After more than two years of experience in the mobile navigation market, leading Austrian mobile operator mobilkom austria has selected Appello to power its next generation of navigation services. HEROLD Wisepilot von A1 is taking mobile navigation and search to the next level by combining Appello’s Wisepilot mobile navigation with local search and directory lookup from leading Austrian directory publisher HEROLD.
Appello has over the last three years powered several of the most successful online mobile navigation services introduced on the European market. “Now we take the next step when we together with HEROLD, a directory publisher with a unique position on the Austrian market, introduce a new navigation product with a powerful local search and directory lookup in the palm of the user’s hand”, says Peter Tyreholt, Head of Account Management at Appello. “mobilkom austria is Austria’s leading mobile operator and has proven itself as one of Europe’s most successful operators for mobile data services and mobile navigation. Their strategy and commitment to the navigation business is impressive and they have an attractive “all-inclusive” offering to their subscriber base. We are naturally very pleased to add a new generation of navigation services to the portfolio of mobile services of mobilkom austria”, continues Peter Tyreholt.
What makes HEROLD Wisepilot stand out is the combination of mobile navigation, local search with dynamic content from multiple online sources, the social networking possibilities and the potential for users to contribute with information through the A1 NAVI service. Thanks to the exceptional content from HEROLD and the Wisepilot platform there is no longer a need to always figure out the address of where you are going and enter it into your navigation system. With HEROLD Wisepilot users can search destinations by name or phone number of persons or companies. It can also answer questions like “Where is the nearest Italian restaurant?” or “Where can I buy flowers around here?” and act as a 24/7 available personal directory assistant. Changes in the HEROLD database will immediately be available for the users through the online integration. HEROLD Wisepilot also gives the user precise turn-by-turn instructions with head-up 3D navigation maps and clear voice instructions. Users are warned of upcoming traffic incidents along the route. The traffic information is collected from multiple sources and updated in real-time. The user is also informed when approaching speed cameras where possible around Europe.
“With HEROLD Wisepilot we are enhancing our mobile navigation service A1 NAVI with a fully integrated powerful local search engine that offers our customers the possibility of accessing the yellow pages while on the go. Now they can search for the next Italian restaurant, reserve a table and be guided there right away,” says Dr. Hannes Ametsreiter, CMO mobilkom austria and CMO Telekom Austria TA AG. “We selected Appello to power this new mobile navigation service because of its expertise in online mobile navigation,” continues Ametsreiter.
“The success of mobilkom austria and reinforced focus on mobile navigation strengthens our belief that the take-off for location based services such as mobile navigation is very close”, says Martin Svensson CEO at Appello. All of the market research institutes foresee a tremendous growth with the increased roll-out of GPS-enabled handsets.”, continues Martin Svensson.