Operators faced with the threat of Nokia Maps hoovering up potential location-based revenue streams have a tool to fight back with, after Telmap launched an all-new version of its location package.
Telmap CEO Oren Nissim said that the software company had built a new version of the mapping, navigation and location based services software "from scratch". "This is not just a new version of the product, with a few tweaks," he said.
Telmap5 includes new features such as a widget carousel that users can scroll whilst they are within the application. Features such as weather information, nearest retail outlets and other context-aware add-ons can be delivered in a new way, Nissim said. This offers commercial opportunities to operators through sponsorship and advertising, as well as an improved user experience, Telmap claims.
There is also a beefed up search function that delivers location-specific results in a variety of ways. Nissim said the advantage of this is that users can get relevant and targeted results. Telmap and its operator customers will partner with location specific content providers, such as Yell.com and 118 to provide the results, Nissim said. Although that means users would be restricted to search results from these sources, rather than the whole web, the search function was adding to the use case of mobile location, providing a better, more personalized service than before, Nissim said.
"Google Maps has brought that experience of maps, and services, and navigation together," Nissim said. "But its search results deliver a long list, not broken down into categories that add to the quality of experience."
Nissim also claimed that Telmap5 goes beyond the Nokia Maps experience.
"Nokia Maps is really about imitating a full-blown PND experience, and we're just not there any more, we add so much more. Outside of Nokia the handset manufacturers are open to what the operators want," he said, "and we work with the operators to deliver this increased functionality to the device manufacturers."
Telmap uses Navteq to provide the mapping technology, such as points of interest, but says there is no conflict of interest even though Navteq is now owned by Nokia.