T+1 Solutions chosen as Global CHAMPION

24 September 2009, 10:43am

Chicago – September 24, 2009 – NAVTEQ, the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data for in-vehicle, portable, wireless and enterprise solutions, last night announced the overall 2009 NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge CHAMPION at an awards ceremony held in Stevenage (London), UK. T+1 Solutions from Estonia wins a $10,000 (US) cash prize, awarded in addition to the previously received Grand Prize Winner’s prize from the Americas region for its TaxiPal application. In total, the Global LBS Challenge has brought T+1 Solutions over $560,000 (US) in cash, licenses for global map data, tools and porting services, as well as invaluable industry exposure to key decision-makers.

Conducted by NAVTEQ Network for Developers™ (NN4D), the NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge is a world-wide competition organized annually since 2003. It challenges application developers around the world to build innovative location-based services (LBS) using dynamic positioning technology and NAVTEQ® maps. The 2009 competition was held in three regions: EMEA, Americas and APAC and is now concluded.

The CHAMPION judging and selection was held in conjunction with the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) International Evaluation Meeting yesterday. The activity formed part of the collaboration between NN4D and Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen, the organizer of ESNC, aimed at advancing innovations in the field of satellite navigation and LBS, and supporting developers with joint incubation activities. 18 ESNC judges listened to the pitches of the three Global LBS Challenge regional winners and scored their three applications on level of commercial appeal, indispensability, innovativeness and aesthetic appeal of the demonstrated application as well as how effectively it uses NAVTEQ maps and content.

“We have a very deserving global winner. I also am thrilled about the positive response from the expert panel of judges of the European Satellite Navigation Competition to judging our 2009 Global LBS Challenge regional winners at the ESNC International Evaluation Meeting. Since the LBS Challenge is all about innovation, I believe that the insight and ideas exchange between the contestants and the ESNC industry insiders will contribute to cross-fertilization in new and interesting ways," says Marc Naddell, vice president, Partner & Developer Programs, NAVTEQ.

“T+1 Solutions is extremely happy to win the NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge CHAMPION title and our victory proves the huge potential there is in the field of location-based services. It has helped T+1 Solutions to develop from a true one-man startup last year to a bigger team and a market-ready product this year. Our TaxiPal service, soon to launch in all EU countries, will be the first multi-language taxi ordering and brokering service, running on all popular device platforms, with a global coverage that will change how taxis are ordered anywhere in the world,” says Raoul Järvis, Founder and CEO of T+1 Solutions. “We are very thankful to NAVTEQ, the true world leader in premium-quality digital map data and content, for organizing such contests for developers and opening up the potential of LBS to a wider audience.”

TaxiPal is a mobile taxi ordering service that helps consumers anywhere in the world connect with trusted taxi companies. The desired time and destination is sent from a user’s mobile phone to a taxi brokering server. Local taxi companies then submit competitive bids and proposed routes back to the consumer.

“Many judges in the ESNC panel are deeply involved in innovation generation and venture creation. They therefore not only acknowledged the contestants’ level of innovation and technical expertise, but also chose the application with the overall most promising business case,” says Thorsten Rudolph, CEO of ESNC organizer Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen. “In line with the current trend of responding to the growing need for just-in-time individual travelling, the first NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge CHAMPION shows great potential for a quick commercial realization internationally and sustainable success.”

The 2010 competition is underway and already accepting registrations in five regions: EMEA, North America, India, South America and Asia-Pacific. For more information on the annual Global LBS Challenge, please visit the link below.

Global LBS Challenge

Geo: International