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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
Webraska Powers Vodafone Italy's GPS Navigation Solution for Smartphones
Webraska is pleased to announce the launch in Italy of Vodafone Navigator, a branded GPS navigation service for smartphones and wireless PDAs. Powered by Webraska's SmartZone Navigation and SmartZone Geospatial Platform, Vodafone Navigator features up-to-date pan-European map data coverage, integration of dynamic point-of-interest data and real-time traffic information.
Vodafone Navigator "All-in-one" packs targeting the consumer retail market are competitively priced at €199, comprising the navigation software, a Bluetooth® GPS receiver, a universal car cradle, as well as one year subscription to the service. Subscription to the service from year 2 is €59 per year.
Vodafone Navigator offers subscribers the following unique functionality:
Real-time Traffic Alerts & Route Optimisation: Traffic information is dynamically integrated enabling push traffic alerts and generation of a new traffic-optimised route, if available. In addition, users can display the list of traffic events impacting their route, view the distance to the event and read the event description.
Advanced Point-Of-Interest (POI) Integration & Search: Users can search for points of interest, including Vodafone's proprietary Italian business listings, according to detailed search criteria. For instance, restaurants may be searched for by cuisine speciality or opening hours and may be visually located on the map. A database of hundred of thousands of points-of-interest, updated monthly, is available to users from launch. This database will be increased to four millions records in the coming twelve months.
Pedestrian Navigation: Vodafone Navigator provides pedestrian navigation with street routing and mapping, either using GPS real time positioning or walk speed simulation.
The navigation software is compatible with the following operating systems: Symbian Series 60, Symbian UIQ and Microsoft Windows Mobile for Pocket PC.
"This launch confirms the great interest that wireless carriers have in selling GPS navigation services and their trust in the potential of the GPS navigation on smartphones" declared Grégoire Descamps, VP Sales at Webraska; "Webraska again proved its unique capability to provide leading carriers with a customisable application offering best-in-class user experience and a powerful back-end architecture enabling dynamic integration of proprietary Points-of-Interest and real-time traffic data".
Vodafone Italy is targeting both business and consumer markets via their dealer network and enterprise sales force.
Vodafone Navigator benefits from the shared experience of Vodafone Italy and Webraska in providing location-based Directory Assistance Call Center services under Vodafone Italy's CercaFacile 892000 brand. The business directory, point-of-interest and traffic information data base available via CercaFacile 892000 is shared with Vodafone Navigator, enabling the partners to plan integrated call center and mobile GPS navigation services in the near future.
About SmartZone™ Navigation
SmartZone™ Navigation is a GPS assisted road navigation solution running on mobile devices that provides turn-by-turn and door-to-door guidance. The solution relies on an off-board technology: the required cartographic and dynamic content data are downloaded from a remote server to the device via the mobile network. Main features include:
Continent-wide detailed digital map data, regularly updated, allowing cross-border, door-to-door routing.
Integration of real-time traffic information for route optimisation.
Automatic local re-routing without server re-connection following wrong turns.
Points-of-interest (POI) searching and mapping; integration of proprietary POI data bases - as per customer requirement.
GPS-triggered voice instructions in multiple languages.
Accurate intersection geometry icons.
Zoomable and panable map that displays the user's current position.
Address bookmarking for instantaneous re-use of favorite locations.
About Webraska
Webraska is the leading provider of white label GPS navigation solutions for wireless carriers and branded service providers worldwide. Webraska enables customers to maximize revenues through a rich user experience, flexible pricing models and the integration of value added content. Customers benefit from our unrivalled experience deploying location-based services with more carriers in more countries than any other vendor.
Webraska now powers offerings for Orange, Vodafone, O2, Sensis (a wholly owned subsidiary of Telstra), and Toyota France. Webraska has a long track record of innovation, winning awards from Unstrung Magazine, TIME, Business Week, Tornado Insider and Frost & Sullivan.
Webraska has its headquarters in Paris, France, with satellite offices across Europe and Australia.
For more information visit: www.webraska.com
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