Dutch motoring association launches mobile-based personal navigator

Mobile Internet, The,  April, 2005  

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The Dutch motoring association, ANWB, has launched a smart-phone-based personal navigation system for use throughout Europe.

The system, Enginyoy, navigates the user and can also provide details on around a million hotels, restaurants, amusement parks, hospitals and service station.

"Many navigation systems focus on their use in the car, the only place they can be deployed," said ANWB business manager Monique van der Sanden, explaining why the system is phone-based. 'People carry their mobile with them wherever they go, and we can in this way expand the service to include pedestrians, for example.' explained.

All information is stored in a central database--instead of on the mobile handset itself--which is kept current with route and other changes. "This also makes a difference in terms of storage requirements of the handsets," said Ms Van der Sanden.

The service uses GPRS for all its data communications, which is one way for mobile operators to generate revenue. The complete package, including a one-year European subscription and a wireless Bluetooth GPS (global positioning system) receiver, retails for 299 [euro].

ANWB, which expects to sell some 35,000 Enginyoy packages this year, hopes to introduce an SMS feature to the service this summer, which would allow stranded motorists, for example, to use the service to send a motoring association breakdown service an SMS message containing their location.

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