Dialog SatNav Hunt Race Two a roaring success

Saturday, 26 November 2011 01:12 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The second race of the popular SatNav Hunt got underway last week at CR & FC Grounds, Longdon Place, Colombo 7, with Dasun Tharanga, the driver of the vehicle and his navigator Indika Gunasekara taking first place and a cash prize of Rs. 25,000, while the second and third place finishers walked away with free SatNav mobile app (Application) tool.

Organised by Sri Lanka’s premier mobile operator Dialog Axiata as a fun filled adventure that offers tantalising prizes and surprises, the competition requires participants to pick up tokens from five locations either using conventional maps, GPS (Global Positioning System) or by just asking directions.

The Dialog SatNav Hunt was organised to create public awareness on GPS technology which will help users of the technology to find directions, plot routes and find places of interest at the touch of a button.

Despite its popularity in western countries, Satellite navigation is a relatively unknown and unused technology amongst motorists in Sri Lanka, Shankar Dharmaratne, Senior Manager New Business at Dialog Axiata PLC said. The high price of a standalone GPS car unit and the lack of supporting software are deterring factors to its low usage.

“Dialog SatNav is a fantastic app which can convert any mobile device with an inbuilt GPS receiver into a navigation device that offers the same functions offered in car units saving money and giving more convenience to users.”

GPS is a space based Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) developed and maintained by the US Government and is freely available for users, but necessary maps and software is needed to pinpoint locations and give directions. Orbiting satellites are able to calculate exact positions by precisely timing signals sent and received by satellites that orbit around the planet.

GPS navigations systems are extensively used in transport, marine, aviation, emergency services and disaster management sectors due to the systems reliability and accuracy.

Those whose mobile devices have built in GPS receivers can now transform their phones into GPS receivers by downloading Dialog StaNav apps, which has an added advantage of voice support navigation in Sinhala, Tamil and English which allows drivers to navigate their vehicle without looking at the screen of the navigation device.

The system has a detail map of the Islands road network, which includes small city streets.

In addition to this over 100,000 points of interest such as places of worship, tourist destinations, financial institutions, automotive repair, emergency services, medical services, restaurants, etc is also pre-loaded onto the device, available on demand.