Sunday 1 April 2012

Nokia offers real-time traffic updates to phone users

NEW DELHI: Nokia added real-time traffic updates to its Drive app, which is available on the company's Windows and Symbian smartphones.

According to Nokia, people who use Drive app to find their way in Delhi and Mumbai will be now able to see the condition of traffic on their route in advance. The traffic jams will be shown on streets in red colour and the green routes will indicate a smooth drive.

he service is powered by Navteq Traffic Pro. According to Nokia, it utilizes the probes and signals from Drive users to find out the condition of traffic on a particular road. For example, if traffic on Road A is moving slowly, the data from Nokia users stuck in the traffic will indicate very low speed. Nokia then uses this data to warn other Drive users headed towards Road A.

Android devices and iPhones also offer maps and direction services to their users, though in India they are not as comprehensive as what Nokia has on its phones. Google's Navigation, which is similar to Nokia Drive, is not officially supported in India. It also lacks features like turn-by-turn voice navigation and real-time traffic updates.

But iPhone or Android users can try Waze, a free app that also uses data from users on the road to identify and pinpoint traffic jams.

Nokia said that worldwide its maps are used 100 million times daily. In India, Nokia Drive covers 750 cities. The company said real-time traffic updates would be rolled out to other major cities in the future.

"Location is at the core of our vision for the future. We aim is to introduce new services such as traffic update, which will make consumers early adopters of the latest technology for a stress-free and productive life," said Vipul Mehrotra, director (smart devices) and Nokia India.


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