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

Imagination sponsors special recognition award in NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge® and showcases past finalist, Kishonti, and their NaviGenie 3D Mobile Navigation Framework at SEE 2009

October 27, 2009 -- Imagination Technologies, a leading multimedia chip technologies company, has teamed up with NAVTEQ, the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data for in-vehicle, portable, wireless and enterprise solutions, to drive innovation in graphics for location-based services (LBS). Imagination and NAVTEQ Network for Developers™ (NN4D.com) aim to stimulate increased developer adoption by providing technical documentation and resources for how to build advanced LBS applications for wireless devices with smoothly rendered 3D mapping and navigation features. 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.”

About NAVTEQ Network for Developers

NAVTEQ Network for Developers™ (NN4D) is a dynamic web portal and global community that provides developers and business partners with the technical and business support needed to build, showcase and launch the most innovative location-enabled solutions. The NN4D includes resources such as mapping APIs, LBS content, point of interest data, routing information as well as geospatial platforms and tools from NAVTEQ and its partners. Members can rely on NN4D when creating GPS-based applications for the web, mobile phones, GIS and portable navigation devices that employ traffic, navigation, location content and location-based advertising for enterprise and consumer use. Connect with the people, tools and resources you need to build and market your location-enabled products by joining today at www.NN4D.com/joindevelopers.

About the NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge

First launched in 2003, the NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge is a world-wide competition conducted by NAVTEQ Network for Developers™ (NN4D), daring application developers around the world to build innovative location-based services (LBS) using dynamic positioning technology and NAVTEQ® maps. Integrating the accuracy and richness of NAVTEQ digital map data and LBS content facilitates the timely evolution of the next wave of location-aware applications. The Global LBS Challenge has become the premier event in the LBS industry for shining the spotlight on global LBS innovation and opportunity. Over 32% of the finalists from the past six years have gone on to receive venture capital funding or launch commercially-distributed applications. For more information on this year’s competition, go to www.LBSChallenge.com.

About NAVTEQ

NAVTEQ is the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data that enables navigation and location-based platforms around the world. NAVTEQ supplies comprehensive digital map information to power automotive navigation systems, portable and wireless devices, Internet-based mapping applications and government and business solutions. The Chicago-based company was founded in 1985 and has approximately 4,400 employees located in 192 offices and in 43 countries.

NAVTEQ, NAVTEQ Network for Developers and Global LBS Challenge are trademarks of NAVTEQ in the U.S. and other countries. All rights reserved.

About Imagination Technologies

Imagination Technologies Group plc (LSE:IMG) – a global leader in multimedia and communication silicon technologies – creates and licenses market-leading processor cores for graphics, video, multi-threaded embedded processing/DSP and multi-standard communications applications. These silicon intellectual property (IP) solutions for systems-on-chip (SoC) are complemented by strong array of software tools and drivers as well as extensive developer and middleware ecosystems. Target markets includemobile phone, handheld multimedia, home consumer entertainment, mobile and low-power computing, and in-car electronics.Its licensees include many of the leading semiconductor and consumer electronics companies. Imagination has corporate headquarters in the United Kingdom, with sales and R&D offices worldwide. See: www.imgtec.com.