Sept/Oct 2005

Following the launch in quick succession of BlackBerry and Symbian versions of the Telmap personal navigation system, the company claims it is the only supplier in its market to offer a true cross-platform navigation system for mobile phones.

Telmap is also joining the BlackBerry ISV Alliance Program for Europe, which it says will help it develop and promote new navigation products and services.

Telmap concentrates on 'off-board' navigation, where the mapping is held on a remote server, and is delivered to the mobile unit on demand. Mostly it uses Navteq street-level mapping, although in Britain it has also integrated OS mapping to allow better route-planning on the basis of postcodes.

Support is now offered for Java-based phones (which can include Windows Mobile units), Symbian phones, BlackBerrys and the predominantly US-based BREW system.

 

Chief executive Orem Nissim says Telmap's off-board approach ensures that users always have up-to-date mapping, and makes it easier to integrate the system with traffic information and location-based services such as finding local points of interest.

Telmap sells through mobile phone network operators (O2 offers the system in the UK, and others are said to be about to follow suit), but it hosts its Polaris map and route servers itself ('the networks would not always be quick enough to update the data,' Nissim says). It uses server farms in Britain, Israel and the US.

Typically users pay a subscription fee £5 to £10 a month to use the system. In Israel, where network operator MiRS has put a lot of muscle behind promotion, cultural acceptance is said to have reached a high level. Nissim says over 4 per cent of new users are choosing MiRS specifically because of its satnav offering.

Route 'corridors' are prepared and served when the initial route is requested by the user, including mapping of the area surrounding the proposed journey; so in many cases the software can re-route following local deviations without downloading the mapping again. If not, the system seamlessly reloads corridor information from the server.

Telmap relies mainly on GPS for positioning; usually users link their phone to a separate GPS unit by Bluetooth wireless connection. Some network operators have been offering a GPS unit at a knock-down price on contract deals. But Nissim says a move to embed GPS capability in new mobile phones 'will be a major driver' in this market.