Asia News: Toyota adds Map on Demand to G-Book

Sharon

Sharon Gill

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8th February 2007

Toyota Motor Corp has developed what it believes is the world's first technology for automatically delivering differential map data to car navigation systems.

Map on Demand will be available to drivers as a new feature of TMC's Japanese-market G-Book telematics service from the spring of 2007.

Map on Demand, which was jointly developed with Aisin AW Co, Zenrin Co, Denso Corp and Toyota Mapmaster Inc, delivers updated data on all Japanese expressways and toll roads, as well as on roads near the registered home of the subscriber and on roads in the vicinity of user-specified destinations. Data is delivered via cell phone networks, Internet downloads, etc.

Although conventional data updating and editing for car navigation maps is conducted on a nationwide basis – involving a large volume of data and requiring considerable data transfer time and cost – Map on Demand focuses only on updates for areas specified by users, in addition to data for expressways and toll roads.

In cases in which a modified road extends beyond the area specified by users for updating, the update area is extended to include connection to another road. This allows the car navigation system to provide route-connection information, with such connection information covering all roads throughout Japan.

In terms of map data updates, Map on Demand delivers updated data on expressways and toll roads about seven days after a new thoroughfare is open to traffic, while maps for other roads are updated as soon as relevant information becomes available.