Well, as the author of AGPS. I can understand why NavTech want to kill this product. The AGPS is much better and conviniet than most of the in car systems, especially for those who really plan their trips (pre-planned their point-of-interests, real estate brokers who plan their tours...etc.)

NavTech and Microsoft has been constantly monitor AGPS website since Auguest 2001. It seems to me that this is the conclusion they decided.

Well, too sad. Anyway, just FYI, I've some idea of planning on a software & process that allows public to contribute to a public domain digital map database. Now a day to own a GPS in a PDA/Laptop/Java-enabled phone is really common. To defeat NavTech, that's the only way.... Let me know what do you think...

-cpu

fogot to mention... what I plan to improve the public domain navigatable database is called TIGER-LAND --- TIGER map distil"L" process for "A"utomobile "N"avigatable "D"atabase.

It will incorporate the advanced AI (server side neuro logic distilling & verification process and client side fuzzy logic driven data collector) and user friendly client side GUI for distilling the TIGER map. Target client devices will be GPS enabled Java-phones, PDAs or PCs.

Need some graduate research assistants and a research project to start this process... Just a thought.... any one who is intersted? How about anyone in the Microsoft research lab?

-cpu

Not to rain on your parade before you get started, but I understand Navtech invested millions on developing their dataset... I think it would take decades to get anywhere near their level of quality without a very focused, intense effort and major investment. Good luck though :-)

I used to work for NavTech. I knew they invest a lot ...including pay me a good money for several years.

Well, no mater how big NavTech invested (now 49% owned by Holland Philips Corp), they only have 1100 employees world-wide worked for the past 10 years (the actually man-hour working on the map is actually much lower).

Think about the process I purpose involved any body who has a GPS enabled Java/.Net portable platform. And these kind of device is becoming so popular (Spring PCS now sells the GPS Java phone for $139. Samsung). It could mean 10X or even 1000X man-power for collecting the data. With a proper AI based data collection and verification process software. It is very possible to come up with the same quality of map quickly in the future (with even more feature enriched GIS data in the same database). Think about how Linux got created and now its quality is comparable, or even beter than to the major UNIX releases. This one could be the same or much easier...

-cpu

Sounds like you know what you're talking about.. Do think this would be an area for the telecom companies? As outsiders, it might be relatively slow-going lining up volunteers.. the telecom companies will have all this data from every customer of theirs who owns a GPS-equipped. Guess it would boil down to what agreements the telecom companies have with their users on how they can use the data (privacy concerns). Anyway, let me know if there's anything MP2Kmag can do to help..