NAVTEQ Announces Winners of 2nd Annual Global LBS Challenge
18 Semi-Final Applications Showcased at 2005 Spring Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association's (CTIA) Wireless Expo in New Orleans, LA
CHICAGO, March 16 -- NAVTEQ , a leading global provider of digital map data for vehicle navigation and location-based solutions, awarded the winners of the 2nd annual Global LBS Challenge. The contest challenged developers to build location-enabled applications for wireless devices. The grand-prize winner and Asset Tracking/Field Services solution category winner, Bones In Motion, received $50,000 in cash and $100,000 worth of NAVTEQ Map licenses for up to one year.
Bones In Motion offers users an effortless way to wirelessly monitor, measure and motivate users toward their fitness goals using a GPS-enabled mobile phone. Key features of this application include the ability to:
-- Record time, distance, speed, location and calories burned while
engaging in outdoor activities
-- View activity summary, maps (street/topographical/satellite) and
speed/elevation charts on phone
-- Upload to personal online journal to view and share with others
-- Identify where others run, cycle or walk
Each category winner, including than the Grand Prize Winner, will receive $10,000 in cash and $75,000 worth of NAVTEQ Map licenses for up to one year.
The solution category winners are: Personal Security Company: Clarity Communication Systems Inc. Solution: Whereabouts(TM) Whereabouts(TM) allows parents to monitor and track the location of their children. Users get peace of mind knowing that they can instantly locate and ensure the safety of their family members. Peer to Peer/Find Me Company: LOC-AID Technologies LLC Solution: Loc-Aid People Loc-Aid People helps users locate friends, child or family members. It also allows users to locate the closest restaurant or share their location information with whomever they want. Navigation/Point of Interest Look Up/Traffic Company: InfoGation Corporation Solution: Adeona(TM) InfoGation's Adeona full-featured navigation system provides real-time traffic, weather and gas price information. The i-POI(TM) feature finds any near-by POI on the Internet using user provided key-word searches. Commerce/Advertising/Buying/Billing Company: Smarter Agent, Inc. Solution: Smarter Agent Smarter Agent acquires a user's location from his or her cell phone and instantly delivers information such as sale prices, comps, taxes and more directly to the user's phone. Asset Tracking/Field Services Company: Bones In Motion Inc. Solution: Bones In Motion Bones In Motion offers users an effortless way to wirelessly monitor, measure and motivate users toward their fitness goals using a GPS-enabled mobile phone. Gaming/Location Based Imaging Company: Networks In Motion, Inc. Solution: PhotoFinder(TM) PhotoFinder(TM) allows users to manage photos containing location tags, view them on a map and send to another phone or website along with navigation to location where the picture was taken. Global LBS Challenge
The second annual LBS Challenge is an expansion of the first contest that was launched in October 2003. This year's contest expanded the potential contestant base beyond North America to include developers from around the world*. In addition to including developers outside of North America, the Global LBS Challenge offered developers six solution categories with which their applications could be aligned. The Global LBS Challenge was met with extensive interest from developers, carriers, and device manufacturers and further heightened the awareness of new value-adding location-based services (LBS) to the wireless industry.
Executives from wireless carriers, hardware and device manufacturers and other influential players in the wireless industry served as the official judges and completed the judging on Sunday, March 13 while on site at CTIA. The judges based their final decisions on two criteria: usability and utility.
Sponsors of the Global LBS Challenge include ESRI, Microsoft Corp., SiRF Technology, Inc. and Telcontar. In addition, the Challenge had several media sponsors including Directions Magazine, Wireless Innovation Network of British Columbia (WINBC), PDA Buzz, Handheld Computing and Location Box.
"Two years ago, the Wireless LBS Challenge was an idea. Now, with the cooperation of so many people, it has turned into a successful industry forum that has cast light on a host of really interesting applications. Carriers, developers and the industry continue to support our efforts so stay tuned as we work to shape the vision for next year's Challenge. Congratulations to the winners and all of the semi-finalists on behalf of NAVTEQ, the sponsors and the judges," said Winston Guillory, Senior Vice President - North American Sales for NAVTEQ.
More information regarding next year's Wireless LBS Challenge will be available in the upcoming months.
About NAVTEQ
NAVTEQ is a leading provider of comprehensive digital map information for automotive navigation systems, mobile navigation devices and Internet-based mapping applications. NAVTEQ creates the digital maps and map content that power navigation and location-based services solutions around the world. The Chicago-based company was founded in 1985 and has approximately 1,500 employees located in over 100 offices in 20 countries.
NAVTEQ is a trademark in the U.S. and other countries. All rights reserved.
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