European Navigation Event Blog

Navcert, Martin Grzebellus, Managing Director, Germany presentation

ABI Research, Dominique Bonte, Research Director, Telematics and Navigation, Belgium presentation

NXP, Wouter Leibbrandt, Senior Director & Manager NXP Advanced Systems Lab, The Netherlands, presentation

Routeyou, Philip Van der Putten, Managing Partner, Belgium, presentation

TomTom, George de Boer, Sr. Manager Wholesale, The Netherlands, presentation

ABI Research, Dominique Bonte, Research Director, Telematics and Navigation, presentation

Nokia, Christof Hellmis, Director, Navigation & Routing Solutions – Services & Software

Multirama SA, George Rigopoulos, Mgr Intl Business, presentation

Journey Dynamics, Richard Jelbert, Chief Technology Officer, presentation

Spotigo, Darío Alonso, Head of productmanagement, presentation

Skyhookwireless, Dan Jelfs, Director Europe, presentation

GfK Benelux, Filip Van Dyck, Manager Client Services, presentation

DiBcom, Stuart Pekowsky, VP Strategic Partnerships, presentation

RIM EMEA, Rory O’Neill, Director, Solutions & Alliances Mktg

Microsoft EMEA, Johannes Kebeck, Virtual Earth Technology Specialist, presentation

Mapscape, Harald Hagenaars, Business Development Manager, presentation

Tele Atlas, Laurent De Hauwere, Vice President Marketing Europe, presentation

The Saints-Content Creators, Thomas Engel, Owner,

Telematica Instituut / Docomo Europe, Johan Koolwaaij, about IYOUIT, presentation

Jentro Technologies GmbH, Kate Edwards, CEO, presentation

TNO, Egbert Jan Sol, CTO

Blaupunkt / Bosch, Martin Giersbeck, presentation

Urban Mapping, Ian White, CEO,

Gypsii, Sam Critchley, Co-founder presentation

NAVX, Jean Cherbonnier, co-founder/CEO presentation

Toll Collect GmbH, Dr. Johannes Springer, CTO presentation

Mapflow, Jonathan Guard, presentation

NXP, Lars Reger, Business Development Manager, BU Automotive & Identification presentation

The newest developments in the field of navigation were a central theme of the seminars at the Navigation Event. The navigation market worldwide and in the Benelux has grown enormously. With St. Nicholas in the Netherlands and Christmas in Belgium just around the corner a huge rush in navigation systems is predicted. Especially as consumer prices are tumbling.
Pieter Hermans, CEO of Jakajima, welcomed the attendees and introduced the keynotespeakers.

So announced keynotespeaker Serge Bussat from Navteq who gave a summary of the current navigation market before moving on in a more specialised direction where themes were studied in more depth. “The PND market has more than doubled in two years. The consumer gets most of the benefit from that”, according to Bussat. He anticipates plenty of new developments in the products. “More devices, more applications and more variation in the products, making them more geared towards the end users. The average price per product will increase, reflecting their increased possibilities. That is good news for the sector.”

Keynotespeaker Filip van Dyck from GfK endorsed this opinion further There were 10 brands and 42 models of PNDs in Europe in 2004. By June 2007 that number had risen to 115 brands and 490 models. 93 of those brands have a market share of only 0.2% . The average price of a PND in Europe (918 countries) has dropped below 300 euros. It is still 350 euros in Belgium, in the Netherlands just over 300 euros, Spain is the cheapest with a price tag of only 200 euros. With the booming economies in Eastern Europe there is a free market place for providers. Latin America and Asian also offer great opportunities. “So the market is by no means saturated, yet our prices continue to fall”, was Van Dyke’s conclusion.

Diederik Nederlof from Tom Tom commented more on the growth, but then closer to home, in Benelux. Where there were only 10 manufacturers in 20054 there are currently 115. Nederlof also mentioned the quick developments, giving the telephone with integrated navigation system as a recent example. Nederlof expects that 156 million telephones with this function will have been sold by the end of 2008.

