NAVTEQ LBS Contest Winners

Want to know the future of Location Based Services (LBS)? Well, NAVTEQ did too, and they started up a Euro based contest open to companies who wanted to submit their application. The grand prize was €35,000 in cash and €100,000 worth of NAVTEQ Map licenses for up to one year. Missed your opportunity? NAVTEQ is wplanning a global contest with a prize pool valued up to an unprecedented €1.5 million.

My Take on the Future of LBS from this contest:

GPS Aided Search - connect internet search with location based services to create more targeted results for you right now where you are.

GPS Aided Life Tracking - Geotagging of photos is just the start, and coupling this capability with commentary and meta information capture is going to add up to more detailed virtual social interactions.

Press Release and details on the winners after the jump...

NAVTEQ announced the European winners of the NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge today at the 3GSM World Congress.

The challenge is designed to stimulate the LBS industry by encouraging application developers from around the world to build innovative location-based service (LBS) applications that work with portable devices using wireless technology and NAVTEQ® maps.

Over 340 companies registered for the Challenge globally, of which nine semifinalists advanced to the final judging in Barcelona, Spain. The semifinalists represented a broad spectrum of wireless applications in three categories: Navigation, Business Applications, and Social Networking. Semifinalists were selected based on each competitor’s commercial feasibility, functionality and design.

The grand-prize winner and Navigation Category Winner, Jentro Technologies GmbH, received €35,000 in cash and €100,000 worth of NAVTEQ Map licenses for up to one year. Jentro’s application, activepilot, is a location-based, end-to-end service offering local search, community tools, e911, and off-board navigation. This versatile product meets the needs of the mass market, and also acts as a sensor for generating traffic flow information through its users via its exclusive Floating Car Data technology. Jentro is powered by PTV.

Each category winner, excluding the Grand Prize Winner, will receive €5,000 in cash and €75,000 worth of NAVTEQ Map licenses for up to one year.

The Category Winners are:

Business Application
Smarter Agent combines mobile LBS with information about apartments, homes, and Neighborhoods to create Mobile GPS Home and Apartment Search. This application instantly acquires a user’s position and delivers detailed information about Homes For Sale and Apartments For Rent around them. As consumers search, agents, newspapers, and advertisers benefit from location-aware lead generation opportunities within Smarter Agent.

Navigation Application
Jentro Technologies GmbH developed activepilot, which ultimately went on to win the Grand Prize in lieu of the category award.

Social Networking Application
AtlasCT, a leading developer and provider of worldwide mapping solutions, created relive!, a unique and handy leisure application, allows users to take photos and write notes along a trip route and seamlessly link them to their locations on the map. Users may later access the trip on the website to view the trip route, photos, and notes on a map in their authentic locations.

In addition to the cash and licenses awarded by NAVTEQ, many of the Global LBS Challenge sponsors are also offering prizes to this year’s Category and Grand Prize Winners. The global prize pool is valued up to an unprecedented €1.5 million.

Executives from wireless carriers, hardware and device manufacturers, venture capitalists and other influential players in the wireless industry served as the official judges and participated in the judging on Sunday, 11 February on site during 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The judges based their final decisions on three criteria: commercial viability, unique functionality and features and ease of use.

Nokia globally sponsored the Challenge for the second consecutive year, and provided LBS contestants with access to resources from Forum Nokia (Nokia’s global developer program). Joining Nokia, additional influential sponsors and partners include Autodesk, deCarta, Garmin, PTV, and Telefonica. Sponsors and partners offered free access to tools, platforms and support to Global LBS Challenge developers in Europe.

“We have seen an explosion in location-based service and navigation integrated into wireless solutions this week at 3GSM. The goal of the Global LBS Challenge is to create momentum by providing a forum for key industry players to collaborate with application developers,” commented Winston Guillory, Senior Vice President, Consumer and Enterprise, NAVTEQ. “The quality, commercial viability and ingenuity seen in this year’s applications have exceeded expectations. NAVTEQ congratulates the European winners of the Global LBS Challenge, and expresses our gratitude to the judges and sponsors that continue to help drive innovation and growth in this critical area.”

NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge
First launched in North America in October 2003, the Global LBS Challenge is focused on driving the development and visibility of innovative navigation solutions for wireless devices. From wireless business applications to sports, travel and security, integrating the accuracy and richness of NAVTEQ digital map data facilitates the timely evolution of the next wave LBS using global positioning satellite (GPS) technology. Industry validation of the Global LBS Challenge for the category overall encouraged NAVTEQ to host the judging and presentations for the first time in both Europe and North America this year.

The semifinalist applications submitted in the Americas will be judged, and the winners announced, on 28 March, 2007 in Orlando, Florida at CTIA Wireless 2007. More information regarding next year’s Global LBS Challenge will be available in the upcoming months at www.LBSChallenge.com.

February 14, 2007

NAVTEQ LBS Contest Winners