SHANGHAI, China, Oct. 10 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- NaviForum 2007 Product of China Award, the first large-scale annual rating and voting of navigation products in China, was declared open by the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, the organizer of the event. The rating and voting results will be published on the official website of NaviForum Shanghai 2007. The Forum is the largest scale international event in the Chinese navigation industry.
The Chairman Overseas of NaviForum this year is Mr. Bernhard Hofmann- Wellenhof, Director of the Institute of Navigation and Satellite Geodesy of the Graz University of Technology, Founder of the Austrian Institute of Navigation. Confirmed speakers include: Mr. Tsuguo Nobe, Car Wings General Manager of Nissan Motor; Dr. Jin Wang, Technical Supervisor of Mercedes-Benz; Dr. Roland Busch, Asia-Pacific President & CEO of Siemens VDO; and Mr. Azmoon Ahmad, CEO, Division Radio Navigation of Siemens VDO. Meanwhile, MODIBEC, a project intended to promote and support RTD cooperation between EU and China on digital broadcasting technologies, and also seek TMC for real-time traffic information solutions, will hold their only press conference in China at the Forum. Finally and most importantly is the latest news on the Chinese Compass (Bei Dou) satellite navigation system, a topic garnering broad attention in the industry, which will be delivered at the Forum.
The NaviForum 2007 Product of China Award encompasses 3 total awards: the "2007 Product of China," the "Consumers' Favorite Product" and the "Most Innovative Product." The voting criteria for the "2007 Product of China" was drawn up by the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, auto makers and IT168.com in accordance with Chinese facts and with reference to international standards, which is the most comprehensive and authoritative assessment system for navigation industrial technologies and products in China. The system consists of 5 assessing items: hardware, software/map, appearances, market acceptance and field performance; and for each item, there are 50 sub- standards to ensure the review is conducted in fair-minded and authoritative manner.
The awards ceremony, which is at NaviForum Shanghai 2007, will be held at Shanghai Hua Ting Hotels & Towers on Dec. 5th. Related information is available at IT16B.com ( http://naviforum.it168.com ) for all navigation product makers and dealers, and rating and voting is also available for online application. As many know, the rocketing of the Chinese navigation industry in 2007 has stimulated an increase in navigation products and brands on the market and a decrease in the terminal price. Navigation is being brought to the attention of ordinary consumers, and the NaviForum 2007 Product of China Award has captured the attention of the industry. In particular, auto makers have been paying attention, as a concept of the auto-PND combination is taking shape during the automobile marketing activities in 2007. The Chinese in- vehicle navigation and portable navigation is predicted to multiply in 2008, and the sales of PND through auto dealers and 4S stores is estimated at more than 600,000 units. Therefore, the Society of the Automotive Engineers of China timely held this award rating and voting to help Chinese automakers to choose the right partners and to help consumers choose the right products.
Award rating and voting is intended to comprehensively review the Chinese navigation technologies and products which came out in the last year; encourage navigation companies to continue innovating, set up navigation brand images and enhance the sustained and sound development of the navigation industry; and direct consumers to select navigation products. As the international event of the highest level, the largest scale, and the most complete coverage of the whole industry chain in the Chinese navigation industry, NaviForum provides an interactive communication platform into the promising navigation future. Additionally, the Forum will also bring you into thorough discussions on domestic and international market demands, Chinese government policies on satellite navigation, the relationship between satellite and communications as well as between traffic information and dynamic navigation, and other topics of global attention.