The Navigation Event was more than just back-slapping. There is definitely room for improvement, in particular as shown by the wishes of the consumer. The route map, the user-friendliness and the sound quality were among the points mentioned. Safety is also a feature. Nederlof put great importance on this last point with Tom Tom. Great leaps ahead with traffic information can be expected in the years to come.

Offboard versus onboard

Visitors could get a deeper view of market developments in four different sectors. One sector concerned the offboard versus onboard navigation question. With Pieter Hermans from Jakajima as moderator those present listened to three different speakers give their point of view. Off-board navigation is still in its infancy. With telephones such as the Nokia 6110 and the N95 and KPN’s Op Weg on the market, interest in off-board navigation is gaining ground.

Jean Michel Durocher from the French Webraska stressed off-board’s great strength. He tried to reinforce this image by mentioning the up-to-date and push-and-pull features. However Durocher mentioned the fact that a connection needs to be established as one of the disadvantages. He was quite clear about onboard navigation. “All in One. That makes is clear and simple.” He still stated his preference for offboard (connected) navigation.. “Onboard navigation does not give the consumer up to date information. That’s exactly what the consumer wants”, stated the Frenchman.

What the consumer wants was an important topic at the event. According to Blackberry the end user will benefit from the off-board solutions that are available now. Jurgen Morel from RIM, Blackberry argued that off-board fits in perfectly with what Blackberry is working towards: a wireless communication platform. Navigation is not yet where it needs to be. According to Jurgen Morel, points such as traffic information must be substantially improved to keep the customer satisfied.

Nico Stouthart from KPN Mobile recognised the same challenge. Representing KPN he praised the new KPN Mobiel. “The mobile telephone is increasingly becoming a box of magic. The GPS functions are what the public wants. At KPN Mobiel we are trying to fill the gap.” Despite that Nico Stouthart tried to give a realistic picture. This is not a good news story.

Technology and usability trends

Under the leadership of Jan Dobbelsteen from Bureau Dobbelsteen the speakers turned their attention to subjects such as ease of use and the immediate future of the navigation systems. How can the market develop further?

Philippe Jeanrenaud van Nuance thought that a great leap forward needs to be made in the areas of user-friendliness and safety. “A handsfree menu and good voice recognition will make it easier and safer”, according to Jeanrenaud. That he argued for this is logical. His company Nuance has voice and image solutions for consumers as its core business.

In a world where new applications for navigation can increasingly easily be implemented, the importance of the map must not be allowed to wane. That was the opinion of Maarten Oldenhof from AND (Automotive Navigation Data), which concerns itself with developing the appropriate route maps. The online applications which are becoming increasingly available have a positive effect on route maps. Possible mistakes can be adjusted earlier on. ”It takes 12 to 18 months to implement an actual change in a product. The consumer expects results earlier. That will happen with the new opportunities”, stated Oldenhof. The navigation market at the moment is a place where every manufacturer is trying to find a gap in the market, So it’s tough. Oldenhof: “Luckily the demand for maps will never disappear. That’s what’s so good about it.”

Pascal Durdu from SiRF foresees a gap in the market in the future for navigation in buildings. People really do get lost in large office buildings but with new applications help will be at hand. “Great challenges lie ahead for devices that are suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. But the precision or resolution of devices is important. That sometimes leaves a lot to be desired”, stated Durdu. Furthermore he could see that privacy was worth investing in when use is made of a pull system.

TeleAtlas presented a system in which navigation system users can pass on information about real-time obstructions, diversions etc. “Users can provide us with good information”, said Laurent de Hauwere. He divides users into passive and active volunteers. The challenge is to gather the information in a beneficial way for the consumer”, stated De Hauwere. The traffic information service is also on the way up. “That must be the most accurate system, so that the consumers have clarity.”

