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strategist at Wheel
13 February 2001 08:12am
We are looking for someone to provide City Guide information (certainly European coverage but with global expansion a definite option) that can be downloaded to mobile devices (phones, PDAs). Could anyone let me know who the main players in this space are? What is their value proposition, advantages and disadvantages, costs etc.?
NB The end users would be 'high-end' business travellers.
Gerant at Netdefinition SARL
13 February 2001 18:26pm
Kristen
Do you know whatsonwhen.com? They're perhaps not quite what you mention - more of an events guide business than pure city guides, but they have a lot of that info, too. I think their content is fantastic: interesting, up-to-date, relevant and brilliantly-structured - you get the 'real live' thing: here's the place & what's going on there. I'm pretty sure they've got a wireless capability already, they cover destinations globally, have a 'business service' & I understand they're going into other languages soon, too. Go have a search through their site.
Otherwise, you could look at someone like Time Out - timeout.com.
Hope that's of some use.
Sam
On 8:12:36 13 February 2001 KristenF wrote:
>We are looking for someone to provide City Guide
>information (certainly European coverage but with global
>expansion a definite option) that can be downloaded to
>mobile devices (phones, PDAs). Could anyone let me know
>who the main players in this space are? What is their
>value proposition, advantages and disadvantages, costs
>etc.?
>
>NB The end users would be 'high-end' business travellers.
Director at Skywire
14 February 2001 11:30am
Vindigo (http://www.vindigo.com) are the best people I've seen do this so far. They have city guides that can be downloaded to PDAs and then used off line.
Currently mainly US focused, I have London and New York both installed on mine, and they have a great write up from their users :
"I needed a bottle of champagne as a housewarming gift and found a wine store right near my friend's new apartment. While I was in the cab, I pulled out my Vindigo and did a search near her apartment. I asked the cab driver to drop me off at 77th instead of 81st Street so I could go to the nearest wine store to her apartment."
On 8:12:36 13 February 2001 KristenF wrote:
>We are looking for someone to provide City Guide
>information (certainly European coverage but with global
>expansion a definite option) that can be downloaded to
>mobile devices (phones, PDAs). Could anyone let me know
>who the main players in this space are? What is their
>value proposition, advantages and disadvantages, costs
>etc.?
>
>NB The end users would be 'high-end' business travellers.
CEO at Econsultancy
14 February 2001 11:54am
I know Citikey used to do this but since liquidation their assets, including mobile content delivery technology, have been acquired by e-street, so it might be worth looking at their offering in more detail (http://www.e-street.com/) although they currently only cover London and Dublin, but are looking to expand:
More details on this can be found at http://www.netimperative.com/newsarticle.asp?ArticleID=8081&ChannelID=2&ArticleType=1
"London city guide e-street.com has purchased troubled rival Citikey, which went into liquidation in November, and plans to use its technology to extend its range of mobile services.
e-street, which has bought Citikey assets including its domain name and source code, will use its newly-acquired technology to launch a PDA offering that will run alongside its existing services, which are available over the internet and WAP as well as via Cityspace kiosks in London.
e-street recently relaunched its WAP site, which features more categories such as hotels, tourist attractions and additional search options.
The e-street city guides provide information and maps on everything from pubs and antique shops to theatres, health clubs and banks.
The company recently launched an e-street service in Dublin and is now setting its sights on Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow. "
Digital Lead, Asia Pacific at Ogilvy
14 February 2001 12:39pm
Kristen
At the end of last year I co-founded a small business specializing in the creation of content for mobile devices and services for other businesses, be they consumer or business focussed.
Our business, called Mobile Content Management - MCM, is comprised of the senior management team from Citikey - which went into liquidation last year.
We identified the market need for content, specifically created for mobile location based services, which was tailor made for specific purposes (audiences) and that remained cost effective (affordable!).
Your question is very interesting. I can give you an outline of the issues and possible sources, but if you would like to talk to me in further detail please call, (+ 44 7974 144 776).
Given the current state of the mobile market and the difficulty of generating attractive revenue streams there are several key issues about how much to invest in content and therefore the most appropriate source of that content. The key issues are:
1. Time: how soon do you need the content, and how much do you require at launch?
2. Cost: how much can you afford… how much revenue can you generate through the content?
3. Flexibility: do you want to be in full control of the content, its style and its format?
4. Editorial voice: do you want the content to reflect your brand qualities
5. Usability: what sort of mobile application is the content going to be used in. How do you want users to be able to search through the content in a variety of methods (e.g. by name, by location, by genre, by recommendations)
6. Differentiation: Do you need to differentiate your service from others?
There are five possible sources:
1. From existing Media players who produce city information listings:
e.g. Time Out. Daily Mail Group, Zagat, Hardens:
Pro: Strong branded info that users can identify with
Con: The disadvantage here is that the content comes "branded" and that it is not specifically created for mobile devices, (Time Out’s reviews are too long for WAP and Palm, and is not stored in mobile friendly databases). These sort of partnerships can take a long time to negotiate and can involve major compromises e.g. branding, shared revenues, shared ownership of the user etc
2. Through New media partnerships:
e.g. e-street. book-2-eat, Inshop:
Pro: Can possibly borrow the partner’s existing user base and you might find the content is more suitable for mobile devices than traditional listings info
Cons: This sort of partnership would involve a current internet player giving you their content to put on a mobile platform. Again they will demand that the content retains their brand and many internet players are keen to “go it alone” into the mobile market
3. In house development
Pro: you get the content you require and retain full control of how you use it
Con: it is very expensive and probably not a scalable solution if you want to cover a large territory (e.g. Europe or worldwide). The skills to manage in house content creation are normally out of scope for New media companies
4. Bespoke development of content:
e.g. MCM :
Pro’s: MCM has a core database of content covering entertainment, restaurants, travel, accommodation that can be edited and specifically tailored to the client’s needs. It is a cheaper option than doing it in house and gives you total flexibility voer how you want to use the content.
Con: Although it is cheaper than creating your own content and gives you more advantages than if you did it in house, it does require investment
5. Generic mobile content:
e.g. w-cities:
Pro:W-cities provide city entertainment type listings for several hundred cities around the world. The information is quite basic, but adequate. You can license the content for a fixed monthly price. It will give you rapid implementation and a low cost solution.
Cons: The content is not impressive and is bland to read. It also has limited fields by which you can search the data. You will not be able to create an “editorial voice” through the content, nor will you differentiate your service You would still need to select which parts of the content to display (e.g. recommendations) and there can be some branding issues with w-cities or the various other providers
Regards
Barney
Barney Loehnis (07974 144 776)
On 8:12:36 13 February 2001 KristenF wrote:
>We are looking for someone to provide City Guide
>information (certainly European coverage but with global
>expansion a definite option) that can be downloaded to
>mobile devices (phones, PDAs). Could anyone let me know
>who the main players in this space are? What is their
>value proposition, advantages and disadvantages, costs
>etc.?
>
>NB The end users would be 'high-end' business travellers.
Marketing Director at Oxygen8 Lth
22 April 2008 14:04pm
Your message is a bit old so not sure if you are still looking but check out city.mobi
We are building over 600 mobile portals based on City names, a good example is at dubai.city.mobi
On 08:12:36 13 February 2001 KristenF wrote:
>We are looking for someone to provide City Guide
>information (certainly European coverage but with global
>expansion a definite option) that can be downloaded to
>mobile devices (phones, PDAs). Could anyone let me know
>who the main players in this space are? What is their
>value proposition, advantages and disadvantages, costs
>etc.?
>
>NB The end users would be 'high-end' business travellers.