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Joined: 11/07/2002 14:36:40 Posts: 23848 Location: Hampshire, UK
Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 10:12 am Post subject: ALK Announce CoPilot Live 6
ALK have just announced the launch of CoPilot 6 on the PocketPC and Smartphone platforms.
Adding UK 7 Digit PostCode Support, Live Traffic information and a re-designed interface it has many improved features of the previous version such as the ability to tune routing etc
Of most interest to current owners of CoPilot will be the heavily discounted upgrade paths which range from UK Software only to full Pan European Mapping on a 1GB SD or MiniSD.
ALK Technologies announces CoPilot® Live 6 Mobile Satellite Navigation
Incredibly powerful yet easy to use satellite navigation for phones and PDAs includes the latest street maps, advanced customisable routing, route-specific real-time information, and support for the latest Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 devices
Friday 21st October 2005, London, United Kingdom and Princeton, New Jersey, USA. ALK Technologies today announced the Worldwide availability of CoPilot® Live 6, the latest generation of their award-winning CoPilot® navigation software for mobile phones and PDAs.
Unlike dedicated sat nav products or built-in systems, CoPilot® flexibly provides satellite navigation on a wide range of phones or PDAs, including support for Microsoft ® Windows Mobile ® 5.0 and the latest devices like the T-Mobile MDA Pro.
A phone or PDA equipped with CoPilot® Live 6 provides drivers with powerful, yet portable satellite navigation, complete with turn-by-turn voice guidance, comprehensive address entry choice, full UK Post Code search, and detailed street maps. Industry-leading route calculation speeds enable even complex trips to be worked out in seconds.
CoPilot® Live 6 makes satellite navigation easy and accessible. Detailed street maps are stored on a pre-loaded ‘quickstart’ storage card. Simply insert into the phone or PDA and CoPilot will automatically install. Updated, clearly labelled menus are incredibly easy to use, and Pocket PC customers will love the finger touch interface. Just enter-in the destination and start driving. CoPilot® Live calculates directions for the complete trip in seconds and provides guidance to the door. If a turn is missed the best new route is worked–out immediately.
Packed with advanced features, CoPilot® Live 6 is now customisable to avoid or favour certain road types, set average road speeds, or to create driving profiles for use at different times of day such as rush hour, or when driving different vehicles.
CoPilot® Live 6 contains the latest street maps from NAVTEQ, with updated coverage of Western Europe, thousands of new and updated Points of Interest and new coverage of Eastern Europe. Maps of USA and Australia are also available. Complete maps of Europe can now be purchased on a single 1GB storage card, so you can have the whole of Europe on your phone or PDA. CoPilot® Live’s unique borderless door-to-door trip calculation and turn instructions in your own language make driving across the continent as simple as driving around your home town.
Customers will be able to receive live traffic notifications about route-specific incidents, enabling customers to avoid or ignore congestion ahead either automatically or manually. Live traffic alerts will initially be offered in the UK through T-Mobile using its GPRS network, and in Continental Europe over GPRS and TMC.
CoPilot® Live 6 incorporates ALK’s unique live tracking functionality, which can display driver locations in real-time on a secure web site. This free of charge service is ideal for individuals wanting friends or colleagues to monitor their progress when out on the road, or for businesses that want to take advantage real-time location information to better communicate with and manage mobile workers. Customers can upgrade to multi-vehicle tracking and reporting services.
“CoPilot® Live 6 sets a new standard for mobile navigation and for the safe delivery of relevant, real-time information to drivers” said Michael Kornhauser, Managing Director of ALK Technologies Ltd, “CoPilot® Live is now more powerful, easier to use, and supports a wider range of mobile phones and PDAs, making satellite navigation more accessible and affordable than ever.”
Phil Chapman, Marketing Director at T-Mobile UK said “All of us know what a pain it is to get lost, run low on petrol, get into a traffic jam or just plain don’t know where we are. CoPilot® sat nav has been a natural add-on for many of T-Mobile’s customers signing up for our new web 'n' walk proposition.”
Jason Langridge, UK Mobility Business Manager, Microsoft. commented ”GPS is taking off and we are seeing a greater demand for GPS solutions in Windows Mobile Devices. CoPilot Live takes full advantage of the Windows Mobile software platform allowing users the benefit of having one device that is not only their phone, but can also provide satellite navigation through a familiar user experience.”
CoPilot® Live 6 will be available across Europe through authorised dealers and retailers, and will be supplied as an accessory and in bundles with the latest Windows Mobile devices from T-Mobile UK. Certain packages will be subsidised when purchased with a T-Mobile contract, making satellite navigation incredibly portable and affordable. More information is available at www.alk.eu.com
CoPilot Live 6 highlights:
Updated, premium street maps from NAVTEQ with enhanced Western Europe coverage and thousands of new and updated Points of Interest. Now also includes limited coverage of Czech Republic, Hungary and Croatia
7 digit UK Post Code search
New adjustable trip calculation and user profiles to avoid or favour specific road types
Simple, intuitive user interface. All Pocket PC functions and options can be accessed via finger-touch menus
Enhanced 3D map display with distance-to-turn indicators, scrolling map, and turn arrow that highlights the way ahead.
Support for multiple voices and ‘hot-swappable’ voices. Additional voices will be made available as a download.
Easier Points of Interest Importing and support for widely available 3rd party formats.
Real-time traffic-ready. CoPilot Live 6 supports both TMC and GPRS Traffic information. Traffic availability and cost varies according to region and retailer.
