(6 December 2007 6:30 pm)

BANGALORE: New Delhi-based CE Info Systems' 'MapmyIndia' announced the introduction of the MapmyIndia Navigator, an in-car GPS navigation device. This portable satellite-connected GPS gadget is pre-loaded with comprehensive maps for all India and provides real time voice guided turn by turn navigation for seamless travel across the country, be it intra-city or inter-city (not a separate city map, and separate basic India map).

"Internationally the market for In-car GPS navigation has seen an exponential growth, driven by sales of 20 million Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs) last year in the US and 30 million in Europe. We have already invested over $5 million in building the most comprehensive and accurate map data for India. We will be driving the Indian market by investing an additional $5 million in sales and distribution and constant upgradation of the maps during the next one year," says Rakesh Verma, MD, CE Info Systems, the promoters of MapmyIndia.

To bring GPS navigation and location based services to the mass consumer market MapmyIndia is making its maps available across the internet, mobile and in-car space. The company is partnering with leading players in the eco-system – automobile companies, handset and PND manufacturers, software providers, mobile operators, internet portals and retail and distribution networks of cars, car accessories and consumer electronic products.

"Of the $ 5 million that we plan to spend next year around half will be our spend for product promotion, and this could include TVC's", informed Verma while speaking with indiantelevision.com. "We are looking at volumes of around 100,000 pieces in India during the next twelve months," added Verma. A

ccording to Verma, the annual size of the C-class and above segment of automobiles is around 100,000 in India.

The MapmyIndia Navigator is currently available in two hardware models, Delphi NAV 200 and AMAX 06GP5A. Both the personal navigation devices have built-in GPS (SirfStar III), 3.5" colour touch-screen, Samsung 400 MHz processor and additional multimedia features to play movies, music, photos, games etc. Delphi is a world leader in car electronics, and A-MAX is a world leader in design and manufacture of portable digital products.

The MapmyIndia Navigator is available at 50 dealers across major cities- Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Chandigarh and will be available across 2000 retail outlets by the end of 2008. The device is also available online through MapmyIndia.com. The MapmyIndia Navigator is priced at Rs 21,000 in Delhi and Rs 22,000 in other states.

MapmyIndia map upgrades will be available twice a year for the entire country and will include updates to existing coverage in addition to new coverage. Users will have an option to purchase the upgrades at a reasonable price. In the next one year MapmyIndia plans to release over 1000 cities and 500,000 towns and villages along with 1 million points of interest with these upgrades

On the availability of the services on the mobile cell phone platform, Verma informed, "Starting next week onwards, our roll-out on the mobile phone space will start with Windows enabled phones of all the service providers in India. Soon our services will be available across mobile phones with all the other operating system platforms."

At present the navigation system is available on Airtel's Blackberry platform, in an arrangement where MapmyIndia has a revenue sharing arrangement. Verma plans to offer the services directly to mobile cell phone users. "The monthly subscription rate for Mapmyindia oncell phones is Rs.400, it's Rs.1,100 if paid quarterly and Rs. 4,000 if paid annually," revealed Verma.