In 2012 mapIT signed an exclusive distribution agreement with deCarta, the LBS technology company. The deCarta Connected Car Platform is an integrated set of driver-centric services and content for automotive infotainment customers. deCarta's Connected Car Platform is capable of delivering relevant content for drivers, such as traffic, petrol prices, traffic cameras, parking and more and is integrated with local search and navigation in a seamless manner that intelligently serves the driver based on his location and direction of travel.
"This is a very exciting development in the LBS space. The technology stack that mapIT has been working on for the past three years has always had the connected vehicle in mind. With this release deCarta has just confirmed our belief in them as the leading independent world LBS supplier. For our many fleet clients out there that are already utilising the deCarta platform this is an excellent extension to their potential offering to their in-cab solution suites for their clients. Add our development of location-based marketing and indoor navigation on top of this and you have a compelling set of offerings to the drivers out there," said Etienne Louw, MD of mapIT.
The driver-centric experience differs from the smartphone experience in that content and services are combined into a natural flow of information, as opposed to separate individual applications that do not share context that could improve results. For example, local search while driving should look ahead along the current route, rather than simply in a radius around the current location. Drivers should be able to find available parking spaces near their destination within the navigation application and changes in traffic flow that impact on drive time should be smoothly combined into the driver's calendar and route planning.
"The in-car navigation business has been challenged by the variety of apps offered on smartphones. Many OEMs tried to combat that by emulating the smartphone in the car. We think that is the wrong approach," said J Kim Fennell, CEO of deCarta. "The driving experience is unique and has unique content and usability requirements. Our Connected Car Platform makes that available to enable new, proprietary services for our customers and offer better monetisation opportunities for OEMs, Tier1s and Telematics service providers."
deCarta believes there are significant revenue opportunities for auto OEMs and telematics service providers to capitalise on the growing recognition that emulating a smartphone in the car is neither safe or helpful to drivers. The next phase of in-car services will have applications and content seamlessly integrated to provide intelligent services to drivers who need information but can't have the distraction of trying to work disconnected apps. deCarta's Connected Car Platform offers integrated services, filtering the search results to provide high-value information to the driver. It combines deCarta's mapping and navigation technology with necessary content from leading providers, such as TomTom, to deliver an integrated experience.
deCarta's L2 local search is used to provide single line search that can understand a wide range of inputs (including misspellings) and can search across a customised set of Points of Interest (POI) or location tagged content. The patented SAAR (Search Along a Route) technology is used to filter information so that only places within a driver-set maximum deviation from a route are displayed, eliminating useless results that are far off the route or even behind the driver. Finally, the core navigation and routing are based on deCarta's server-based technology that has been field proven by the world's leading automotive and navigation suppliers, giving excellent routes even in complex routing situations. When combined with traffic information, the Connected Car Platform will offer traffic-enabled routing with the fastest route based on current conditions.
deCarta's Connected Car Platform can be configured to offer a suite of integrated applications including:
deCarta's Connected Car Platform is available today as either a PaaS or as licensed software. mapIT will be adding content to the PaaS offering in the coming months to expand its content and coverage footprint. Customers licensing software for installation on their own premises can opt to integrate other content from suppliers of their choosing to optimise their own business model or provide differentiated or regional services.
For more, go to www.mapit.co.za/connected-car
