2006, March 1st, Shanghai – NAV2, a joint venture between NAVTEQ, a leading global provider of digital map data for navigation systems and location-based solutions and NavInfo, the first government sanctioned commercial provider of digital map data for navigation in China, announces today its partnership with ROUTE 66 to provide ROUTE 66 Mobile 7, for Nokia Series 60 smartphone, a powerful solution for mobile navigation in the Chinese market.

ROUTE 66 Mobile 7 provides users with an easy-to-use mobile navigation system. It determines its position using an advanced high sensitive wireless GPS receiver, guiding the user with turn-by-turn voice instructions and on-screen directions to its destination.
“ROUTE 66 was the very first company which launched an on-board navigation solution for smart phones in Europe in June 2004”, says Paul Warmer, Sales and Marketing Director for ROUTE 66 in China. “Therefore I’m extremely happy that we can start shipping this unique product to the Chinese market today. ROUTE 66 Mobile 7 for China is completely adapted to the needs of the Chinese consumer and offers advanced new features that are not available in our other products.”

The navigable map database is a critical component of a navigation solution. For this ROUTE 66 Mobile 7, ROUTE 66 selected NAV2 (Shanghai) Co. Ltd as its map supplier. “We are delighted working together with a leading company in the navigation solution market”, says Jeff Lin, NAV2’s General Manager. “NAV2 and ROUTE 66 combined expertise is a powerful combination for portable navigation. With a smartphone, a complete navigation solution and all the maps of China provided, positioning and navigation are easy and accessible to everybody.”

NAV2's current map database covers hundreds of cities in China Mainland, and is updated every 6 months to provide the freshest and most comprehensive coverage. To assure the best quality for the database, NavInfo’s team drives continuously the roads to enhance the accuracy and consistency of the source data. Field verification adds the attributes needed for real-world routing challenges (e.g. turn restrictions, physical barriers sign text), versus limited data required for postal coding.
NAV2’s digital navigable maps also allow users to search for their points of interests, such as restaurants, lodging, recreation, public transportation and culture facilities, and offers the turn-by-turn route guidance to the selected destination.

ROUTE 66 Mobile 7 is compatible with the Nokia 3230, Nokia 6260, Nokia 6600, Nokia 6630, Nokia 6670, Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681, Nokia 6682, Nokia 7610, Nokia N70 and Nokia N90. A complete overview of compatible phones can be found at ROUTE 66’s website: www.66.com.
ROUTE 66 Mobile 7 standard sales package includes the GPS module and a 256MB MultiMediaCard (MMC) that contains the ROUTE 66’s mobile navigation application and the NAV2’s map of Greater China. Users can use the ROUTE 66 Mobile 7 application just by inserting the MMC card into a compatible Nokia smartphone and launching the application. The device then establishes a Bluetooth connection with the smartphone.

ROUTE 66 Mobile 7 is available immediately.

About NAV2
NAV2, a Shanghai-based joint venture established in 2004, provides digital map data enabling world-class navigation, tracking, and location based applications for China. NAV2’s digital maps incorporate NAVTEQ specific map attributes and are built by China-based NavInfo engineers. NAV2 provided map data enables map viewing and tracking, POI searching, route calculation, and voice guidance for in-car navigation, portable navigation, LBS and Fleet solutions.

About ROUTE 66
ROUTE 66 started the on-board navigation market for mobile phones. ROUTE 66 is a software company, specialized in the field of personal mobile navigation. ROUTE 66 sells its products and services in the Asian, West-European and North-American markets. ROUTE 66 was founded in 1992 and is a privately held company. ROUTE 66, one of the most powerful brands in the industry, owns the brand name rights to the ROUTE 66 trademark and the ROUTE 66 logo in the United States, Europe, China and Japan.

http://www.nav2.com.cn