Imagination and NAVTEQ enter agreement to stimulate developer adoption of 3D graphics in navigation and location-based services (LBS)

NAVTEQ maps and visual location content such as 3D landmarks can be incorporated by developers into mobile applications enhanced through Imagination’s 3D graphics acceleration technology and using the standard OpenGL® ES application programming interface (API).

As part of the agreement, Imagination Technologies will be a Global Award Sponsor of the 2010 NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge® and nominate their choice for the “Most Innovative Use of Graphics” from the finalists for each of the five (5) regions: EMEA, North America, South America, India and APAC. One overall winner in the category will be flown to the UK for two days of intensive support, training and fun with Imagination engineers. The winner of the recognition award in the EMEA region will be showcased on Imagination’s stand at Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona.

First launched in 2003, the NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge is a world-wide competition conducted by NN4D, daring application developers around the world to build innovative location-based services (LBS) using dynamic positioning technology and NAVTEQ maps. The Global LBS Challenge has become the premier LBS developer competition and a global symbol of LBS innovation and opportunity. This year's global prize pool is currently at a record $8.2 million US.

Marc Naddell, vice president, partner & developer programs, NAVTEQ, says: “We expect to see an exciting array of innovative 3D-enabled applications in this year’s Global LBS Challenge, many utilizing Imagination’s POWERVR graphics technologies. We are impressed with the increasing range of 3D graphics accelerated devices coming to market – many powered by POWERVR. We are delighted to be working closely with Imagination to jointly provide the support needed by LBS application developers through our ecosystem programmes, and look forward to having Imagination on-board as a Global LBS Challenge sponsor.”

Tony King-Smith, VP marketing, Imagination Technologies says: “Through our POWERVR Insider ecosystem Imagination has always sought to encourage and reward innovation in embedded and mobile graphics. Working closely with NAVTEQ Network for Developers and becoming an award sponsor of the Global LBS Challenge is a natural extension of this goal, bringing all the resources our developers need. Through our relationship with NAVTEQ, we intend to ensure that they have all the tools they need to drive LBS innovation to new levels.”

Showcasing one of the best samples of smooth 3D graphics and map rendering, the NaviGenie 3D Mobile Navigation Framework from Kishonti Informatics, a runner-up in the 2009 NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge EMEA region, will be on display on Imagination’s booth (#14) at the Symbian Exchange & Exposition (SEE) 2009 at London’s Earl’s Court 2 on October 27-28th, running on the new Samsung i8910 HD smartphone.

Kishonti’s NaviGenie is an award-winning, highly optimized 3D mobile navigation framework with real-time streaming, fully-textured 3D maps delivered to mass-market handsets using minimal bandwidth. The ultra portable NaviGenie 3D navigation client enables mobile users to enjoy a high performance 3D navigation experience on Symbian and other mobile platforms. NaviGenie is available to developers as middleware, enabling them to integrate its capabilities into a wide range of end-user applications.

Says Laszlo Kishonti, GM, Kishonti Informatics: “Kishonti and Imagination have worked together over a number of years through our GLBenchmark activities. Imagination’s developer support has been invaluable in helping us create and optimise NaviGenie, and we are delighted to be a part of Imagination’s showcase at SEE 2009. We are also grateful to NAVTEQ for their continued support throughout and after our participation in the Global LBS Challenge. Working with Imagination and NAVTEQ – the market leader in graphics acceleration technology and the leading global provider of digital map data and location content respectively – has given us new and exciting opportunities to advance the end-user experience on mobile phones.”