Cell phones that give you directions

Date: Sunday, 07. October 2007

Three Chicago companies unveiled new products at a key trade show on Monday that turn cell phones into navigation devices. Navigation Technologies, a provider of digital maps, said its software is being used to power a new system through which a computer-generated voice provides directions on a Nextel phone. Motorola's ViaMoto location services software and Rand McNally's Mobile Travel Tools are also part of the effort .

Maps already are available through wireless Web browsers, but the new Java platform technology is more consumer friendly because it runs faster and is simpler to operate. Callers also can save directions and location information for use when out of range of the cellular network. He said older systems that didn't use Java could not save data.