Leo Van Geyt from Instruxion brought this session to an end with a presentation on usability. “This is a big problem. People just don’t read the instruction manual.” Van Geyt questioned his audience at this performance on what the consumer actually can do. Ever more applications on a navigation system are interesting but can the end user keep up with them? “More content is steadily coming onto the market. It is increasingly difficult for the consumer. You need to take this into account.”

Tracking & Tracing & Automotive

Professional navigation systems for the business world and commercial vehicles cannot be compared to the consumer systems that come onto the market. That became quickly apparent in the presentation from Dyon van Gaans of PTV-Ordis. Both software and hardware need to be adapted for the special requirements of truck drivers. Not all routes are suitable for commercial vehicles and actual restrictions in time and space must also be incorporated in detail on the map. The navigation software must be fully integrated into existing Back Office systems. Doubling up the import of data must be avoided. PTV-Ordis limits itself to delivering specially adapted software, but then for all existing and new hardware platforms and terminals.

Frank Daems of NXP, the world’s largest producer of automotive microelectronics, painted a picture of the future and in an amusing way compared navigation to a colony of ants. According to him cars in the future will be able to recognise their own surroundings in a totally autonomous way and will be able to travel around without their drivers. He predicted an enormous development in the automotive industry in the coming five years. Pay-as-you-drive will by then be commonplace in Benelux. “This will not necessarily lead to higher costs for the user”, he claimed, “because this must result in 70% of the population paying less for their journeys, including taxes, than they do now.”

Peter Groot from Ram Mobile gave a clear analysis of definitions in the Tracking & Tracing world, essential for a better understanding of problems and solutions. “The ones who succeed in realizing the business case completely and fulfilling it, will be the winners of the future. Consolidation still has to get started and the service providers will play the leading role in this” concluded Peter Groot in his argument.

LBS and Floating Vehicle Data

Under the leadership of moderator Freddy Michielsen editor in Chief of autoConnect and ConneXie Belgium, the trends in location based services were presented.

Ralp Kunz from TynTec was very precise. “The future is in connected navigation. Modifications must be passed on instantly and online. Maps must show the latest modifications and dynamic POIs are the thing of the future. I don’t believe in the offline updating of data as some contenders propose. Unconnected devices automatically have a competitive handicap. Kunz referred in detail to his experience with Nokia where he was in at the beginning on the development of connected navigation and LBS.

Frank de Kruiff from MyPoiWorld endorsed this theory and sees a great future for dynamic POIs. Due to the low cost of installing a GPS he foresees a spectacular growth in POI and LBS.

Jan Cools has worked out a thorough solution with his Be-mobile for putting location definition by handovers from GSMs from one cell to another on the map. These details, in combination with other sources such as inductive loops on main roads, information from Touring Mobilis and traffic information from the authorities should make it possible to provide dynamic congestion information and to be able to estimate ETAs more accurately. “Floating Vehicle Data will make it possible to determine the density and speed of our traffic and to pass on this to navigation system users, resulting in an improvement in our mobility planning”.

Ad Bastiaansen Road Group gave this new group’s ‘maiden speech’ in this session. As far as he is concerned we are just starting on the Prologue of navigation. The growth has yet to begin and current growth figures make no impression on him. “I can see interesting possibilities for both onboard PNDs and for connected GSMs. There may well be a shift from vehicle to personal navigation, in combination with entertainment and information. We are studying this market at the moment and will step in worldwide where opportunities arise, in both hardware and software.”

Kristian Kloeckl from MIT’s SENSEable City Laboratory had an interesting viewpoint on location-related information. Through their Wiki City project they give an impression of a ‘living’ city, where movement, the concentration of people, public transport, taxis and vehicles determine how a city or campus lives. A city comes to life through maps where all this information is reproduced in real time. Its inhabitants determine for themselves which activities they take part in and so form a part of the living city. Urbanisation thereby gains a wealth of information, but applied design takes advantage of it. A classic example of how high tech comes to life.