Navigation and positioning are crucial to so many activities and yet the process has always been quite cumbersome and inexact. Over the years all kinds of technologies have tried to simplify the task, yet it may not have been as successful, to be adopted conveniently by the user. Therefore keeping in line with the brand premise of keeping things simple, TATA DOCOMO, the GSM brand of Tata Teleservi



es Limited has launched 2 new Location Based services called Route Finder and Smart Pilot. For both the services, Tata DOCOMO has tied up with NAVTEQ, the leading global provider of digital map data and location content in 760 cities across and all 3G circles.

Route Finder service is simple and useful, accessible on SMS and facilitates the end-user to get directions to the desired place from his/her current location in the form of an SMS or a link (as per the phone capability of the customer). Customers with data-enabled phones will get directions as via link and while clicking on that link, customers will be able to visually see the static map indicating the route from current to selected location. Users without data-enabled phones will get directions as text messages.

Some of the NextGen features of Route Finder include automatic source-location detection without user input, User-friendly results; and results delivered in SMS as well as via link, depending on handset capability of the customer.

To access Route Finder service, customer will have to send sms to 533331 mentioning the destination to reach. The service is charged at introductory price of Rs.5 per successful query-response, there are no additional data charges for accessing maps. This service is available to all 3G customers, and works on all handsets.

Smart Pilot is a unique, SMART mobile based voice guided navigation service which offers information as well as navigation details to reach any destination across India. Smart Pilot application helps customers to navigate with intuitive, voice guided, step-by-step directions. With this service, they can also avail options like settin




available to all 3G customers, and works on all handsets.

Smart Pilot is a unique, SMART mobile based voice guided navigation service which offers information as well as navigation details to reach any destination across India. Smart Pilot application helps customers to navigate with intuitive, voice guided, step-by-step directions. With this service, they can also avail options like setting destinations by address search, searching point of interests like ATMs, petrol pumps, railway station etc and also can find places on interactive maps. To use the service, the user downloads an application on the phone, just by sending 'smart pilot' as a keyword to the tollfree shortcode 53333.

"Tata Teleservices commitment to simplifying and enriching people's lives is manifest in this fun and simple offering for the fast growing for location-based services domain. We collaborated with NAVTEQ as they fulfilled our requirements for accurate mapping data while offering a robust Points Of Interest (POI) database with millions of POI, including restaurants, places of worship, shops and hotels that we can utilize to create these applications," Mr Shailendra Singh, COO, MP & CG , Tata DOCOMO, said. "We believe in offering services that are technically simple and convenient, which add value to every subscriber regardless of the handset capability, it is only then that the facility will be used to the fullest."

"A recent NAVTEQ research on mobile navigation showed that consumers who commute by foot or public transit spend as much as half of their commute using their mobile phones. The study also revealed that consumers who have had positive interactions with GPS technology provides a strong foundation for interest in location based services. We believe that Route Finder and Smart Pilot are two powerful applications that will enable an increasing number of India consumers to start experiencing the benefits of navigation, essentially savings in time, fuel and money." said Rajat Tandon, director - sales, NAVTEQ India.

Smart Pilot service is particularly useful for going to places with long and complex routes, multiple intersections and turns with the unnamed roads. It also offers multiple options, including total distance time; graphical & interactive icons for turns, manual navigation, route plotted on map and simulate navigation to see all actual turns taken. Additionally, customers can save their favorite locations/routes and also share the same with their friends. What's more! There will be no data accessing charges, post subscribing to the Smart Pilot service.