The Australian, Entrepreneur
ONCE, the only way to find a business on the move was to call a directory on a mobile phone. But the arrival on July 11 of Apple iPhone — it is 3G, has WiFi and is GPS-enabled and integrated with Google Maps — is about to change the way people use mobile devices and find businesses through map-based online listings.
The big difference is that, through Google Maps on an iPhone, users can search for a business near their location either through 3G networks or WiFi. Because the iPhone geolocates the user’s position, Google Maps can give directions to find nearby businesses and services.
Other search engines and mobile phones can do this. But Google is the market leader in search and to date no device has had the large screen, interface or marketing pulling power of Apple to capture the public’s imagination.
Mark Armstrong, Google’s Melbourne-based head of automotive, local and classifieds, says what has held back mobile search in Australia is high costs and clunky phone interfaces. He says the iPhone in the US has proved to be one of the most popular mobile internet devices, with many new business opportunities emerging.
In Australia, imported iPhones and iPod Touches, apart from laptop computers, are already among the most popular mobile devices accessing WiFi networks, according to Ruwan Weerasooriya chief executive of Cafescreen, a company providing free WiFi in cafes. “If you take out all the laptops, the iPhone is the single most used device on the network. Given that it has not yet been released and it has been hacked, it is quite surprising,” he says. “We are looking forward to that product hitting the market as it will fundamentally change how people interact with content on the move.”
Even Nokia, which has some 300 WiFi hotspots for its N-series WiFi-enabled phones, is excited about the arrival as it will help build the profile of the mobile content market as a whole. Spokeswoman Louise Ingram says: “We think it is very exciting that the iPhone is coming because it helps focus the market.”
The arrival of the GPS-enabled iPhone is another step towards the convergence. Ingram says: “In very broad terms we are on the cusp of very exciting times with this area. We are seeing a lot of converging technologies. People then take them and use them for different things, especially small businesses. They really quite quickly grasp affordable and easy ways to use existing devices.”
The sort of service that mobile web surfers access, in addition to entertainment, is Google’s online map-based directory. Mobile web surfers can search for these listings through either 3G or WiFi and find relevant results to where they are located, thanks to the inbuilt GPS in the device. While these services are fairly simple, in the US social listings directories using GPS are already emerging.
Last year, Google joined hands with True Local (truelocal.com.au), a News Limited online business directory, which can be accessed through such searches. Google also has its Local Business Centre listing, which usually has a link displayed on the left of the Google maps page.
The free listing allows companies to add their contact details for multiple locations, upload pictures and videos and include online vouchers. For the vouchers, businesses simply specify an offer and a use-by date and users can print them off for redemption (although this is awkward on the move).
Armstrong says: “A business can claim its own location, but if a location is wrong or information is out of date, users can update information. It is a great concept, it really is opening up to the community or the wisdom of crowds to keep information fresh and up to date and to enrich it with reviews and personal experiences.”
Cafescreen’s core business model is providing advertising screens to cafes in exchange for free WiFi. The idea is that people could watch the content and advertising while they waited for their takeaway coffee. Weerasooriya says the public is warming to free WiFi and expects much greater demand for it with the arrival of the latest iteration of the iPhone.
“We certainly see a lot of interest in the WiFi. While it’s not the core business model it is certainly a ‘watch this space’ part of the business,” he says.
Perhaps an indication of the future is the direction Nokia, the world’s largest handset manufacturer, is taking. It is in the process of becoming an internet company that provides content. “We know that the future is not just in devices but service,” Ingram says.