Navx

Snapigo: the iPhone app to bounce around your primo places

Navx introduces Snapigo, its new iPhone application (currently being reviewed by Apple), in Europe and the US.

Snapigo allows its users to recall in a snap their favorite places by collecting all the cards, notes and pictures they take from the cool bars, yummy restaurants and cozy cafés they visit!

Just snap a restaurant card and few minutes later Snapigo fills in the details with valuable information such as the type of cuisine, features, services, price range, location on the map…….and the list goes on….

It’s so easy, you have nothing else to do than Live it, Snap it, Share it! It is your pocket personal assistant for bouncing around town.

Once you have your complete and detailed Cards, nothing is easier than to plan your outings:

• Search in your Card Folder, by type of cuisine, by distance or by name
• Geolocalize the restaurant and view the itinerary via the Map view
• Make a reservation quickly by the phone number or email displayed on the card
• Organize a dinner: share with friends the place on Facebook or send them the Card by emailSnapigo is coming soon on the App Store

The app is free and will be available in the US and Europe. Stay tuned on www.snapigo.com

The value of navigation

TCS announced today the acquisition of Networks in Motion (NIM) for $170 millions. This news comes just as the navigation industry is meeting in San Jose at the Navigation & Location conference, pondering the impact of Google's new and free navigation application (see here).

TCS provides solutions to mobile operators, including messaging platforms, mobile applications, LBS solutions and E911 services. The acquisition of NIM will complete their offer.

This acquisition will certainly trigger hot debates between those who think that navigation is a commodity, and those who believe there is value in software, content and a good distribution model.

Business event tonight

The Navigation & Location US 2009 conference will start tomorrow Dec 1st in San Jose. Don't forget the event organized tonight by GPS BusinessNews. 6 pm at Tied House Café & Brewery, 954 Villa St in Mountain View. A good opportunity to exchange our views on a rapidly moving navigation industry !

Finding a good restaurant with your iPhone (2)

In a previous post (here), we addressed the issue of finding a good restaurant using an iPhone app.

And we got frustrated after trying a number of applications. Here is why:

1. Most applications help you find a place around your current geographic location. But this is not necessarily the most frequent user case. I personally would prefer to start with the kind of dinner/lunch (business, family, romantic), then the quality/price ratio, then the category of restaurant
2. Besides well-known brands (Michelin, Zagat, etc) which have a standard ranking system, most applications do a poor job at recommending a place: there are often very few comments, and no guarantee we can trust them
3. Very few apps provide you with details about opening hours and days
4. None of the apps we tried allow you to book online

So, let's say I am looking for a nice romantic restaurant, located somewhere in Paris, and  available on Sunday night. None of the apps do a good job because the filtering is based on location (my current latitude & longitude !) and there is no way to make sure I can match "Nice romantic restaurant in Paris, open on Sunday & available".

The restaurant category is still very poorly served by mobile location-based applications. And that applies to bars as well. And shops. And many others.

More about how NAVX plans to change that... soon ;-)

Bringing value to an industry threatened by commoditization

NAVX had the pleasure to be interviewed this week by Ludovic Privat, from GPSBusinessNews. See the video here.

It was an opportunity to discuss how the geolocalization industry is transforming and is threatened by commoditization. With free maps and navigation (see our previous post on Google), we need to create more value, more differentiation.

One way to do it is to provide verified, dynamic and trusted points of interest. That's what we do at NAVX.

• Verified: the place is checked, there are no duplicates in the database and the geographic coordinates are accurate

• Dynamic: fresh, real-time information is provided, such as gas prices, parking space availability, mobile speedcam locations, etc

• Trusted: we rely on user-generated information to build trusted information and provide reliable recommendations

Stay tuned, as we'll soon be more detailed about this concept of "trusted data".

Google: so ?

It is now a week since Google announced a free turn-by-turn navigation application for Android, and the industry is still trying to evaluate the impact it will have.

The threat is still theoretical since Google application is (1) for Android only, (2) off-board and therefore not necessarily reliable, (3) only based on US maps and (4) not tested yet by anyone.

However, the potential disruption in the market is clear. We can only imagine the sort of discussion taking place at Garmin regarding the Nuvifone, at TomTom regarding their mobile strategy, at mobile operators regarding their promised LBS revenues, at Telenav regarding their announced IPO.

In the short term, we think it will clearly trigger a defensive reaction from most of the big players. We can anticipate Apple and Nokia to prevent Google from placing its navigation application on their store. By the same token, big mobile operators will probably build fences and remove Google navigation app from their Android phones.

In the long term, let's face it: navigation is becoming a commodity. Advertising will be a valid business model, specially for Google. Others will have to come up with creative business models. Smaller players will seize the opportunity and innovation will burst.

And Content will be even more critical to create differentiation. At NAVX, we like that ;-)

Apple selects "Parking Dispo" among the best apps that make your life easier !

NAVX iPhone application "Parking Dispo" allows users to find a parking space (with live info about availability). It has been selected by Apple for its advertising campaign. The ad could be seen this morning, in the streets of Paris, in the subway, in daily newspapers !

Finding a good restaurant with your iPhone

Imagine its your birthday, anniversary or you are celebrating a very special occasion! And for this special occasion you would like to go out to a yummy restaurant or a fancy bar with your friends. What would your first step be? 

Well, last night, I was organizing a night out with friends to celebrate my birthday. To search for a great restaurant I had two options:

• either go to a restaurant I already knew,

• or get a (good) suggestion

The first option didn't work out. I had no precise idea, I had left my restaurant cards at home and anyway, I wanted to discover some new place.

So, how could I get a good suggestion ?

What was important to me was to screen restaurants according to their quality, style, price, location. More importantly, I needed to trust the suggestion.

I could have opened a guide (i.e. Zagat, Michelin) or called a friend who shares my taste, or browsed a couple of web sites (i.e. Yelp, OpenTable, Qype, etc). Instead, I figured I would try using my iPhone, and I downloaded a few applications, such as:

• some apps which provide editorial content (Zagat, Michelin, I in the City)
• some which collect and monitor user-generated content (AroundMe, Qype, DisMoiOu)

Well, it didn't quiet work out and I eventually ended up calling a friend for a good suggestion (I went to MamaShelter) !

But before I tell you why I got frustrated, I'd like to ask you: do you use your iPhone or telephone to search for a restaurant ? Do you know a good iPhone app to search for a good restaurant ?

NAVX @ Navigation & Location US 2009

NAVX will participate to Navigation & Location US 09 conference, in San Jose on December 1st and 2nd. It will be an opportunity to share our vision of the market with the main players and have fruitful debates about where the industry is heading.

We will also directly address the topic of Dynamic Points of Interest (POIs) during a panel session on December 2nd shared with Urban Mapping.

Dynamic POIs are points of interest which are linked to a real-time information, such as gas prices for a gas station, or the number of available spots for a parking lot. This dynamic data is critical for connected PNDs, as they provide useful information to end-users and allow GPS manufacturers, mobile operators and software companies to sell subscriptions.

Navx on France Bleu with Parking Dispo