10/01/2012 (press release: DPRi) // Helen Reid
Navigation expert Telmap has come to the rescue of UK iPhone users with M8, Your Local Mate (M8), a mobile application designed to provide a superior, free alternative to Apple Maps that is richer than Google Maps and smoother than Waze, offering turn-by-turn navigation, real-time traffic updates and a wealth of local information on the move to Android and IOS6 powered smartphones.
Officially launched today, M8 plans to simultaneously revolutionise weekend and city break travel, put an end to badly planned car trips and enhance modern community living by blending next generation navigation technology with traffic news services, the expertise of trusted travel guides, the local know-how of peer review services and the power of social media to create the ultimate mobile companion.
The app offers users a unique interactive location-based information guide, combining full satellite navigation functionality, real time traffic information including speed camera locations and up-to-the minute information from popular leading travel information guides. Able to provide instant local information and recommendations wherever it’s used, the Android and iPhone app helps users to better explore and interact with the people and places around them, getting the inside scoop from travel information guides like Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor, and plugging into the power of social media networks – Facebook, Twitter – to provide a more personal touch to every trip.
“M8 is an all-in-one guide that provides users with essential updates and information. Whether they’re drivers being alerted to traffic jams and speed cameras as it directs them on their journey, or travellers unfamiliar with an area and looking for directions or recommendations, the app immediately delivers the information they need from the sources they trust,” said Oren Nissim, Chief Executive Officer at Telmap, developer of the M8 app.
“We all identify with the uncertainties and stresses associated with going to an unfamiliar location: once you’ve arrived you need to find somewhere to park, fill up, get a bite to eat, locate the nearest cash machine and even hunt down suitable accommodation. Similarly, we often find ourselves at a loose end in our own neighbourhoods, desperate to grab a good cup of coffee and wondering if any friends nearby are free. M8 is designed to deal with these issues in an interactive and engaging way, delivering the information people typically source from multiple suppliers and networks to a single location and making it accessible on-the-go,”Nissim added.
Whenever they travel in the UK, M8 has been designed to be the best mate users could have. Brimming with local knowledge, the app can provide details on thousands of places and activities happening locally and is intended to be a trusted guide to local businesses, restaurants and attractions that can find anything you want, wherever you are.
Putting the user in control of their experience, the navigation and travel app – pitched as the perfect next generation driving and travel companion – delivers an interactive real time location guide that provides useful local information including parking, street-by-street directions and real time traffic information alongside amenity guides, cultural content, social reviews and integrated communications across Facebook and Twitter.
For social media fans, the app draws upon the latest communications channels to create an enriched experience, allowing them immediate access to the inside story on any locality and the ability to source up-to-the-minute recommendations from nearby Facebook or Twitter users.
Currently available on both iPhone and Android, M8, Your Local Mate has been designed and developed by Telmap, a world leading location- based services provider.
Feature List:
* Full navigation in the UK – get turn-by-turn walking or driving directions, with voice instructions that even announce street names so there is no way you can get lost.
* Live traffic updates and speed camera alerts.
* Simple postcode search and get one-click access – M8 will get you all the useful information you need including phone numbers and opening hours.
* Loaded with TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet’s latest and greatest restaurants and hotels, M8 will help you make the best choice with useful reviews and pictures.
* Barclays Cycle stations – save time by checking how many bikes are available before you walk there.
* Update your Facebook status with your current location and use M8 to help you make arrangements with your mates.
* You can even tweet your location and find tweets about places around you.
To download the M8, Your Local Mate app for iPhone, please visit iTunes UK: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/m8-free-uk-live-sat-nav/id560262526?mt=8
To download the M8, Your Local Mate app for Android, please visit Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.telmap.navigator.ukd2c&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS50ZWxtYXAubmF2aWdhdG9yLnVrZDJjIl0
For further information, screenshots or to organise interviews, please contact [email protected]
