Wonobo Launches Android App To Let Users Explore Their Cities On The Go

We had written previously about Wonobo, a product being developed by Genesys International Corporation to provide Indian users with 360 degree panaromic walkthroughs of important Indian cities and monuments. This ‘street walkthrough’ is similar to Google Maps’ Street View but specifically tailored for India. The company had also tied up with the Indian Tourism Ministry in order to do that.

Now the company has announced that it has launched the service for Android users. Wonobo’s Android app is available on Google Play and aims to bring the same web based experience to the mobile and thus let users discover this content on the go using their mobiles. This development could help tourists in India to plan their trips and check out interesting places on the go.

The service covers 14 major Indian cities and is soon planning to expand to a total of 54 cities, thus connecting 70% of India’s urban places. The company also said that their platform will let businesses and marketers to easily target and offer multiple relevant services through the platform.

Sajid Malik, CMD of Genesys International spoke about the mobile app launch,

“The WoNoBo App makes it possible for Indians to share aspects of their lives in a manner that simply hasn’t been possible before. We are India’s first and only 360 degree view service on the mobile platform. Users can share their schools, colleges, offices, favourite restaurants and just about anything else they love about India’s cities. Users can also access over 10 million ‘points of interests’ such as hotels, retail outlets, monuments, parks, etc. and view the interiors of key locations as well.”

Wonobo is clearly encroaching on Google’s mapping territory with the launch of this product. Google has had problems with the authorities when it comes to collecting and providing India specific mapping data to any user in the country. Wonobo, on the other hand is an Indian entity and may get an edge over Google’s Street View when it comes to regulation. However, the advantage Google has over Wonobo is that Google’s products are tightly integrated into other useful products like Gmail, Google+, Android and so on. Wonobo on the other hand is a standalone mapping platform and it might have a problem convincing users to buy into their proposition.

That being said, India has a rapidly growing Internet population and location based services are going to be a big thing in a couple of years when a large bulk of Indians come online using mobile Internet. In this case, there is a lot of space for competitors such as Wonobo to start innovating in the segment. It would be great if the company could figure out a meaningful way to let its platform be useful for Indian users as well as businesses.

App Link | Wonobo

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