A peek at MapmyIndia’s offerings for consumers – In conversation with Rohan Verma, CEO & Executive Director, MapmyIndia | 91mobiles.com

Did you know that Apple Maps uses MapmyIndia’s data to power its mapping solution in India? This came as news to me. If you have an iPhone, you can fire up Apple Maps and see if you can find the MapmyIndia logo — it’s buried, but it’s there. Similarly, quite a few car models sold in India use Mapmyindia’s maps and navigation tech. We sat down with Rohan Varma, MapmyIndia’s CEO and Executive Director to get an idea of the company’s consumer offerings.

The Mappls navigation app boasts some useful features. Please tell us its key USPs and how it’s special.

Mappls is a free maps and navigation app that works on Android, iOS and Web (on mappls.com), and also with Android Auto and CarPlay in the car. The app is truly Swadeshi, made in India by an Indian company that knows India better, and is made for Indians. Apart from the fact that Mappls shows India’s map correctly and features detailed, house address-level maps and accurate navigation, it comes with some extremely handy features. The 3D Junction View feature makes navigation clear at flyovers and complex intersections — preventing wrong turns, confusion and accidents. The app also features speed limit and speed camera alerts, displaying the current road’s speed limit and alerting you when there is an upcoming speed camera or traffic monitoring area ahead. Mappls can also show places of interest and routes in immersive 3D metaverse-like view and 360-degree view which can be seen through VR glasses.

Very briefly, please give us a bird’s eye view of your other offerings for consumers.

We recently introduced a whole new range of devices for consumers. These Mappls gadgets include trackers, dashcams, navitainment systems, and smart helmet kits comprising NavAudio and Navisor devices. All these GPS-enabled IoT gadgets powered by the Mappls navigation app and can be integrated into the same interface. The trackers help you keep track of vehicles, assets etc, while the navitainment systems offer in-car entertainment and navigation. Then we have CarEye, which is a dashcam that provides live view both inside and outside the vehicle from anywhere in the world. It also provides insights into vehicle performance.

Navisor does sound extremely interesting. Please tell us more about it.

Navisor is a multi-cue navigation assistant that can be attached to any full-face helmet to improve rider safety. This navigation aid works over Bluetooth 5, provides all-day battery life, and uses multi-coloured LED visual cues
to indicate different scenarios — impending turns, U-turns, etc without distracting the rider’s attention from the road. It eliminates the need for phone mounts for navigation, and enhances the safety and security of the rider.

Which auto brands and car models use MapmyIndia’s maps and navigation tech?

Oh, quite a few. There’s Mahindra XUV700, and the Mahindra Scorpio-N. The Suzuki Connect system available on selected Maruti Suzuki models also uses our maps. Coming to electric cars, MG’s ZS-EV is another vehicle that uses our tech to power its navigation-related features.

Speaking of electric cars, please tell us about your efforts in the EV segment.

On EVs like the MG ZS-EV, our Spider Range feature can show a 360-degree drive range display that the vehicle can travel on the current state of charge in the car. In fact, the routing can automatically add the required charging stations on the route based on the current battery status. The user can also search charging stations using a pre-defined POI category and filter through slow or fast charging stations.