Bangaloreans – you can now get bus route information on mobile sans GPRS connections! We earlier covered a few services like busbus, nearhop etc, but our friends from M4Mum (read our earlier coverage of M4Mum) have launched their mobile app for Bangalore.
The app puts all the local bus information for Bangalore and all you need to do is download the app (link: jar/jad). Using this app’s simple interface, you can search for BMTC buses sans sms, sans GPRS and in less than 10 mobile keystrokes (and less than 10 seconds, as the company claims)!
What’s commendable is the simple and to-the-point interface of the app – for example, you don’t need to type the bus stop name – just type the first 2-3 letters and a dropdown will suggest the matching names.
When we last covered M4Mum, they had 26,000 downloads of the app and this is what I shared earlier (a few great product concepts the team has implemented)
- Nowhere does the app mentions it’s a ‘find bus info’. The app starts with a clear message ‘We Love Mumbai’. Given all the political debate over Mumbai (and lovers of Mumbai), I think it struck a deep relationship with a *normal* user. M4Mum even has a Google group called ‘We love Mumbai’, though any other startup would have started the google group using the brand name.
- Simplicity of usage. There are Rediff/Yahoo/Google maps that lets you search for the same info using GPRS. How many *normal users* have activated their GPRS connection? M4Mum solves the same problem in a much simplified fashion – using a simple Java app that works on pretty much all the phone.
Now that the team has moved beyond Mumbai, it will be interesting to see how the “We love <X>” branding goes with the city-zens.
As far as the Bangalore app is concerned. it solves a real problem and is a great relief for those who travel by BMTC buses. Do give the app a spin and share your review.
@PiForum : Raxit (founder) is looking for feedback on M4Mum.
