You get off the plane in a stange city, not sure how to get to your hotel. Switch on your bluetooth enabled phone, roam to the local provider and enable your bluetooth.

City Nav pairs with your phone, you SMS the name of the hotel or other destination you require and as you walk through the streets City Nav Texts directions. City Nav knows where you are as you pass through each bluetooth zone.

This would also work in a hire car if the blutooth transmitters where located along the roadside. In this case voice messages would prompt the correct direction.
-- Micky Dread, Aug 10 2005

i like..... i have the worst sense of direction! especially when trying to get my bearings right on exiting an underground station. I usually tend to drag someone with me on my escapades to help with simple navigation, so this would work wonders for me
-- chocolateraindrops, Aug 10 2005


Even though there have been times when I am trying to go somewhere and end up getting lost and finding someplace really neat and exciting, there have also been times that I didn't have the time to get lost and this would be great. Although if it used an open channel to your cell phone then it may make your cell phone not only unusable while you are connected but may use all your daytime minutes, which could be a bad thing.
-- babyhawk, Aug 10 2005


bluetooth at the moment only ranges to about 10 metres doesnt it?? or is there new technologies out there that have a longer range? If not, then we'd have to have each of these bluetooth machine things every 5 meters, ---- which would end up making them a commodity- like lamp posts.

I remember when the UK first started introducing parking meters- they got abused and battered and vandalised!! which ofcourse has nothing to do with this- as THAT was something that was restrictive and controlling whilst THIS is more of an asset to the western world.

Anway, if these directions were given to one through text message services, then if it were charged at a standard rate of about 25 p per text message then you could maybe use it moderately. You could even control the texts - so say for example you are not QUITE sure how to get there--- but you do know that once you see the big yellow building with green windows you just turn right-- you could use the City Nav thing to direct you until you get to the yellow building, and then your on your way
-- chocolateraindrops, Aug 10 2005


The SMS alerts could be customised, for example, only text when the system knows I need to make a turn.
-- Micky Dread, Aug 10 2005


Micky, are you confusing bluetooth with WiFi? You do know that those "bluetooth zones" you talk about don't exist, right?
-- jutta, Jan 30 2006



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