Traffic information provider Trafficmaster and automotive telematics maker Motorola
will jointly produce an ‘off-board’ vehicle navigation system called
T-nav incorporating up-to-the-minute traffic information.
‘Off-board’ refers to the downloading of route and traffic information
via cellphone from Trafficmaster and Motorola computer servers which should
guarantee that the information is always up to date.
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Current satellite navigation systems create direction instructions by using
Global Positioning System satellites to fix the vehicle’s position and
relating this to on-board CD or DVD-based maps which need to be updated at least
once a year. In countries such as Germany the route instructions calculated
by the system can be modified by traffic information obtained by a Radio Data
System receiver incorporated into the vehicle audio system.
T-nav will go on sale through vehicle makers, cellphone service providers and
various aftermarket channels in Great Britain and Germany later this year.
European introduction is scheduled for 2002 but no dates have been set for
a North America roll-out. A Trafficmaster spokesman said that depended on how
quickly traffic information could be added to the California-based Teletrac
fleet tracking telematics system acquired earlier this year.
Initially drivers using T-nav will receive route instructions and traffic information
by making a normal cellphone call and speaking to an operator who will send
data to equipment in the car. Directions will be given through the car audio
speakers.
Later, drivers will be able to use a palmtop computer or a website to enter
their destinations and routing preferences.
The Trafficmaster spokesman predicted T-nav would prove very popular with fleets
unable to justify the present £1,000 ($US1,400)-minimum cost of equipping
a vehicle with satellite-based navigation that doesn’t yet incorporate
traffic information. Annual map updates costing around £180 ($US255) are
also required with such systems, the spokesman said.
Trafficmaster remains coy about T-nav costs but the spokesman said the cost
would be “only in the hundreds” rather than the present thousands.
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