ALK Technologies has unveiled its latest installment in the CoPilot line, with Version 7 for mobile phones and PDAs. Supporting Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices, CoPilot Live 7 redefines mobile satellite navigation with its simple and intuitive menus, clearer 2D/3D map views, and compelling mobile data services, ALK says.
Version 7 also touts a fully customizable user interface that allows mobile operators, handset manufacturers and everyday individuals to adjust colors, styles and features to suit their brand requirements or personal taste. The product will be available this spring for Windows Mobile based smartphones and Pocket PCs, including market-first compatibility with Windows Mobile 6 devices, according to ALK.
CoPilot Live 7 is designed to make navigation on a phone as easy to use as a personal navigation device (PND). Entering an exact destination can be done quickly with redesigned step-by-step address entry, finger-touch buttons, predictive address matching and onscreen set-up wizards. Large-buttoned menus make frequently used features quickly accessible and decrease the amount of user error, the company says.
CoPilot Live 7’s redesigned 2D and 3D map views enable drivers, cyclists or pedestrians to see their exact location and where they are going clearly and easily, according to ALK. Customers can choose from a variety of standard road color schemes or create their own personalised skins. And as with all CoPilot navigation solutions, driver safety is a top priority; by default, the map shows a turn or junction, progressively zooming-in automatically before returning to the nondistracting safety screen once the turn is completed.
ALK says CoPilot Live 7’s spoken turn-by-turn instructions are clearer than ever before, thanks to its new Text-to-Speech voice commands, with detailed instructions pronounced naturally in 13 different languages both on Windows Mobile powered Pocket PCs and Smartphones. And Version 7 incorporates comprehensive detailed updates and enhancements for more than 600 counties across North America and more than 100,000 miles of new road. Also, 750,000 miles of road have been checked and updated to accurately reflect their current placement.
CoPilot Live 7’s new desktop management companion, CoPilot Central, is designed to enable customers to fully manage their trips and preferences from the comfort of their desktop. Personal color schemes, routes, trips and downloadable points-of-interest databases are just a fraction of what this managing tool can do, according to the company; with mapping, trip planning and automatic software upgrades at the user’s fingertips, Central is designed to enhance the CoPilot user experience.
CoPilot Live 7 is designed to be a fully connected navigation system that utilizes a mobile phone’s connectivity to the mobile Internet to deliver real-time navigation-based services and enable interaction with others when on the move. It is now possible to send a tracking invitation directly to a Microsoft Outlook contact from within CoPilot, enabling the recipient to view your location in real time and send messages — and even new destinations.
“CoPilot Live 7 is a truly personalised satellite navigation system,” says Michael Kornhauser, vice president and managing director of Princeton, N.J.-based ALK. “We can now provide drivers, cyclists and pedestrians with the same experience on a phone as a dedicated or in-dash sat nav system, as well as useful real-time location-specific services such as traffic or location tracking. Now mobile phones are just as useful for helping you find the way as they are for making calls.”
