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January 2003 - Motorola, Inc. announced that it is offering
wireless carriers, auto manufacturers and other enterprises
location-based services software that will deliver relevant,
easily accessible information to consumers while they
are mobile. Information delivered through the "ViaMoto"
software can be customized depending on a consumer's
personal preference, will be available in virtually
any environment and will be available on a variety of
wireless phones or other devices.
The
first two tiers of software offered in the ViaMoto package,
GoViaMoto and FindViaMoto, are currently available and
are undergoing customer trials with Motorola GPS-enabled
cell phones in North America. Consumers can easily interact
with ViaMoto applications through human operators (similar
to directory assistance), voice recognition, keypad
entry, or websites.
Easy-to-use
location applications like those provided by ViaMoto
are expected to be useful, and appealing, to most mobile
users. Driscoll-Wolfe's 2002 Wireless Location-Based
Services Marketing Research Study states that nearly
half of all cell phone users are interested in receiving
directions to their destination on their handsets. That
same study showed that a third of all mobile phone users
would agree to pay $5 per month for unlimited navigation
assistance on their phones.
"Each
of Motorola's customers has a varying level of requirements
in their location-based services strategy," said Neal
Campbell, general manager of location services for Motorola's
Personal Communications Sector. "Motorola has designed
a software stack that enables us to work with each of
our customers to tailor and deploy varying degrees of
location-based services technology to support their
voice and data needs, and the needs of consumers."
Motorola's
GoViaMoto solution is a dynamic software package that
transforms a wireless phone, and other wireless devices,
into "navigators" that deliver textual or audible route
guidance prompts to users. More practical than viewing
a foldout map, the software enables consumers to receive
spoken turn-by-turn directions through their cell phones.
GoViaMoto literally "talks you through" directions to
a destination, speaking street names and maneuvers along
the way. Motorola's ViaMoto server is continuously updated
with map data and is integrated with traffic conditions
and point-of- interest databases to provide users with
the most accurate and up-to-date navigation services
possible.
Motorola's
FindViaMoto solution is a local information guide similar
to a community events weekly newspaper or phonebook,
and adds an extra level of location technology. The
software ties together with GoViaMoto and provides point-of-interest
lookup, mapping, and up-to-date traffic information
specific to the user's route.
Another
of Motorola's software products, the Motorola Navigation
Application, is available as a component of Trafficmaster
Plc's Smartnav in-vehicle navigation system in the U.K.
SOURCE
Motorola Press Release Back
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