NAVTEQ Announce Winners of Global LBS Challenge

13 February 2008, 9:44am

February 13, 2008 - NAVTEQ announced yesterday at Mobile World Congress 2008 that Italian company UbiEst is the European grand prize winner of this year’s Global LBS Challenge. The UK’s Oxford Softworks was awarded runner-up spot. The winning application, UbiSafe, is an exciting new LBS service which gives families the peace of mind of always knowing where their children are. Users can set preferences or get notifications via mobile phone to know instantly when a child has left school or a defined safety zone.

Three runners-up were also selected by the judging panel:

Oxford Softworks: Nearme
Nearme is a highly portable LBS application enabling advanced POI searches based on user location and preferences. Branded and trusted content such as reviews, pricing and photos are delivered to cell phones to empower users to explore their surroundings and make informed decisions. Nearme is powered by deCarta.

Senda: Chronomove
Chronomove reduces the daily stress of commuting by taking the mystery out of travel times. Drivers get fastest route options based on real time traffic conditions and highly accurate travel time estimates with this always on solution. Chronomove is powered by AtlasCT.

GyPSii:
GyPSii is an integrated web and wireless application that connects user-generated content (such as restaurant reviews) to people and places. Find friends, view shared videos and photos in real time, or explore the environment around you.

This year the global prize pool is valued at around an unprecedented $1.5 million with UbiEst receiving $35,000 in cash and $225,000 worth of NAVTEQ Map licences for up to one year. Each runner-up will receive $7,500 in cash and a three-year NAVTEQ territory licence valued at $150,000. In addition, many of the sponsors are also providing prizes.

The worldwide contest, which has established a reputation as the premier event in the location-based services (LBS) industry, challenges application developers to build innovative location-based services which work with mobile phones and/or wireless handheld devices using dynamic positioning technology and NAVTEQ maps.

This is the third year for the Challenge in the EMEA Region, the fifth year in the Americas Region and this year it has also been expanded to include the Asia-Pacific (APAC) Region. There are five solution categories in which to submit applications, including: Content, Enterprise, Entertainment, Navigation and Social Networking.

www.navteq.com

Geo: International