Social networks and geo-location services are changing the way consumers interact with portable navigation devices (PNDs).
This is according to Joost Jetten, VP of sales for TomTom Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg, as well as sub-Saharan Africa. Jetten says gone are the days when location-based services simply provided one-way communication or PNDs simply provided navigation.
He points out that PND companies are integrating social networks such as Twitter, Foursquare and additional software to enable online communities to share locations with friends and to report road accidents, hidden speed cameras and traffic jams.
A month ago, TomTom signed a contract with Twitter to link the micro-blogging service to its PND devices. Jetten adds that TomTom's 2008 acquisition of Tele Atlas allowed it to start investing in technology that enables users to feed information back to TomTom.
Jetten explains that user-generated content has enabled the company to offer predictive analysis, such as forecasting traffic congestion, to help make accurate travel time predictions. TomTom's maps are updated every two minutes.
“Traffic prediction is improving constantly, because it's technology that is being driven by the community,” says Jetten.
However, the technology doesn't end with consumers. Jetten says a partnership with Tracker has enabled TomTom to provide geo-location services to South African police and has speeded up the time taken for police vehicles to get to an accident or crime scene.
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