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PDAs Help Visitors Navigate Beijing

Some people at the Beijing Olympics, including officials, foreign dignitaries, and the guests of major sponsors, are using modified PDAs to help them navigate the crowded streets of Beijing.

The devices from SmartTrans in Melbourne, Australia, called EventTrack, run on a GPS-enabled smartphone and provide eight integrated services to make it easier for users to get around the city. The services include a Chinese language translator, English-speaking concierge, maps and guidebooks, free local phone calls, and group and emergency messaging.

Without EventTrack, "non-Chinese speakers often have a very difficult time finding their way around the 2008 Olympic city," says Bryan Carr, chief operating officer at SmartTrans. "With no street numbering scheme, inconsistent and sometimes nonexistent signage, rapid development that changes the city map weekly, the language gap, and world-class traffic congestion, simply getting from A to B in Beijing is the root of countless 'China war stories,'" Carr says.

EventTrack serves as a mobile handset with its own phone number, enabling users to place an unlimited number of free local calls throughout Beijing.

Another feature, Friend Finder, allows users to see the location of traveling parties and friends in real time on a full-color map of the city. EventTrack also offers a Driver Communicator service, with which users can book a car to pick them up -- either from their current GPS location or another location -- immediately or at a prebooked time.

A comprehensive map of Beijing updates itself as a user moves around the city, according to Carr. The user can navigate to any of hundreds of addresses, such as an Olympic venue or a particular restaurant.

The active Mandarin translator included with the device provides hundreds of common phrases recorded by a native Beijinger in the local accent. These can be played through the smartphone's speaker with the click of a button.

And the group messaging feature allows users to send messages to individuals or groups, and allows a user to share his or her location or details of a point of interest with a friend.

SmartTrans is providing its EventTrack technology in Beijing via its partner company China Alarm, one of the country's largest private security firms. Carr says EventTrack was developed by SmartTrans for major global major events, and will be progressively rolled out across China and in other parts of the world through 2009.

During the Olympics, EventTrack is being provided to users for $50 per day, which includes all functions and services. SmartTrans expects to have about 800 users of the system during the Games.

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