10 Nowember 2008

Schmap Needs Beta Testers
For Free 'Schmap guides' Service

An interesting request found its way to my mailbox today. It’s actually a mail from Donald McMillan who is Schmap’s VP of Network Development and he would like if our community members might be able to help them with public beta testing of Schmap guides for Nokia S60 devices before its media launch which is scheduled for November 14.

Schmap is the map guide and a leading publisher of digital travel guides and their 'Schmap guides' for Nokia S60 devices is the new solution that encompasses Schmap’s popular Guides, a Local Search service and several unique mapping features, all that via a free web app with no download or installation required.

Schmap Guides are fully interactive travel guides that cover a myriad of cities across Europe, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. More than 90 million Schmap Guides have been downloaded since first release in March 2006: this phenomenally popular series can also be browsed online, with versions optimized for iPhone and now for millions of Nokia S60 users!

The innovative technology behind Schmap Guides lets end users publish schmaps (to share trip itineraries, local reviews and more), and powers a popular range of Schmap Widgets, syndicating more than 6 million maps a month - together with content and event schedules for travel, sports and concert tours - to a fast-growing network of websites and blogs.

Service is in final pre-release stage and now they are looking for feedback from real world testers using a variety of Nokia phones so if you are interesting in this service, if you think that product might be useful to you and you can spare some of your time testing the product make your way to http://www.schmap.com on a Nokia handset and you will be served with a selection of interactive city guides.

A few helpful guidelines/questions for testers are:

• Did you encounter any bugs?
• Was there anything that confused you?
• Do you have any ideas for improving Schmap for Nokia?
• Please note the name/model of the Nokia phone used to view the guides.

To begin using the service simply visit http://www.schmap.com on a Nokia handset and you will be served with a selection of interactive city guides.

All feedback can be done through our forum or you can alternatively send it directly to donald.mcmillan@schmap.com.