(Japanese Site)
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| IDO Sets Low Rate For Toyota Car Navigation Info Service
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June 18, 1998 (TOKYO) -- IDO Corp. announced that the Monet
information service aimed at car navigation systems offered by an
affiliate of Toyota Motor Corp. is available to mobile phone users
at a rate of 10 yen (US$0.06) per minute.
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A flat rate of 10 yen a minute will be charged regardless of the
location of receiving the information.
Monet is an information service aimed at car navigation systems
offered by Toyota Media Station Inc. The service was launched in
November 1997.
By connecting a Monet-compatible car navigation system to a mobile
phone, Monet is designed to provide and display on a car navigation
monitor such information as traffic conditions, news, weather
forecasts, as well as on-demand information on facilities such as
restaurants and hospitals. Email communications also are possible.
IDO and Toyota Media Station are utilizing the "Data-On-Demand
Service" of Teleway Corp. to realize the rate of 10 yen a minute
from any location.
Teleway's Data-On-Demand Service is being used by many Internet
service providers as a means to establish an access point.
Both IDO and Teleway are subsidiaries of Toyota Motor, and thus the
new service is considered to be a group strategy of Toyota Motor.
Meanwhile, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. expects to launch a similar
service in the summer, via Compass Link, which was established in
December 1997.
Compass Link can provide a service similar to that of Monet, and it
also offers a service menu designed to simplify the operation of
car navigation systems with a mobile phone and a navigation system
connected. Drivers can determine destinations by themselves and can
communicate directly with an operator at an information center.
Tu-Ka Phone Kansai Inc., whose parent company is Nissan Motor,
invested in Compass Link at the time of its establishment. Two
other Tu-Ka affiliates and six Digital Tu-Ka affiliates made
capital investments in the company at the end of May 1998. This
appears to be a group strategy by Nissan, similar to that of Monet.
NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc., Japan's largest mobile
communications company, has invested in both Toyota Media Station
and Compass Link.
Related story : 'Connected' Car Becomes a
Reality
(Nikkei Communications)
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