Nokia launches the first generation of telematics units in the second half of 2000
HELSINKI, Finland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--February 24, 2000--The main thrust of the Nokia Smart Traffic Products strategy focuses on the intelligent interplay between ''total mobility'' and ''total integration'' in the vehicle.
At CeBIT 2000 Nokia announced the launch of a first generation of telematic units in the second half 2000: with automatic and manual
emergency call, breakdown call functions and traffic information.
The introduction of the first generation of telematics units is scheduled for the second half of 2000. "There is an ever
increasing need for communication between the vehicle and its environment,", comments Kalevi Kaartinen, Vice President,
Nokia Smart Traffic Products.
"You will be able to access, for example, information and entertainment services, where and whenever you want. The first telematics generation is an important step towards the Mobile Information Society."'
Security and Information are the main features of this first telematics generation. With the automatic emergency call system,
the telematics unit automatically sends an emergency call to a service centre if, for example, the airbag is activated in an
accident. The emergency call can also be initiated manually. If a person requires medical assistance, for example, or
witnesses an accident, help can be called up at any time by pressing the emergency button.
Apart from the emergency call function the first generation of telematics units also has a breakdown call function. Here again
pressing the breakdown key informs the corresponding service centre. The telematics unit can also help drivers to avoid jams and to take the optimum route in each case by supplying personal route-specific traffic information.
In the development of this first generation in telematics Nokia Smart Traffics Products worked closely with the car manufacturers: The telematics unit will be initially available in vehicles of Mercedes Benz, Audi, Opel and Ford.
Depending on the manufacturer, the telematics unit will be integrated into the vehicle. More information is available at the car dealer.
End of 2001: The second generation in telematics
According to Nokia, ''innovative mobility'' will be made possible by linking a personified profile of what motorists require
with technologically advanced solutions - in hardware as well as software. An in-car Internet is the primary prerequisite for
transforming these visions into reality.
Nokia Smart Traffic Products predicts that every vehicle will be equipped with at least one Internet address by the year
2005. Nokia plans to introduce the first terminal equipment of its second telematics generation by the end of 2001.
"We are now living in a world in which mobility is the key. The car is part of our mobile daily life and the time that we
spend in it is valuable'', says Kalevi Kaartinen, Vice President of Nokia Smart Traffic Products. ''A wireless connection to
the outside world can make the time spent in the car more efficient, productive and safe, not to mention more entertaining
and last but not least more personal."
Razvan Olosu, General Manager of Sales & Marketing for Nokia Smart Traffic Products, says: ''We plan to add two new dimensions to the word telematics - on the one hand, total mobility and on the other, total integration, which will not be possible until every vehicle is equipped with at least one Internet address - and that will be the case in the year 2005 at the latest.
Alongside this development, it will of course be necessary to quickly adapt new value-added services and to closely observe and allow for the dynamics on the marketplace. Our objective during the next few years is to establish Nokia Smart Traffic Products as a global division, to create new markets and to advance to the No. 1 position in the industry.''
Nowadays, mobile communications is no longer limited to the business world: it has become increasingly popular in the private sector as well.
There is also a noticeable trend from voice to data communications, a trend in which Nokia's efforts - in the development of new technologies and products - have played an important role.
In the future, Nokia will also ensure that in-vehicle mobile communications and information solutions will be based on
innovative mobile communications, Internet and integration technologies and that it will be possible to offer valuable services
and applications thanks to the integration and connections from vehicles to the outside world. These efforts will be
accompanied by technological development focusing on wireless data transmission, in which such technologies as Bluetooth,
WAP, EPOC, IP and Wireless Java will play a central role.
Since 1996, Nokia Smart Traffic Products has been developing mobile communications and information solutions for the
automobile industry on the basis of GSM-, GPS- and Internet technologies. The company focuses on combining existing
technologies and expanding progressive know-how services to make them available to users, thus establishing a link between the car and the outside world. At present, Nokia Smart Traffic Products has distribution-, production- and research facilities in Finland, Germany and the United States |
