Chicago – October 13, 2009 – NAVTEQ, the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data for in-vehicle, portable, wireless and enterprise solutions, is for the first time opening its premier global competition, the NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge, to application developers for touch-screen devices. The popularity of touch-screen devices among consumers and the potential for monetization of touch-screen applications through mobile app stores has drawn increased interest from developers and heightened the level of innovation in the location-based services (LBS) space.
Touch screen applications can be submitted for a variety of devices including the Nokia N97, iPhone® mobile phones, BlackBerry® touch-screen smartphones, other touch-screen mobile phones such as the HTC Hero and HTC Touch Diamond 2 (two of the sponsor devices in the competition this year), as well as Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) and Portable Navigation Devices (PNDs). The competition is open for location-aware applications based on any platform, including mobile operating systems such as Android™, Palm®, the Symbian platform™ and Windows® Mobile. NAVTEQ will hand out a special recognition award to recognize the “Best Touch UI (user interface) application” in all five regions of the competition.
Location-aware development is moving beyond traditional mapping applications to immensely popular turn-by-turn navigation systems, specialized content such as the Centrl™ location-based social network, and augmented reality platforms like Layar which integrates consumer interests with mapping technology. NAVTEQ Network for Developers™ (NN4D) supports the development of these applications using NAVTEQ® maps through the Global LBS Challenge as well as providing year-round access to sample data, map application programming interfaces (APIs), tech support, developer forums and more.
Consumer interest in using mobile devices to get local information, for example, searching for information on maps, movies, business directories or restaurants, is on the rise. It is difficult to find a popular touch screen mobile phone that does not come GPS-enabled. comScore in September this year reported a 51% year-over-year increase from March 2008 to March 2009 in the number of people seeking local information on a mobile device, with the strongest growth coming from an 83% increase in downloaded applications. Additionally, Nielsen in “The Global Online Media Landscape”, published in April 2009, reported that users of the popular iPhone are six times as likely as a typical mobile subscriber to use mobile applications. These trends should bode well for developers targeting location-based services for touch screen devices. The NN4D community is supporting developers working in the LBS space on all manner of devices and operating systems, leveraging the knowledge of its members as well as NN4D resources and staff.
The Global LBS Challenge represents a singular opportunity for developers to gain exposure to an international audience of experts and industry leaders. The global prize pool for this year’s competition already amounts to $8.2 million USD in cash, licenses, services and handsets. Over 32% of the finalists from the past six years have gone on to receive venture capital funding or launch commercially-distributed applications. Contestants may submit their pre-commercialized location-based applications for any platform and for any device, provided they employ NAVTEQ map data.* Technical support will be given for sponsor endorsed platforms and devices from multiple vendors.
For information on the five regions, prizes, sponsors and full contest rules, please visit www.LBSChallenge.com.
* Other restrictions apply. See www.LBSChallenge.com for official rules.
