Cellphone with GPS v GPS devices with cellphone

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 05 February 2008 04:13

Opinion and Analysis

You get the point: there is so much useful information for a traveller using a navigation devices that is best provided in real time from a central server and the communication link would enable the user to 'drill down to any level of information available. Voice call capability would allow calls to be placed to a destination without using a separate device.

No matter how good or how successful such devices become the are unlikely to impact cellphone sales. They could however enable the device manufacturer or service providers to deliver a target market for advertisers and other content providers.

In mid 2007 LocatioNet Systems launched amAze, billed as 'the world's first ad-funded free GPS navigation system". It runs on any Java-enabled mobile phone, provides turn-by-turn navigation, and, apart from any data download charge levied by the mobile service provider, it is free to the end-user.

The service was launched in mid 2007 and LocatioNet has now moved to phase two, offering ads that are "smartly integrated into the navigation experience." Through a smart ad-server gateway developed by LocatioNet, amAze is connected to several leading ad-server providers worldwide and retrieves from them the relevant ads to the specific user, in real-time. The ad-server gateway also offers smart sponsorship programs to brands that wish to launch amAze (which is offered as a white-label service) to their users under their own brand.

LocatioNet claims that this smart ad-server mechanism "allows integrating ad-banners in a non-intrusive way and turns the ads into another useful and relevant source of information to the user. For example, a coupon that is offered based on the user's location makes amAze a great money saver even beyond the free navigation itself."

So, another nascent market which could develop in several directions, But one thing is for sure. Apart from the user interface being of paramount importance to users of in-vehicle navigation devices so too will be the accuracy and performance of the core navigation service. At my first attempt to use amAze, I was told to take a right turn where none was permitted, but that was just after its launch.