Internet Firms Extend Digital Maps Race to Smartphones
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
NHN, the owner of the country's most popular Web site, controls local Internet searches like an oversized kid in a Little League game.
However, when it comes to Web applications for smartphones and other handheld devices, the company sees its desktop supremacy rendered irrelevant.
Daum (www.daum.net), the owner of the eponymous search site that ranks second behind NHN's Naver (www.naver.com), appears to be enjoying more clout in the mobile world than its hated industry rival.
The perennial search runner-up could thank its massive investment in Internet photomaps and related location-based information applications for its bright start in the mobile Internet arena.
However, it remains to be seen whether Daum will be able to protect its lead as NHN, which has no intentions of compromising its industry leadership in the smartphone game, begins to get serious about improving its map services.
``The idea is to provide a wealth of location-based information of a given arena, but to deliver it in a simplified way,'' an NHN spokesman said.
Internet companies have been competing to plug the real world into the Web, upgrading their location-based search services with detailed photographic maps of the country that offer crystal-sharp views of the mountains and seashores, buildings and roads, and the sushi restaurant you reserved for dinner.
Maps and other location-based information services have been getting increased attention as Internet companies race to update their desktop applications for use in mobile devices to benefit from the smartphone boom.
It is estimated that the Korean market for smartphones tripled in the past three months after wireless carrier KT released the iPhone, Apple's do-it-all device that is used by nearly 300,000 local mobile users now. Location-based services are expected to be critical for Internet companies in hitting the search revenue gold trail in smartphones, as there seems to be potential for a lucrative market in local advertisements.
So far, Daum has been setting the bar in quality with its revamped map that was introduced in early 2009, which provide high-resolution aerial photography and also a ``Road View'' option that provides a panoramic, ground-level view of a given area.
Daum has been rewarded for its efforts to differentiate. The company's mobile version of its map is the 19th most popular among the free software programs provided on Apple's App Store, the online applications store for iPhone and iPod Touch users. In comparison, Naver's mobile map, which lags behind in resolution and doesn't provide ground-level images, is miles away at 48th.
This is somewhat a surprising result as Naver's Web map has been providing twice as many page views compared to Daum's competing service in the desktop arena, thanks to Naver's unchallenged status as the top search destination.
However, NHN expects all this to change once it introduces an upgraded version of its Web map during the first-half of the year.
The most visible changes will be adding street-level views to its aerial photomaps to compete with Daum's Road View. As with Daum's Road View and Google Korea's Street View, Naver's new service will allow users to take virtual walks on the streets and rotate 360 degrees to look around.
NHN had previously downplayed Daum's promotion of Road View, saying that ground-level images are nothing more than bells and whistles and don't have a significant influence in shaping the user experience in Web maps.
However, with mobile users appearing to prefer Daum's map on their devices, NHN seems to be accepting that its map service has to be fancier.
NHN will also integrate its tourist and real-estate information services with its revamped Web map and reflect this on its search results.
The company will also provide its mobile map applications to new mobile phones released by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics this year, with particular focus on the handset powered by the Google-backed Android operating system, which appears to be the mobile industry's best bet to challenge the iPhone supremacy.
Providing its mobile map services to car navigation systems is also a possibility, NHN officials said.
``NHN, with its cemented leadership in Internet search and superior financial power, could more than afford to get into the digital maps game late,'' said an industry official.
``The upgrade will require a lot of effort and money, but NHN can't let Daum get too much of a head start. It will be worth watching how NHN can improve its Web map when it finally begins to really spend money on it.''