From...

October 28, 1999
Web posted at: 10:01 a.m. EDT (1401 GMT)

by James A. Martin

(IDG) -- There are plenty of ways to be productive while you're stuck in traffic. You can check voice mail and return calls. Discover your spiritual side with Deepak Chopra audio books. Perform upper-body strengthening exercises with the steering wheel. But no matter what you do, you're still stuck in traffic.

Two new products from Etak are designed to help you avoid time-sucking traffic jams before -- and after -- you leave home.

The $39.95 SkyMap 2000 is the latest version of Etak's Windows 95/98 mapping and trip-planning software. Along with locating addresses on a digital map, the software calculates a route between two or more destinations in the U.S.

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SkyMap 2000 also uses an Internet link to display real-time traffic conditions on its maps. The traffic data is gathered by the television and radio affiliates of Metro Networks, the nation's largest traffic-reporting service. The data is entered into an Etak traffic database, usually within a minute of being reported, and is available for downloading over the Internet to SkyMap 2000 users.

Traffic jams are displayed as icons on a SkyMap 2000 map. The user clicks the icon to find out where the congestion is, what caused it, and how soon it is expected to be cleared, according to Craig Lynar, Etak's vice president of marketing. As a result, commuters and vacationers can pinpoint on a map any existing traffic delays before they hit the road.

GPS goodies

With the $199.95 SkyMap 2000/GPS software and Global Positioning System bundle, you can even determine where the freeway snarls are while you're en route. As long as you've installed the software and serial port-connected GPS to a notebook PC, and the computer has a wireless modem, you can update a map with the latest traffic information as you go.

Don't try this while driving, however, or you're likely to be the cause of a big traffic pileup.

The traffic reporting service is free for the first 30 days and costs $60 a year thereafter. If you sign up for the service during the one-month trial, the first year will cost you $48.

Don't just drive, talk to me

SkyMap 2000/GPS also features voice recognition technology and audio directions. Using the earpiece and microphone attachment, you can get spoken, turn-by-turn directions as you follow your route. In addition, you can use voice commands to ask such questions as "distance to destination?" and "what street is this?"

Both SkyMap 2000 products also let you obtain up-to-the-minute weather information, and are equipped with software for downloading maps to Palm-based handheld devices.