If your idea of mobile navigation applications is limited to left- and right-turn commands, maybe you should test drive one of the newer offerings.
Early-adopting road warriors have long depended on stand-alone devices from Garmin Ltd. and other manufacturers to deliver basic maps and driving directions, and carriers are taking advantage of new, GPS-enabled handsets by offering easy-to-use navigation applications. But mobile application developers increasingly are looking to differentiate themselves by including buddy-finding features, traffic locations and even restaurant reviews.
“On the consumer front, we’re working to deliver more lifestyle-based content,” said Sal Dhanani, co-founder of TeleNav Inc. “How do you make the product fit into a person’s day?”
TeleNav boasts partnerships with more than a half-dozen wireless service providers, and the company powers Sprint Nextel Corp.’s Navigator application. The application allows users to search for Wi-Fi hot spots, parking lots and even current prices for nearby gas stations.
What’s more, Sprint Nextel’s offering automatically checks traffic conditions along a route every five minutes-provided the user is on a major thoroughfare-and, if need be, alerts the user, suggesting a detour. And TeleNav, like its rival Telmap Inc., is working to include predictive traffic information, allowing users to see what kind of congestion to expect on specific roads at specific times when current data isn’t available.
“Real-time traffic is really available mainly on the highways,” Dhanani explained. “The information you really need is what the (average) flow is, what the speed is.”
Bulking up on local content
Weather information is being added to location-based offerings, also, allowing drivers to steer clear of storms and icy conditions. But while traffic and weather seem like natural fits for navigation applications, other, less obvious features are being included. Both companies are hoping to bulk up their local business information by including user reviews, and TeleNav has teamed with Yelp.com, a Craigslist-style virtual meeting place where members from two dozen U.S. cities weigh in on everything from the hottest clubs to the best dentists.
Such alliances can help developers focus on honing their applications rather than building content libraries from scratch-a daunting task, given that many LBS users are a well-traveled lot. Keeping the customer in the application and providing a singular user experience is crucial even though a subscriber may be on three continents in a particular week, according to David Singer, general manager of Telmap’s U.S. operations.
“Customers don’t want to have different content, different user experiences, in different cities or countries,” Singer said. “If it’s in Paris, it should be no different than if it’s in Denver.”
Finding the right features
Messaging is playing an increasing role in navigation, as well. Even enterprise-targeted applications are adopting friend-finding features that alert users when buddies are near, prompting them to get in touch if they’d like to meet. Telmap’s application includes a location-sharing feature that can send specific sites via text message.
But developers can add too many bells and whistles to navigation applications, Singer warned. Users still want a simple offering that can take them from point A to point B without having to think about dozens of peripheral uses.
“I think we need to be smart about the way we use content,” he explained. “Let’s not add 150 features into the application.”
Unlike some other applications, though, location-based services increasingly will become parts of other services, rather than an offering unto itself. Location technology could be leveraged in mobile search, gaming, advertising and-perhaps most obviously-in social networking. So while TeleNav is hoping Yelp can help it lure and hold on to mobile users, LBS developers may find themselves running their own mobile communities centered on location.
“Our philosophy is to enable a community, not to become one. Our goal is to connect the different pieces together,” said Dhanani, pausing for a second. “But I could see it happening-using becoming a community, a social networking site.”
