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 two different offerings by the company.
Past updates: MapMyIndia had recently rolled out new version of its map with features like single-line predictive search, better regional maps, along with voice guidance in 10 languages, added street-level map data for 1040 cities and house-level map data in more cities. Before this, the company had revamped its map portal with data, widgets and a better UI in February. In April, it had launched a vehicle safety solution with house-level data called Rover that allows users to track their vehicle-location in real-time on mobile and web browsers via GPS.
Competitors: MapMyIndia competes against Google Maps, that recently rolled out indoor mapping service, apart from launching street view for private properties. Then there is Nokia’s HERE and Traffline, a non-navigation traffic update service, that had launched daily paid traffic alerts in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi.
