Thursday, November 16. 2006

TAPC - Pedestrian Navigation - More than Nav

I quizzed Tele Atlas CMO David Sym-Smith about not automobile navigation, but pedestrian navigation. While he was quick to note it was different from auto navigation, he also wanted to highlight its tight link with wireless and the wireless experience. It's about getting you to the front door - not just close. It's about "tuning" navigation to the industry or in time the individual. And, Tele Atlas is working toward that with address points (actual locations of buildings, not approximate geocoded guesses) its new vans that capture streetscapes and more. And, of course, it's neatly tied to LBS - what else is around that I might want to know about in my trave from A to B? Navigation and the data behind it is fundamentally different than 15, 10 or even 5 years ago.

I'll add that the exprience and the expected experience from a nav system and a phone are different. That may change in time, but for the most part a nav system is generic while a phone is well, an extension of ourselves, a friend, an intimate companion.