www.mobilenewscwp.co.uk/Features/4384/satnav_the_profit -
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Published on: 9/21/2007
Last Visited: 9/21/2007
David Quin is European marketing director of ALK Technologies, the firm that developed the Co-Pilot system.He believes that this feature is something of a killer application for SatNav.For the first time it means that a small business can tell where someone is and either allocate new jobs to them via text, or over the phone, without having to buy expensive fleet management systems and software, he says.Even better, says Quin, T-Mobile is offering the SatNav bundle of a Bluetooth-enabled GPS receiver and card-based software/maps free of charge, within a high-end contract deal.If the dealer adds on a £7.50 a month Web ܘn Walk flat-rate data deal, then there are no extra data charges involved, no matter how much data flows between the mobile and the network, he says.The new MDA Compact III bundle, announced earlier this month, even moves the GPS receiver onboard the mobile phone.This, says, Quin, makes the SatNav function highly attractive as it creates a single unit solution that can even be used by pedestrians when they leave the vehicle.This is a major advantage, as it removes the problem of leaving the GPS unit, or even a dedicated TomTom unit, in the vehicle, for car thieves to spot, he says.I believe the MDA Compact III will become a best-seller in the channel, as it creates a single unit SatNav offering for consumers for the first time.I think it will propel SatNav into the mainstream, he tells Mobile News.While the MDA Compact III will be many dealer s first encounter with the delights of smartphone-based SatNav, Quin reckons T-Mobile has been actively promoting SatNav systems based on the Co-Pilot technology since the spring of this year.If you take the SDA-II (AKA the Orange SPV 600), which was, I have to say, a bit of a clunky handset, users were mainly buying it for the SatNav facilities.This is what makes me think that SatNav is primed to be a killer application on mobiles, he says.Because of this, Quin s firm has been working closely with T-Mobile on promoting mobile phone SatNav to the dealer channel since the summer.SatNav really gives the sales guys something to talk about it s a useful service.It s not a football download that you use once and later regret it s something you can use again and again, he explains.
Expanding handset rangeQuin is also working with T-Mobile on expanding the range of mobiles that can have SatNav add-ons.Later this year we ll have SatNav available on the Sony-Ericsson M600i and the P990, and there will be others in 2007, but I am very confident about the new MDA Compact III because of its onboard GPS facilities, he says.T-Mobile s Jote Bassi, the company s marketing manager for data is also keen to promote SatNav through the dealer channel.It s a very powerful proposition for a mobile, he says. There are now a number of T-Mobile SatNav offers available for different segments of the market.Interestingly, Bassi says that, although 3G coverage increases the rate at which map updates and traffic information is downloaded, GPRS is quite sufficient for most users.With our SatNav offering, the map data is stored on a card in the mobile, so the need for speed on the data transfer front is not as great as, say, on the Orange/Webraska system, where the maps are downloaded over the air, he says.Bassi adds that T-Mobile s flat-rate Web n Walk data offer means that, no matter how many map updates or real-time traffic information is downloaded, there will be no surprises when the bill comes in.There s no doubt that SatNav has widened the market for premium handsets in the dealer channel, but the key thing for resellers to remember is that having SatNav on a mobile also encourages buyers to use extra non-voice services, he says.
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