Clearer directions through enhanced turn and Motorway exit instructions
Support for Windows Mobile 5, VGA screens, Landscape mode and square screens.
1GB Plug and Drive map upgrade cards pre-loaded with complete, seamless European or USA maps available
Enhanced Live Tracking and Internet messaging service with simplified set-up. Multi-vehicle tracking and fleet reporting available as an upgrade.
Automatic Bluetooth GPS set-up avoids the need for complex configuration.
Discounts for existing customer map upgrades and version upgrades
About ALK Technologies
ALK Technologies Ltd is at the forefront of the explosive growth in demand for mobile satellite navigation. The European division of ALK Technologies, Inc. based in Princeton New Jersey, the Company benefits from over 26 years of transportation technology leadership and development expertise.
CoPilot® Live GPS Navigation solutions transform phones and Pocket PC PDAs into powerful satellite navigation systems with the additional benefit of integrated real-time location-tracking, messaging, and information services. CoPilot® Live is rapidly becoming the satellite navigation software of choice for Mobile Operators, OEM’s, and Handset manufacturers, with license agreements that include Motorola, T-Mobile, Gizmondo and Scania. The company enjoys strategic alliances with partners across Europe, including Microsoft, BMW Group, Ford, SEAT, Scania, Mio Technology, NAVTEQ and TBS.
ALK Technologies Ltd is a member of the UK Mobile Data Association and received the 2005 Microsoft Partner of the Year award for Mobility Solutions Sales and Marketing. ALK became the official navigation sponsor to the Gumball Rally in May 2005.
Joined: 11/07/2002 14:36:40 Posts: 23848 Location: Hampshire, UK
Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2005 11:58 am Post subject:
We haven't received a review copy as yet but will do in due course. I would like to think all our reviews are 'warts and all' and we won't shy away from telling you if there are issues that we experience.
ALK will be at the show in November. _________________ Darren Griffin
Joined: May 16, 2005 Posts: 86 Location: United Kingdom
Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 9:29 am Post subject:
Quote:
I would like to think all our reviews are 'warts and all' and we won't shy away from telling you if there are issues that we experience
It would be useful to see if the the specific complaints that users experience and which are recorded on this forum could form part of the review. Although there are a number of issues I suspect they boil down to a few core problems in many cases such as poor routing & quick and effective detour calculations. I recall someone posting a routing along the south coast that took them up to the M25 and back down again for example.
Would it possible to poll the forum and take say the top 5 or 10 problems and see if they've been fixed using specifc examples from users? It would at least give us some cofidence that ALK listen. I realise it has to be an objective review and some issues that people exerience may be hardware/memory/set-up problems as well, however most are not and they are down to ALK.
Joined: 24/06/2003 00:22:12 Posts: 2946 Location: Escaped to the Antipodies! 36.83°S 174.75°E
Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2005 5:29 pm Post subject:
Darren,
Here are some specific examples of problems for you to look for in CP6 when you (or someone else in the team) does the review.
There are consistent problems with the routing in CP5:
The "Quickest" route gives routes like this:
London to Dublin (Routed hundreds of miles away via Scotland/Belfast when the quickest is via Holyhead)
Southampton to Hastings (Routed via the M25 when the quickest is via the south coast)
M40 Junction 9 to M3 Junction 9 (Routed via the M25 when the quickest is via the A34)
The "Shortest" route (ignores minor roads in favour of major ones) and doesn't actually give the shortest route.
There are other problems which are not always easy to reproduce in CP5, it may take 10 or 15 hours of driving to determine if they still exist:
Sporadic lack of POI announcements
Sporadic lack of turn announcements
Track log doesn't always get saved
Hanging after recalculating routes several times
A good way to reproduce the hanging problem is by routing somewhere a few hundred miles away and then driving in the opposite direction for 30 minutes or more. This will cause it to recalculate multiple times and CP5 will crash after recalculating a number of times.
Traffic reporting has been promised again, we are still waiting for it for CP5.
Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2005 1:58 pm Post subject: Co-pilot 6 represented at Basingstoke?
Just to re-iterate the question from an earlier poster. I'd also be very interested to know if this product will be at the event in Basingstoke.
With reference to the comment above about "no holds barred", "warts and all" reviews; whilst I have no doubt that the reviewers here do the best possible job at the time of initial review, in this case I had to find out from the forums that long-term ownership was not necessarily as rosy as the reviews still indicate. The specific issues listed by a poster above made CP5 a non-starter for me. In particular, intermittent POI warning failures could be disatrous if using CP for scamera alerts and the routing errors seem fairly fundamental.
Looking forward to the review and I think the idea of specifically checking out concerns from CP5 is a great idea for all of us and for the manufacturer. In fact, if anyone can swing me a sale or return copy, I'll provide the review (though probably better to get reviewed by someone with experience of competitor products).
Joined: 11/07/2002 14:36:40 Posts: 23848 Location: Hampshire, UK
Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2005 3:54 pm Post subject:
Of course, unless we continue to use an application long term then the review can only cover the usage experience of the reviewer during the review period itself.
I would fully expect ALK to have CP6 Live at the GPS Show. _________________ Darren Griffin
I've applied for my upgrade, so hope to see it soon.
I don't do many miles at all, but when I do use CP5 I get the same problems as others have experienced. The classic is Bicester to Winchester - straight down the A34, it would rather I went M40, M25,M3. this can be easily checked out though as soon as it arrives.
BTW I have found that the problem of missing POI Cameras has all but disappeared following the release of the new loading instructions on your site.
I certainly like CP, much better screens than some of its competitors, so lets hope CP6 does the business.
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