - including models he sells.
His customers, whose opinions he solicits, benefit from his forthrightness, and his knowledge. He bristles when Garmin talked about opening "the only store in the world dedicated to GPS" in Chicago in November 2006. "What was Auto Nav doing in 1996? That's all we sell," he said.
What sparked Keh's passion for navigation?
He was running an automotive repair shop that specialized in electronics when he first heard of in-car navigation systems. He ordered one even before it went on sale.
"I'm horrible with directions," he said. "I'm one of these guys who can't find his way out of a box. I get so frustrated getting lost, and asking for directions, and looking at maps and arguing with the wife."
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