Tata Indicom Quickfinder A-GPS launched

Tata Indicom Quickfinder A-GPS for location-tracking has been launched. Quickfinder will be the first A-GPS service to be launched in India by a telecom company.

A-GPS stands or assisted GPS. Tata Indicom Quickfinder is powered by  Qualcomm’s QPoint solution and gpsOne technology integrated into Qualcomm chipsets, Tata Indicom said in a press release.

Currently, the Tata Indicom Quickfinder A-GPS service is available only on the BlackBerry 8830 mobile phone and the MotoRazr V3.

Tata Indicom has launched the assisted global positioning system in the cities of Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Ahmedabad in the first phase. Later, the Quickfinder GPS service is expected to be launched in more cities as coverage increases.

GPS technology uses satelite signals for pinpointing location. However, the deficiency is that GPS signal are usually not available inside closed spaces like houses, offices and restaurants. Quickfinder A-GPS will not have this problem, which fixes the location on a map using the GPS chip as well as signals from the mobile tower.

Apart from retail consumers, businesses can also make use of the Quickfinder A-GPS facility on Tata Indicom to track consignments, freight, cargo etc. The service is expected to be a boon for the logistics and shipping industry.

Conventional GPS handsets require signals from at least three satellites (technically called Open Sky) for proper location-finding. Tata Indicom said that unlike regular GPS devices which take time to locate the position coordinates, the Quickfinder A-GPS system can find the location within seconds.

Tata Indicom also said that the Quickfinder A-GPS saves battery life, consuming little power for its operation.

Tata Indicom Quickfinder benefits

Some of the benefits and feature of Tata Indicom A-GPS are; live vehicle tracking and fleet-monitoring from anywhere through the Internet, texting or the call centre, finding vehicle’s location on a digital map, live polling and SMSing to remote vehicle from application interface, exception alerts via e-mail and SMS in case of SOS, speed, Geo fence violation or predefined business event, 90-day location data warehousing and access via secured user ID and password on Internet.

Point of Interest (POI) search and Navigator are immediately available on Tata Indicom Quickfinder A-GPS services. Users can zero in and locate points of interest like ATMs, restaurants, movie theatres, with a single click, on the digital GPS map loaded on the mobile phone. Users can also get turn-by-turn driving directions for navigation. Quickfinder can also be used to plot the shortest route and distance to the destination.

Qualcomm Senior Vice-President and President of  Qualcomm India and South Asia Kanwalinder Singh said: “Qualcomm is pleased to collaborate with Tata Teleservices for the launch of QUICKFINDER A-GPS service, which is an industry-first and offers an advanced location-based service experience to Indian consumers and enterprises. QUICKFINDER leverages Qualcomm’s industry-leading integrated gpsOne position-location technology and QPoint location solution to offer the most reliable location-based services in real time, working seamlessly in open, indoor and dense urban environments. As a technology partner, we also have extended our support towards network deployment, integration and end-to-end validation on Tata Teleservices’ robust CDMA network to ensure accurate location services for the Indian market.

Said Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) MD Mukund Rajan:  Tata Indicom Quickfinder A-GPS will ride on the benefits of A-GPS technology and provide reliability and enhanced applications support to our location-based services. Quickfinder is industry-leading and offers far greater accuracy and real-time access, since it is based on a hybrid A-GPS and next-gen technology platform, riding on Tata Indicom’s robust CDMA network. The A-GPS service will use the most advanced positioning methodology to provide users with precise position information, including inside buildings and structures. At TTML, our constant endeavour is to provide customers with advanced and rich wireless services, and this is evident with the deployment of our LBS solution