Yesterday I blogged about the email I got from Navdy and also the news from someone who had read a previous blog I wrote about GPS navigation and routing and mentioned that I had a Navdy. 

I bought it on a Kickstarter project and waited for a year for my HUD to arrive and I loved it. It is one of the coolest gadgets I've owned. The site is still up if you don't know what a Navdy is. 

In December I decided to update the maps, which meant disconnecting it from the ODB2 Port and plugging it into my laptop to get the latest HERE ap dataset for NZ. The software appeared not to recognise that the device was thee. I knew the laptop saw it because it powered up through the USB cable.

I contacted tech support and they said to reinstall the software and I asked about the new update they had been promoting and the guy said there was no update, which was strange because their website said there was and it had some cool new features. 

Apparently it was known in October and my support call was in so I guess the tech support person was told they weren't allowed to mention what was going on.

What I can't believe is that such as awesome, award winning product could disappear a year or so after they were launched and that they are now effectively in receivership.

They say they are desperately looking for new owners, but my experience is that when receivers go in, they focus on making money for themselves and first line creditors which usually means the tax department.

The email said that in the next 2-3 weeks my Navdy may stop working (because part of the service is feeding things like Real Time Traffic information through my iPhone as a service. I don't know if the routing will continue to work, but one of the reasons I had been planning  to update the maps is because Waterview Tunnel is not in the current map set.

Anyway, I note there are people offering Navdy's for sale in NZ. They probably don't know they might stop working around the end of the month. But if you're tempted, don't.