Vodafone buys Wayfinder

It's not just Nokia interested in maps. Vodafone has completed its takeover of Swedish navigation software company Wayfinder, which was first proposed in December. [Sources: TheRegister.co.uk; Vodafone press release - as before, not for Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa!]

Vodafone & 3 are favourite mobile portals

Research from Strategy Analytics says that consumers in the UK prefer the usability and design of Vodafone and 3's mobile internet portals in preference to those from O2, Orange, T-Mobile and even MSN. They've also recently published a report that says an increasing number of consumers are happy with navigation on their phones, with the usability of Vodafone's Telmap Navigator software winning over two dedicated navigation devices. [Portal press release; Navigation press release]

13% of us rely on mobiles to find the way

In a Nokia press release that's full of comedy facts - more people get lost in London than anywhere else in the world, one in three Londoners deliberately gives people the wrong directions, 10% of Spaniards consider a sense of direction matures with age, the average person wastes 13 minutes when they get lost - there's some mobile-related stuff as well. Apparently 13% of people now use a mobile phone as their main navigation tool. [Press release]

70 million people will be using mobiles for navigation by 2014

By 2014, 70 million people will be navigating by using their mobile phones. That's the conclusion of a new research report from Berg Insight. They say the number of mobile customers downloading routes using their handsets is expected to grow by 27.9% per year from 16 million users in 2008 to 70 million users in 2014. Revenue from subscriptions and advertisements is expected to grow by 22.4% per year during the same period, hitting €597 million in 2014. [Press release]

Sony Ericsson sponsors NAVTEQ event

Digital map company NAVTEQ has announced that Sony Ericsson will be sponsoring the 2009 NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge. Yes, that's the NAVTEQ that's been taken over by rival manufacturer Nokia. [Source: Yahoo.com]

Garmin delays new mobile phone

Sat Nav company Garmin says its nüvifone handset will not launch at the end of 2008 but will be delayed until the first half of 2009. It says meeting mobile network requirements is taking longer than anticipated. [PDF press release]

More than 550 million GPS mobiles worldwide by 2012

ABI Research says over 550 million GPS-equipped mobile handsets will be produced worldwide by 2012. It says GPS is already a feature of most 3G handsets and smartphones - and it predicts we'll start soon seeing GPS included in standard high-end GSM phones. The company says the take-up of GPS phones is likely to be boosted by social networking functions, not just by navigation features. [Press release]

Sat-nav company Garmin launches mobile phone

Following Nokia's move into mapping last year comes a mapping company's move into mobiles. GPS manufacturer Garmin International has launched the nuvifone, a touch-screen 3G mobile phone that also includes navigation features. One of those features is Google's local search capability, which sorts search results based on the user's current location. The nuvifone is expected to hit the shops in Autumn this year. [Press release]

Mobile phone sat-nav to overtake dedicated devices

Navigation using mobile phones is going to dominate the GPS sat nav market, according to a new report from Telematics Research Group. Although around 30 million personal navigation devices were sold worldwide in 2007, handset manufacturers also sold 20 million navigation-enabled phones. TRG reckons that navigation-enabled phone sales will overtake dedicated navigation device sales in 2009 - and will lead to a total of 500 million units being sold in 2015. [PDF press release]