Rolling down your car window and asking a complete stranger for directions is one way of reaching your destination. But if you don't want to leave your destiny to random people, map and navigation products may be just what the doctor ordered. They save time, fuel and definitely a lot of headache.
The directions are pretty easy to follow, even for the ‘technologically-challenged’. Voice-based navigation, now available in a choice of languages, will guide you to the right street, or even the exact spot where you want to reach. It will give you turn-by-turn guidance and even find you a new, alternative route if you stray off your path.
But service providers are now moving beyond just directions. Real-time traffic updates also comes as a handy tool. When desperate to save time, like driving to a meeting, it can tell you the shortest route by avoiding jam-packed roads. Drivers in metros like Delhi and Mumbai will recognise this as a heaven-sent gift.
“Traffic has been a customer pain point for long. By offering Smartdrive (app) to its customers, Airtel is bringing a product of high utility value to its customers,” an Airtel spokesperson said. Though Vodafone and Tata Teleservices are also rumoured to be working on similar services, Airtel has been the first among telecom operators to offer navigation services.
Traffic data is usually displayed in a simple colour scheme, red for significant congestion, yellow for minor slow-downs, and green for free-flowing traffic.
Says Darren Baker, Product Manager for Google Maps, “We’re confident that these features (navigation and traffic data) will help Indian users find their way around town with greater ease and convenience than ever before.”
There are other value-added features on offer as well, such as ‘Points of Interest’. Under this, many navigation products identify useful nearby services – such as hospitals, hotels, tourism hotspots or even the best restaurants in the vicinity.
Navigation devices are also ideal for those who frequently travel between cities or towns. So, recognising the diverse nature of India, providers like Garmin offer seven local languages, such as Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Punjabi, and will soon add five more.
Globally, navigation services are much more advanced. In Tokyo, for instance, the map services also offer details on local transportation, bus and train timings and even whether the road is uphill or downhill for cyclists. In The US, Google has introduced Street View where you can see how a particular street looks in real. Google tried to do this in Bangalore too but were stopped by local Police due to security reasons.
The big challenge for offering map and navigation service is data collection which has to be constantly updated as the city streets change and new buildings come up. While Airtel SmartDrive today covers Delhi & NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore, it will be covering Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune by December. Google, which offers navigation across the country, has live traffic information available only for major roads in the prominent cities of Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, Navteq, a mapping firm and a Nokia Group company, has increased its spread exponentially. From 16 cities three years back, today it covers about 4,000 towns and metros in the country. Navteq provides the raw maps for Nokia’s Drive, Garmin devices and the Airtel navigation app.
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