Sept/Oct 2003

The TravelM8 ("Travelmate") route-planning service from Yeoman Navigation Systems, originally delivered via voice and SMS messages, has assumed a visual dimension through a deal between the company and Vodafone. Customers of the Vodafone live! service will in future be able to access detailed destination maps on their mobile handsets.

The new service will be one of the first to reflect a new thrust by the OS to get its mapping into the mobile arena. As part of the initiative, it has joined a project called MapWay, which has been launched by Cambridge-based m-spatial, and also includes TeleAtlas and PointX.

The three companies are providing elements of their mapping products to create a Europe-wide map database that includes detailed street plans and numerous "points of interest". OS alone is supplying 20 million such points, while PointX is delivering 3 million more.

The objective is to offer a consolidated map dataset as a solid base for mapping and navigation systems on mobile phones and similar devices, both in stand-alone form and as part of wider location-based services.

 

The map data is based on Ordnance Survey's OS Mastermap series, which is said to contain information on 440 million features, and will be able to present Vodafone live! users with maps showing the location of individual buildings.