Trapster iOS App Will Soon Warn You If You're Driving Too Fast (video)
The new version of crowdsourced speed-trap app Trapster will display your current speed and also let you know if you're going over the speed limit, Trapster Product Managers Haris Ramic and Sean Farrell revealed in an interview with Robert Scoble and Sean confirmed to LAUNCH.
The 4.5 version of the iOS app -- launching soon -- includes a built-in speedometer and speed limit data. If you're going one to two miles over the speed limit, the box displaying your speed will change to orange. If you go faster, the box will turn red.
The upcoming version also features NAVTEQ traffic overlays to see real-time traffic without leaving your current map screen. NAVTEQ, the company that powers MapQuest and Bing Maps, acquired San Diego-based Trapster in December 2010.
"We are really fortunate in the sense that a large number of our coming features are directly attributable to the integration of the NAVTEQ Map," Sean says. "Now that we have access to true road geometry, it makes features such as speed limits and more accurate alerting based on the road segment possible. "
In future releases Sean says they plan to add voice recognition and reporting, night mode, make alerts more personal and open up its API to developers.
"Siri highlights the power of voice-activated controls," Sean says. "We do hope that Apple chooses to open up the Siri APIs, because voice reporting and voting are a big part of our plans for creating a safer driving community."
Trapster, which launched its first app in 2007, originally aimed to help drivers avoid getting pulled over by alerting them to speed traps and red light cameras. Over time, the app has evolved to let people report accidents and other hazards on the road, similar to Waze.
Trapster is available for Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and supports Garmin and TomTom navigation devices, while Waze is only available for iOS and Android. Trapster has over 13M users in more than 60 countries, with 10K to 20K new users every day. Israel-based Waze has 7M registered users in at least 45 countries.
"There are a number of applications in the navigation/travel/transportation genre," Sean says. "We are focused on saving our drivers time and money by tailoring their interactions to the traps and road hazards they care about the most. Overall, we love competition...it breeds innovation. It also tells us that we are doing something right."
Waze lets drivers report accidents, road hazards and other traffic conditions to help others beat traffic. Users can also chat with other drivers on the road, which could be potentially dangerous.
While Trapster doesn't let you chat with any driver on the road like Waze does, drivers in a caravan can chat with within the Trapster app, using the Caravan feature, via text input or audio messaging.
In the interview with Scoble, Haris says the key is: "How to keep people safe while driving yet still providing good information. We're working hard to get more additional data while being cautious."
San Diego-based Trapster, founded in 2003 and launched in November 2007.
CONTACTS & LINKS
Trapster
Twitter: @trapster
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/trapster
Website: http://www.trapster.com/
Haris Ramic, Product Manager at Trapster
Twitter: @harisramic
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/harisramic
Sean Farrell, Product Manager at Trapster
Twitter: @spfsocial
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/seanpfarrell
Waze
Twitter: @waze
Website: www.waze.com
Noam Bardin, CEO at Waze
Google+: https://plus.google.com/100181489874219002401
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/noambardin
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/noamb11
Robert Scoble
Twitter: @Scobleizer
Google+: https://plus.google.com/111091089527727420853
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/scobleizer
Blog: scobleizer.com/
The upcoming version also features NAVTEQ traffic overlays to see real-time traffic without leaving your current map screen. NAVTEQ, the company that powers MapQuest and Bing Maps, acquired San Diego-based Trapster in December 2010.
"We are really fortunate in the sense that a large number of our coming features are directly attributable to the integration of the NAVTEQ Map," Sean says. "Now that we have access to true road geometry, it makes features such as speed limits and more accurate alerting based on the road segment possible. "
In future releases Sean says they plan to add voice recognition and reporting, night mode, make alerts more personal and open up its API to developers.
"Siri highlights the power of voice-activated controls," Sean says. "We do hope that Apple chooses to open up the Siri APIs, because voice reporting and voting are a big part of our plans for creating a safer driving community."
Trapster, which launched its first app in 2007, originally aimed to help drivers avoid getting pulled over by alerting them to speed traps and red light cameras. Over time, the app has evolved to let people report accidents and other hazards on the road, similar to Waze.
Trapster is available for Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and supports Garmin and TomTom navigation devices, while Waze is only available for iOS and Android. Trapster has over 13M users in more than 60 countries, with 10K to 20K new users every day. Israel-based Waze has 7M registered users in at least 45 countries.
"There are a number of applications in the navigation/travel/transportation genre," Sean says. "We are focused on saving our drivers time and money by tailoring their interactions to the traps and road hazards they care about the most. Overall, we love competition...it breeds innovation. It also tells us that we are doing something right."
Waze lets drivers report accidents, road hazards and other traffic conditions to help others beat traffic. Users can also chat with other drivers on the road, which could be potentially dangerous.
While Trapster doesn't let you chat with any driver on the road like Waze does, drivers in a caravan can chat with within the Trapster app, using the Caravan feature, via text input or audio messaging.
In the interview with Scoble, Haris says the key is: "How to keep people safe while driving yet still providing good information. We're working hard to get more additional data while being cautious."
San Diego-based Trapster, founded in 2003 and launched in November 2007.
CONTACTS & LINKS
Trapster
Twitter: @trapster
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/trapster
Website: http://www.trapster.com/
Haris Ramic, Product Manager at Trapster
Twitter: @harisramic
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/harisramic
Sean Farrell, Product Manager at Trapster
Twitter: @spfsocial
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/seanpfarrell
Waze
Twitter: @waze
Website: www.waze.com
Noam Bardin, CEO at Waze
Google+: https://plus.google.com/100181489874219002401
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/noambardin
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/noamb11
Robert Scoble
Twitter: @Scobleizer
Google+: https://plus.google.com/111091089527727420853
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/scobleizer
Blog: scobleizer.com/