Europe : ALK Technologies unveiled its latest installment in the award-winning 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. Version 7 also touts a fully customizable user interface which allows mobile operators, handset manufacturers, and everyday individuals to adjust colors, styles, and features to suit their brand requirements or personal taste.

CoPilot Live 7 highlights:

• Simple to use, dedicated GPS navigation performance for mobile phones
• Brand customizable for Mobile Operators, OEMs and handset manufacturers
• Improved routing, redesigned colourful 2D/3D maps and natural text-to-speech voice directions in 13 languages.
• Downloadable, community-sharable voices, routes and map styles via CoPilot® Central™
• Significant map data updates to over 400 counties in the North America
• New walking and cycling guidance modes and speed limit alerts
• Real-time mobile data services include location tracking which includes the ability to send your locations to other users via SMS or MMS
• Real-time Traffic Enabled Nationwide

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 is simple with redesigned step-by-step address entry, finger-touch buttons, predictive address matching, and on-screen set-up wizards. Large-buttoned menus make frequently used features quickly accessible and decrease the amount of user error.

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. Customers can choose from a variety of standard road color schemes or create their own personalised skins. As with all CoPilot navigation solutions, driver safety is the top priority. By default, the map shows a turn or junction, progressively zooming-in automatically before returning to the non-distracting safety screen once the turn is completed.

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. Driving anywhere becomes as simple as driving in your home town.

With an ever changing national road network, today’s maps need to keep up with burgeoning city growth and change. Version 7 incorporates over 400 new counties across North America and over 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 powerful new desktop management companion CoPilot Central™ enables 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 great managing tool can do. With mapping, trip planning, and automatic software upgrades at the user’s fingertips, Central greatly enhances the CoPilot user experience.

In the US, over 100,000 people are killed in road traffic accidents each year, several of which are related to excess speed. CoPilot Live 7 now incorporates excess speed alerts which can remind drivers about local speed limits, and is updated regularly via CoPilot Central.

CoPilot Live 7 is 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, send messages and even new destinations.

Dan Titus, Senior Vice President of Mobility Solutions for ALK Technologies said, “CoPilot Live 7 is a truly customizable GPS navigation system. We can now provide drivers, cyclists and pedestrians with the same experience on a phone as a Personal Navigation Device or in-dash sat nav system.  Real-time, location-specific services such as traffic or location tracking provide a sense of security previously available only to commercial enterprises. Now mobile phones are just as effective for navigation as they are for communication.”

CoPilot Live 7 will be available for Windows Mobile based smartphones and Pocket PCs, including market-first compatibility with Windows Mobile 6 devices in the spring of 2007.