Location-based services provider MapmyIndia has launched a new navigation app called NaviMaps, that offers voice navigation in regional languages. Languages supported include Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu. It also provides live traffic updates in Delhi, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Faridabad, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Bhiwandi, Kalyan and Virar. The app comes with house-level navigation in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, much like the MapMyIndia app. NaviMaps is currently available only for Android. The company has said that iOS and Windows versions will be launched soon. NaviMaps is a freemium app that provides a "Pro Guidance package" as an add-on at a rate of $9.99 for Indian maps, and $4.99 each for Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka maps. Voice-based navigation is also part of the premium service, apart from auto re-routing if you deviate from suggested route. How is it different from MapMyIndia app MapMyIndia currently sells GPS units for vehicles, and offers Maps with MapMyIndia's app and powers Sygic navigation app for mobile devices. The house-level data and voice navigation in regional languages were available only on its in-car hardware till now and not on mobile apps. NaviMaps also lets you download maps and access it while you are offline, which MayMyIndia did not. NaviMaps seems like a Sygic bundled with regional languages and house-level data. It is not clear why the company did not add these features to their existing app which already has a dedicated user base. When we checked with the company, we were informed that these are…
