The Government has offered Australia's three mobile operators, and vividwireless, renewal of their existing spectrum allocated on 15 year licences in the late 90s and early 2000s at set prices, while the Government expects to rake in $3 billion.
Search market leader Google today launched Google Maps Australia at http://maps.google.com.au, which enables users in Australia to find local information using online mapping facility. In addition to map and satellite images, the expanded service includes Australian business listings, driving directions and support for Google Maps for mobile.
The launch of Google Maps Australia is aimed at
businesses who want to target information about their services to users
searching within a local area. It is also enable Google AdWords
advertisers to reach customers searching for businesses, products and
services in Australia using locally targeted advertisements.
For example, Sydneysiders searching for a mechanic in their
neighbourhood can enter the keyword [mechanic], plus their suburb into
the search field to receive a list of nearby mechanics. Each result is
accompanied by a phone number, street address and links to related
websites such as those of other mechanic services in the area and
further useful information.
The new Google service squarely into direct competition with Telstra's Sensis services.
"Google Maps Australia combines extensive business listings and
relevant information from across the web to give Australian users a
powerful and easy-to-use source to access local information," said Lars
Rasmussen, head of engineering, Google Australia. "Much of the world's
information is geographically relevant and so Google Maps plays an
important role in our mission to organise this information in a way
that is useful at a local community level."
While European telcos discuss launching a mobile phone search service
to combat Google, the new Australian offering from the search provider
has stressed the mobile features of its new service.
People who are out and about can also search and find all of this
useful local information on their mobile phone and then navigate around
the map from their mobile device, according to Google.
The new service enables users to drag the map to view the adjacent
parts of a map without re-loading the page and choose between maps or
satellite imagery. When looking for local information, they can see the
location of their search results on a map and find directions on how to
get there from any given point, as well as see a route overview by
satellite or map. The free downloadable application can be found at
www.google.com/gmm.
David Bass
| ComOps, a leading Australian provider of business software products and services, has won a competitive tender to deploy its Salvus safety, r…
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