Reading - In Java!

No, 'the beautiful borough' hasn't suddenly been transported half-way round the world to the East Indies!

In their wisdom, council bosses have launched a new service application for mobile phones which will provide visitors with access to live information on traffic flows, parking spaces, train and bus timetables, cinema listings and maps highlighting the location of petrol stations, shopping centres, cash machines, hospitals and tourist attractions.

The free public service provided by mxData is the fifth such service provided by local authorities across the UK and can be downloaded from the company's MetroTV website.

The news is causing a buzz on tech sites. Mobile Entertainment is excited about the opportunity to directly target advertising to potential customers and the enhanced features including cinema listings, though The Register is less enthusiastic - judging the VMS (Variable Message Signs) technology inferior to Google Maps (also available on mobile).

Oranjepan says:
Remember, just don't use the travel information service while driving!

Update: Public TechnologyNet reports Marc Allen, RBC's UMTC systems manager, as delighted with the successful launch of the service, with over 1,000 downloads of the new application since the start of the month.