Remember the Gate5 acquisition and Nokia's plan to offer maps to all with its hardware? The new version is now in a limited beta. Among the updates: "walk" mode, traffic and aerial imagery. More details and screenshots at AllAboutSymbian.

While Yahoo and Google's local search have been tapped for satnav tools to date, this is the first I've heard of a company tapping into Microsoft's offering. The company's offering is called CoPilot.

Future versions of the system promise the ability to tap into live online reservation systems, thereby helping users make an informed selection.

ALK said that, unlike many mobile-based GPS systems, CoPilot maps are stored on the device so data transfer is limited and access is faster and more reliable.

The new system will be provided as a free download to all existing CoPilot users in the coming months.

- IT Week

I noted Domino's offering for pizza tracking last week: basically, you know what stage your pie is at in the process, not where it is. Papa John's is going with another technology, at least one 11 store group in Huntsville. (Joe will need to test this!)

The group is using technology from Trackmypizza a startup built by "two telemetry scientists who spent 10 years tracking defense missiles for the U.S. government." They use GPS enabled phones that travel with the drivers.

About 18% of all orders (phone and Internet) in the last 60 days are using the service and amazingly, online orders are up 100%. Part of the return on investment seems to be getting more folks to order online - they order more because they can see the whole menu.

Another tidbit - the tracking seems to use TIGER data: "TrackMyPizza itself relies on a mapping engine built by Randy Younger, the company's chief operating officer, and Ken Blankshain, its CTO, using geo data available from the U.S. government." The site is funded by Papa Johns and ads. And, the maps are pretty basic.

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InformationWeek

Garmin has, as some expected, launched its first phone, which focuses on navigation. It's called the nuviphone. Garmin doesn't yet have any information on its website, but there's plenty of coverage elsewhere, including at Engadget and the Kansas City Star.

Also, word from Dominos you can now track your pizza order to your door - at least from 3,200 outlets. But, it's really a "what step is it at" tracking, there's no geo involved. From the PR:

Once customers place an order, they can go to www.dominos.com and click on the Pizza Tracker icon. They will see a horizontal bar that lights up red as each step in the process is completed. Customers will see confirmation of their order being received by the store; when it's being prepared; when it's been placed in the oven; when it's been boxed and placed in the Domino's HeatWave(TM) bag; and finally, when it's on its way for delivery.

Still, Dominos has applied for a patent on the technology.

This week is the Consumer Electronics Show - the extravaganza for available and soon to be available gadgets for end users ears, eyes, cars and more. I plan to offer one per day on the event as I watch for geo-related tibdits via the Web from home.

First off, The New York Times highlights that the show is so big that perhaps its no longer the best place for an announcement. Recall that several big shows imploded in recent years included AEC SYSTEMS in our world (note the passing of one of its founders) and COMDEX, which I attended representing ESRI and its 50 x 50 booth.

Now on to the goodies announced:

GPS devices were one of the big tech sellers this holiday season. More than likely you or a family member or friend gave or received one that's now settled into a single car, or caught in play between two or more vehicles. What might the large number of sales of these devices mean for the growth of location-based services in 2008? Editors Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg look into the crystal ball.

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