Wayfinder to add interactivity to navigation

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Swedish GPS Mapping and Navigation Company Wayfinder is all set to launch interactive navigation service in India.

The company has now launched its free map services – Wayfinder Earth and Wayfinder Navigator – in tie-up with MapMyIndia.

The local maps will now be available for navigation for the Indian mobile subscribers free of cost in over 150 models including Nokia 6600, Nokia N95 and Sony Ericsson K600i mobile phones.

However, data charges for the service operator will apply.

“Our partnership with MapMyIndia is the first step in focussing on local content in the Indian market. In the future we will continue to provide locally relevant services and content on top of the map in Wayfinder Navigator and Wayfinder Earth,” Magnus Nilsson, chief executive officer of Wayfinder told CyberMedia News.

The free Wayfinder Earth provides consumers a convenient map application on mobile with a compatible handset and data subscription.

The user can download the maps on their mobile phone, and find the points of interest and other location-based content.

Wayfinder Navigator comes with fully featured voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation.

The service is now available with select mobile operators such as Airtel and also through online portals like MapMyIndia.com.

“We have tested the services by offering to the Blackberry subscribers of Airtel and now we are in the next phase of forming a business model around the service, which includes the pricing and packaging of the content,” Magnus Nilsson said.

He said that Wayfinder saw a bigger opportunity in India, given the recent spurt in mobile subscriptions in the country.

“The price point for such services has tremendously come down over the past few years. After the launch of many GPS-enabled handsets in the market, the price-point has come to the mass-market level and the market in India is also taking off,” he said.

“Wayfinder has the distinct advantage of providing both server-based and client-based navigation applications combined with local content. It gives us an edge over other service providers. Initially, though we are targeting the metros, Wayfinder services will soon be available in 20 more cities very soon,” Nilsson informed.

Apart from supporting mobile platforms of Windows, Linux and Java, the company is also working on customizing both the maps and content for the much-anticipated Android platform from Google Inc.

 “We are looking at making navigation as interactive as it can be by adding social-entertainment applications. These applications can be anything from networking sites such as Facebook and Orkut to finding tourist information. We want the users to talk back to us on the usage. In India, we are also looking at localizing the content in vernacular languages as well,” he said.

Wayfinder is also in talks with a Mumbai-based content company, involved in local content creation, and aggregation. The company is considering a proposal either to invest in the content company or opt for acquisition. This will pave Wayfinder’s entry into the Indian market with a local presence by the end of June this year.