Location Based Systems

The UK Highways Agency has reached agreement with TomTom to feed up-to-date traffic information from England’s motorways and major A roads into its sat nav services for road users. The agency, which manages the 7,000km strategic road network, collects data on traffic flows from road sensors, backed up by CCTV and other sources. This data, which is already provided to drivers through the Agency’s own channels, will be fed to TomTom for its High Definition Traffic Services.

TomTom has announced it is targeting substantial cost savings in 2012 through a reorganisation and reducing some 10 per cent of the workforce. A company statement said that its research and development activities will be regrouped in ten product units - maps, traffic, navigation, automotive systems, PNDs, fleet services, fitness, mobile, POIs and speedcams - in a drive to increase development efficiency and reduce time to market.

Airbiquity, a specialist in connected vehicle services, and Coulomb Technologies, the creator of the ChargePoint Network, have announced a joint partnership to integrate the ChargePoint Network’s driver services into Airbiquity’s Green Vehicle service portfolio. Using Airbiquity’s connected vehicle service delivery platform, Choreo, the two companies will make ChargePoint Network driver services available to Airbiquity EV customers, including station location, real-time availability and reservations.

TomTom has announced the availability of Commercial Vehicle Restrictions integrated into TomTom Pro navigation solutions for the US. In some states, business vehicles can be restricted from using particular roads and classification varies by state and any vehicle that bears commercial license plates must adhere to these regulations.

BMW has announced a new enhancement for customers who have subscribed to the BMW Assist and BMW Online features in the company’s ConnectedDrive telematics service. Access to the latest traffic reports via real-time traffic information (RTTI) from the web portal with any internet-enabled device is now being offered. Previously users could only access this service while in the vehicle.

“Despite all the hype about hybrid and smartphone-based telematics solutions, embedded connected car systems still have a bright future,” says ABI Research telematics and navigation group director Dominique Bonte. “On the OEM side, solutions such as GM’s OnStar and Hyundai’s Blue Link offer more reliable safety and security functionality such as emergency calling. Similarly, embedded aftermarket systems for insurance telematics, road user charging, or stolen vehicle tracking offer the best performance. Fina

Garmin International will provide a fully integrated, factory-installed infotainment system for most American 2013 model year Suzuki vehicles. The company’s system combines a 6.1-inch high-resolution touchscreen display with a full-featured infotainment platform, including AM/FM/CD radio, multi-media playback, backup camera support, Bluetooth hands-free connectivity, Pandora internet radio and Garmin’s navigation. The intuitive user interface with advanced voice control makes it easy to operate the system a