Dec 06/Jan 07

DeCarta, the leading developer of location-based services, has launched a software development kit for mobile phone manufacturers to help them create navigation applications quickly.

This might seem of only passing interest unless you're a mobile phone manufacturer, but the significance will not be lost on anyone who is familiar with Google Maps and similar desktop-based resources. DeCarta, which used to be known as Telcontar, is behind a lot of this technology, so its emphasis on smartphones could give yet another boost to this rapidly-growing navigation sector.

The SDK helps mobile phone developers provide fast route calculations (with support for shortest or fastest routes and avoidance of tolls and so on); multi-point routing; efficient street address and point-of-interest selection; and two- or three-dimensional maps. Applications can include text, voice and graphical information about impending manoeuvres.

DeCarta sees its resource as helping these companies focus their efforts on customising and enhancing the user interface, rather than spending time constructing the increasingly complex navigation platform.