iNav
provides ‘turn-by-turn' graphical map guidance supported by voice
instructions to a mobile phone user till he reaches his destination. Speaking to reporters in Bangalore on
Monday, CE Info marketing head Rohan Verma said, "India is the second
largest growing mobile phone market in the world. Presently, over
half-a-million handsets in the country are GPS-enabled. But a majority
of handsets either do not have maps or only feature basic maps. We want
to address this shortcoming by providing quality maps that will help
mobile users travel from one point to the other without seeking help
from passersby to locate an address." The company has launched iNav in two
categories — iNav Connect and iNav Loaded. With iNav Connect, users can
subscribe to monthly or half-yearly services at Rs 249 and Rs 1,190
respectively. iNav Connect cards will be sold at all
mobile phone stores and retail chains as scratch cards which enable
street-level navigation in 18 major cities including the National
Capital Region, Mumbai and Bangalore. With iNav Loaded, a state map can
be downloaded for Rs 1,190 and country map for Rs 4,490. Verma said the company is engaged in
discussions with mobile handset manufacturers for producing handsets
pre-loaded with maps. This apart, the company is also exploring the
possibility of garnering revenues from advertisements displayed during
navigation. |