Columbus Geographic Systems (GIS) Ltd. has announced the start of development of the world's first comprehensive navigation solution, displaying both urban and off-road maps without the need to move between different software or change memory cards.
Navigation systems are software developed for car computers and PDAs enabling travelers to find their location, plan their route, exchange routes with other users, and more. The software uses satellite Global Positioning System (GPS) data to show location and can be used anywhere in the world, wherever maps are available.
Navigation systems in general use today divide into two broad categories; urban, and off-road. Urban navigation applications use vector-based maps called vector graphics. This map-type contains objects such as city names, and street names, which are stored in data tables inside the map itself. In contrast, off-road navigation applications use raster-based (raster graphics) maps, which are essentially scanned maps.
Columbus' current navigation software, Ranger, focuses on the off-road environment. The Company's new system will be the first in the world to offer a comprehensive navigation solution with aerial maps covering both urban and off-road environments. Columbus expects the new software to be ready for marketing in the first quarter of 2008.
"We are developing a first-of-its-kind navigation solution that covers all environments," said Columbus CEO Mr. Tsvika Freidman. "There is strong market demand in the US and Europe for navigation systems, particularly in vehicles. Our new solution will mean that travelers can easily benefit from GPS navigation using a single software application. We will continue to maintain our technological lead in the market through first-class product development such as this."
