Beijing turns to Nissan for citywide navigation system

It looks like the city of Beijing was suitably impressed with Nissan's still-in-development transportation safety system, as the city's now tasked the company with installing the system in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. According to The Wall Street Journal, the system, dubbed Star Wings, will rely on an existing Beijing system to collect traffic data, which Nissan will then turn around and transmit to drivers via an unspecified wireless network. That'll allow drivers to determine the quickest route to take which, in theory, should reduce congestion in the city, something Beijing's been trying to get under control in time for the Olympics. While that's not all that far away, Nissan seems confident that it can make a difference, saying it hopes to put the technology into a fifth of Beijing's 3 million cars by August of 2008 -- an ambitious goal it believes in can achieve in part by working with rental car companies and taxi fleets.

[Dan @ Aug 1st 2007 1:23AM]

That doesn't seem like it will do much to solve the traffic issue. Try higher capacity roads and more public transportation.

http://www.conveniencesoftware.com

[kingofwale @ Aug 1st 2007 1:27AM]

http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/26/china-warns-couples-that-cctvs-may-call-911-on-pda/

so what now? they have CCTV that can detect kissing but they can't tell if the traffic is jammed?

I guess a little traffic delay is not as bad as the possibility of disabilization of the government (AKA, public gathering)

[lexx2454 @ Aug 1st 2007 2:36AM]

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[darkstar @ Aug 1st 2007 8:02AM]

beijing as 3 million cars??

[Jonathan Salem Baskin @ Aug 2nd 2007 8:19AM]

I'm interested in this news item because it represents a branding action by Nissan vs. just another functional improvement to their services. Whether they see/use it as such is another matter. If you're interested in exploring this story from a marketing perspective, please visit Dim Bulb, at http://dimbulb.typepad.com, and check it out? Thanks!