“It is inspiring to see the inventive concepts submitted by fresh thinkers from both start-ups and well-established companies who are leveraging location to create a new level of relevancy for end users,” said Darren Koenig, director of wireless, Internet and telecom markets, Tele Atlas. “This year, we are thrilled to welcome our industry partners Autodesk and SiRF as sponsors of the Series, and we look forward to their collaborations with us to further support innovation in the LBS arena.”
The Maps in Apps contest was created to help spur the growth of consumer and business applications that utilize mapping or location to enhance functionality. Past finalists in Tele Atlas LBS Innovators Series programs have leveraged their success to launch commercial location-based solutions. This year, the Maps In Apps contest was judged by experts from industry-leading companies, including Autodesk, deCarta, Human Factors International, Motorola, Networks In Motion (NIM), Research In Motion and SiRF. To download podcasts of some of the judges discussing impressions of the applications and commentary on the LBS industry, please visit: http://staging.porternovelli.com/teleatlas/digitallibrary/single.cfm.
The 2008 Maps in Apps finalists are:
- Open Green Map: A social mapping web site designed to guide users to local nature, culture and green living innovations. The application will help connect the growing 'go local,' green development and ecotourism movements with social networking and interactive mapping, empowering widespread participation in critical local environment, climate and equity issues worldwide.
- Pongr: A mobile technology that allows consumers to price comparison shop, from their cell phone, for just about anything they want to buy. By simply taking a picture or texting item information, users automatically get the best price and location information for the nearby stores sent back to their phone.
- Travel Channel GO: A free mobile travel application providing access to Travel Channel-exclusive destination content through any web-enabled mobile device. Through text, photos, and audio, Travel Channel GO (available at go.travelchannel.com/travel) offers consumers over 10 million points of interest and more than 2,000 Travel Channel-exclusive content references including destination guides, maps, directions, proximity alerts, click-to-call, and narratives from Travel Channel personalities like Samantha Brown.
CTIA IT & Entertainment attendees are invited to view demonstrations in the Tele Atlas booth, #717, from September 10-12 and then to vote via SMS or paper ballot for their favorite application. SMS codes for voting will be provided in the booth. The winner will be selected in a live voting event at the conference. One grand prize winner will be awarded $25,000 in cash and $50,000 in Tele Atlas map data; two runners up each will receive $10,000 in cash and $20,000 in Tele Atlas map data. Additionally, Tele Atlas named Dial Directions as runner-up and 3-GIS as the best enterprise application; Dial Directions will also exhibit in the Tele Atlas booth at the event.
The annual Maps In Apps competition is part of the ongoing Tele Atlas LBS Innovators Series, which serves in conjunction with Tele Atlas DeveloperLinkSM to help foster innovation and enable application developers to increase their visibility, credibility and success with key participants in the industry including investors, carriers and technology providers.
About Tele Atlas LBS Innovators Series
The Tele Atlas LBS Innovators Series features the Maps In Apps contest, LBS-Out the Box contest in EMEA, the Attendee Choice Awards at CES and the Tele Atlas LBS Innovators Series held at the Wireless Innovations Conference and VentureWire Mobile Technology Summit produced by Dow Jones. More information on the programs, including details for submitting applications, is available at: http://www.lbsseries.com.
About Tele Atlas DeveloperLink
Designed to provide Internet, mobile and other next-generation application developers access to technology, business tools and services that can help reduce their time to market and increase their potential for success, Tele Atlas DeveloperLink features an expanding library of sample map data and applications, technical tools and business information. Launched in the spring of 2006, the Tele Atlas DeveloperLink community has grown rapidly and now includes thousands of active participants, making it one of the world’s largest communities of geographic application developers. Learn more at http://developerlink.teleatlas.com.
About Tele Atlas
Tele Atlas delivers the digital maps and dynamic content that power many of the world’s most essential navigation and location-based services (LBS). Through a combination of its own products and partnerships, Tele Atlas offers map coverage of more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The company was founded in 1984 and has approximately 2,000 full-time staff and contract cartographers at offices in 24 countries. Today, Tele Atlas maps are developed with the insight of a community of millions of GPS system users worldwide, who are adding to the company’s unmatched network of sources to track and validate changes in real time, and deliver the best digital maps and dynamic content. For more information, visit www.teleatlas.com. Tele Atlas is a subsidiary of TomTom N.V.
About Autodesk Location Services
Autodesk Location Services, a division of Autodesk, Inc., is a leading provider of location-based services for mobile and wireless customers. With a complete range of solutions including platform software, application frameworks and professional services, Autodesk Location Services delivers market-proven technology and expertise to empower applications developers and wireless network operators with scalable and cost effective location smart services.
About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is the world leader in 2D and 3D design software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk has developed the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art digital prototyping solutions to help customers experience their ideas before they are real. Fortune 1000 companies rely on Autodesk for the tools to visualize, simulate and analyze real-world performance early in the design process to save time and money, enhance quality and foster innovation. For additional information about Autodesk, visit http://www.autodesk.com/.
About SiRF Technology
SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc. develops and markets location platforms based on semiconductor and software products that are designed to enable location-awareness utilizing GPS and other location technologies, enhanced by wireless connectivity and multimedia capabilities for high-volume mobile consumer devices and commercial applications. SiRF’s technology has been integrated into a wide range of mobile consumer devices such as automobile navigation systems, portable navigation devices (PNDs), mobile phones, mobile computers, GPS-based peripherals and handheld GPS devices, and into commercial applications such as location servers, asset tracking devices and fleet management systems. SiRF markets and sells its products in four target platforms: wireless handheld devices such as mobile phones; automotive electronics systems, including navigation and telematics systems; consumer electronics products such as recreational GPS handhelds, mobile gaming machines, digital cameras and wearable devices; and mobile computing systems, including personal digital assistants, notebook computers, universal mobile personal computers (UMPCs) and mobile internet devices. Founded in 1995, SiRF is headquartered in San Jose, California, and has sales offices, design centers and research facilities around the world. The company trades on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange under the symbol SIRF. Additional information about SiRF and its location technology solutions can be found at www.sirf.com.
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