CE Info Systems has launched a new version (v-2007) of their Mapquest-like site MapmyIndia. At the presscon yesterday, the product looked better than v-2006, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Some positives:
– Greater detail for major cities; Smaller cities now covered
– A right-click on the map allows you to mark locations (ala Mapquest) and once you’ve signed in, draw a route; directions will be listed
– Located around 500,000 villages on the map
– AJAX based interface, so smooth scrolling (unlike v-2006)
– Available on the mobile
The nitpicking:
– The search facility is utterly useless: wasn’t working when I tried it initially probably because of heavy traffic. Other places I could find by just scrolling, but not search: Kothrud in Pune, Versova in Mumbai.
– Level of detail is still rather poor; for Mumbai and Pune, it doesn’t zoom down to the max level. Delhi and Hyderabad were detailed, though.
– Signups only enable drawing routes and saving e-locations. Users should be allowed to share drawn routes.
I spoke to Harinder Singh, AVP-Business Practice CE Info Systems, and he said that the revenue is mainly going to come from mobile subscriptions. They’re on the verge of announcing a deal with two operators. Post the trial period, the service will cost Rs.100 a month+GPRS costs. No details on how much the operator is keeping.
Sponsored links don’t feature on the website yet, but I suppose once the profiling is done with the signups, they’ll appear.
On the B2B side, they’re providing map facilities to Texas Instruments for their intranet, Makemytrip and Yatra, online. Canara Bank has signed up for ATM locator; also looking to tie up with GPS companies. A Bangalore based company and Micromate from Delhi have already signed up.
Rakesh Verma, MD CE Info Systems believes that by giving the same map facility (with greater compression; around 3kb an image) MapMyIndia will allow you to travel without asking for directions; until the level of detail improves, that’s not going to happen.
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