Earlier this year, developments using the best of GPS technology and South Africa's most accurate digital maps, a number of portable and wireless devices such as PDAs and mobile phones brought navigation into the real world. Although still considered high-end devices, Pocket PCs are becoming more commonplace with the advent of digital cartography.

Industry luminaries, users and developers of the Map & Travel Navigator product were upbeat at the emergence of this technology which has dramatically changed the world of direction-related capability and mapping. All you needed was a GPS-enabled PDA and the CD-based Map & Travel Navigator mapset to enjoy the benefits of full service navigation, including route planning, driving instructions via voice prompts and turn-by-turn directions. However, set-ups were cumbersome and took too long, with data having to be loaded onto the desktop PC (making sure ActivSync was installed) and then onto the handheld device - not ideal if you were in a hurry or needed assistance from the help desk after hours.

Rapid development of an SD card was called for and the introduction by strategic partner, PDA Solutions, has brought efficiency and simplicity into the hands of the business and leisure traveller. Map & Travel can now be installed onto your PDA in less than a minute. The software is encrypted for protection and runs from a self-installing file directly from the card ... no desktop PC needed.

An added benefit is that, should your battery run down completely or your device lose memory; where previously you would have to re-run the full process, you now simply remove and re-insert the card to correct the situation within a minute (saving a lot of time in comparison to the previous system).

Technical director for PDA Solutions, Rob Hannaford, is excited to see this technology in action, "The development of this card streamlines the installation process to an almost zero 'fuss-factor'. You can now walk into a retailer, purchase a PDA and go for a Sunday afternoon drive with your new purchase immediately, enjoying a 10-day trial period before registration via the Web or a call to the toll-free number becomes necessary. This product, using the most reliable maps available, effectively demonstrates the converging worlds of computing, wireless communication and full-blown navigation."

For more information contact MapIT, 012 345 8015.