This, people, is a smart service. Schmap, provider of interactive online maps with guide and tourism info, has just pushed an innovative iPhone-friendly solution into public beta. The service allows users to quickly and easily publish iPhone-friendly contact details with a map on their websites. When we say “Quickly and easily” we mean it. First of all, no registration is required and the service is completely free. Secondly, the setup from beginning to end takes about two minutes. The user need only enter the contact details in a few form fields on the Schmap site, copy the resulting code and paste it onto their homepage. Done. The results will be completely invisible to most browsers but visit the site on an iPhone and bar will appear across the top of the screen. Tap it and you will be brought to a page with contact details; rotate the iPhone and a map will be displayed pointing you to the exact location of the business. Schmap also has plans to make the service S60, Android and BlackBerry-friendly in the near future, meaning that the same piece of code will yield properly-formatted results for each of the aforementioned platforms. No changes to the code currently in place will be required when the update comes around. The key challenge for Schmap of course will be getting exposure with less-web savvy retail business owners, restaurants, bars, etc so that they know the service exists. We wonder what other cool services could be added to websites in a similar no-registration, two minute-implementation way? For a sample of Schmap’s service in action, hit http://www.purefoodandwine.com from an iPhone.
[Via The Outsidr]
