TomTom Launches Open Source Navigation Project

ZDNet's Dana Blankenhorn reports today on a new open source navigation project launched by European GPS company TomTom that adds additional functionality to navigational devices, regardless of the make or model. The OpenLR project aims to put navigation data on top of a GPS unit's existing database so drivers can access local traffic, weather, and other useful information as they travel.

"This technological development is being introduced to the open source community to assist in delivering location based services to customers. TomTom will use this technology for its own services too, allowing us to transmit content like HD Traffic to connected devices and improve service quality and coverage," Mark Gretton, TomTom's Director of Product Engineering, said In a prepared statement.

TomTom says an open source model is critical to the success of this project in order for it to achieve wide-scale adoption by the industry at large." That's no doubt partially a dig at Microsoft, who recently sued the company for patent infringement and later settled out of court.

Though OpenLR's technical documentation is already available online, TomTom plans to present the specifics of the project at the ITS World Congress in Stockholm later this month.