TomTom 2005 Annual Report Download - page 20

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20
New฀opportunities
The฀technology฀in฀the฀current฀TomTom฀products฀is฀
amongst฀the฀most฀sophisticated฀on฀the฀market.฀
R&D฀activities฀are฀continuing฀at฀full฀pace฀to฀exploit฀the฀
rapid฀advances฀being฀made฀in฀the฀various฀technical฀
disciplines฀and฀to฀prepare฀new฀products฀for฀market.฀
Assisted฀GPS฀for฀example,฀enables฀devices฀to฀find฀
satellites฀more฀quickly฀using฀a฀wireless฀server฀and฀is฀
already฀being฀applied฀to฀some฀of฀our฀products.฀TomTom฀
PLUS฀exploits฀an฀advanced฀wireless฀push฀technology฀
that฀transmits฀information฀to฀the฀device฀on฀the฀server’s฀
initiative฀without฀the฀need฀for฀costly฀polling.
Applied฀Generics
In฀January฀2006,฀we฀announced฀that฀we฀had฀acquired฀
Applied฀Generics฀Limited฀based฀in฀Edinburgh,฀Scotland.฀
Applied฀Generics฀has฀developed฀technology฀that฀makes฀it฀
possible฀to฀generate฀real฀time฀road฀traffic฀information฀
based฀on฀the฀analysis฀of฀mobile฀network฀usage฀and฀cell-
switching.฀The฀technology฀is฀commercially฀deployed฀and฀
has฀the฀potential฀to฀deliver฀high฀quality฀traffic฀information฀
at฀a฀fraction฀of฀the฀investment฀normally฀required฀to฀
generate฀traffic฀information.฀The฀unique฀patented฀and฀
proven฀technology฀which฀the฀company฀has฀developed฀
has฀the฀potential฀to฀deliver฀high฀quality฀real฀time฀traffic฀
information,฀not฀only฀for฀motorways฀but฀also฀for฀local฀
roads.฀With฀the฀proliferation฀of฀car฀navigation฀products฀
and฀the฀increase฀of฀congestion,฀there฀is฀a฀growing฀
customer฀market฀for฀these฀kinds฀of฀services.฀
TomTom฀WORK
In฀August฀2005,฀TomTom฀announced฀the฀acquisition฀
of฀Datafactory฀AG.฀Datafactory฀provides฀a฀web฀based฀
service฀for฀vehicle฀and฀personal฀localisation,฀fleet฀
management,฀planning฀and฀reporting.฀The฀company,฀
which฀is฀based฀in฀Leipzig,฀Germany,฀is฀a฀leading฀player฀in฀
offering฀so-called฀‘track฀&฀trace’฀products฀and฀services.฀
Growing฀convergence฀between฀track฀&฀trace฀and฀
navigation฀solutions฀makes฀the฀acquisition฀of฀Datafactory฀
a฀logical฀and฀strategic฀step฀for฀TomTom.฀Datafactory’s฀
proprietary฀and฀scalable฀web฀application,฀WEBFLEET,฀
integrated฀with฀TomTom’s฀powerful฀navigation฀products฀
and฀services,฀combines฀the฀best฀of฀both฀worlds.฀
Datafactory’s฀customers฀come฀from฀a฀wide฀variety฀of฀
markets฀such฀as฀transport,฀logistics,฀traffic฀and฀services.฀
With฀the฀online฀service,฀customers฀can฀monitor฀their฀
fleets’฀movements฀real-time,฀and฀communicate฀with฀
individual฀drivers฀on฀orders,฀last฀minute฀changes฀in฀
schedules฀and฀other฀messages.฀Tailor-made฀reporting฀on฀
the฀business฀activities฀of฀fleets฀or฀individual฀cars฀is฀also฀
available฀with฀one฀click.฀
Starting฀in฀2006,฀the฀company฀has฀a฀new฀name.฀
TomTom฀WORK฀(www.tomtomwork.com).฀This฀company฀
offers฀a฀connected฀navigation฀solution฀that฀combines฀
plug฀and฀play฀track฀&฀trace฀technology,฀with฀smart฀
navigation฀and฀communication฀tools.฀This฀helps฀to฀
improve฀the฀management฀(and฀control)฀of฀vehicles฀and฀
day฀to฀day฀planning.฀With฀this,฀TomTom฀WORK’s฀business฀
activities฀will฀be฀rolled฀out฀across฀Europe,฀focusing฀on฀all฀
professional฀multi฀car฀users,฀which฀make฀TomTom฀
WORK฀services฀suitable฀for฀almost฀any฀size฀or฀type฀of฀
business.
TomTom฀believes฀that฀this฀market฀has฀only฀just฀started฀to฀
develop.฀Given฀the฀growing฀demand฀to฀improve฀their฀
efficiency฀and฀optimise฀the฀allocation฀of฀resources,฀
service฀companies฀with฀field฀operations฀have฀started฀to฀
use฀track฀&฀trace฀solutions.฀This฀is฀expanding฀a฀market฀
which฀traditionally฀served฀only฀large฀trucking฀and฀logistics฀
companies.฀With฀a฀plug฀and฀play฀product฀which฀meets฀
the฀needs฀of฀different฀market฀segments,฀we฀believe฀that฀
TomTom฀WORK฀will฀be฀able฀to฀claim฀their฀share฀of฀the฀
wider฀business-to-business฀segment.