Gothere Blog

1.3 submitted: easier access to bus stops/car parks, Sparklette reviews, and one more thing

2010-09-06T14:09:00.002+08:00

Hope everyone is feeling alright on this Monday! If not, this news may just cheer you up – we've submitted the 1.3 update. Woohoo!

What's new:

1. Search or browse for bus stops

If you know the bus stop number, simply type in the 5-digit code to get to the bus stop's page. You can also search or browse for "bus stops" and get a list of bus stops around you.

Bus stops now get their own page, and from there you can find out the bus services there by tapping on the "buses" link.

To find out the next bus arrival times, tapping on a SBS bus service will bring you to the corresponding mobile IRIS page in the browser. Nice!

2. Search or browse for carparks and rates

When you search for buildings with carparks, we have now included a new link to view the carpark rates. This means you can now view carpark information without having to tap on the map icons!

To quickly see a list of carparks around your current location, just tap on "car parks" from the browse menu.

3. Sparklette.net food reviews

Sparklette is a food guide run by Veron, who has been a gothere.sg fan for the longest time – she embeds a gothere.sg map with her food reviews to make sure her readers know how to get there. How thoughtful!

When you're at a place that has been reviewed on Sparklette, be sure to tap on the link to read her review!

Check out some of her recent reviews: Miao Yi Vegetarian Restaurant, Spices Cafe at Concorde Hotel.

4. Street view with compass + motion panning

One more thing – Street View. We're bringing Google's Street View to the gothere.sg app. Of course, the experience won't be as smooth as the the default Maps application because we do not have direct access to the Street View raw images, but we think it's still useful to be able to see some form of street imagery from inside our app.

What's more, we've gone one step further by including compass and motion panning in Street View. Basically, this means you can pan your phone around and see the corresponding street view images that are in the direction you're facing. And if you are on iOS 4, you can even pan up and down simply by moving your phone!

That's all for 1.3, we'll keep you posted when this update is available for download. By the way, the launch discount is coming to an end soon, so please tell your friends to purchase the app if they haven't already! We are not even half done with what we wanna do with our app and there are many more exciting updates coming your way! :)

iPhone app update: 1.2 now available

2010-08-27T18:36:00.000+08:00

As promised last week, version 1.2 of the gothere.sg app is now available for download.

1. Shortcut to home screen

Probably the most requested feature in 1.2, the home screen shortcut! We've followed Facebook's lead (albeit hidden) and added a "return to home" shortcut whenever you tap on a title on the navigation bar. This is definitely not a standard Apple UI convention, but we felt that it was a quick solution for power users who needed to jump back to the home screen frequently.

In addition, tapping on the back button now skips past the directions screens, a source of frustration for many users who just wanted to search for new directions.

2. Options for departure time, minimise ERP and avoid highways

Advanced options for the power user. By setting the departure time, the directions will take into account details such as peak hour surcharges for taxi fares, and bus/train operating hours for public transport.

3. "Search nearby" added to place page

We've also added the ability to search for things around a location. You'll be able to search, for instance, florists nearby "AMK Hub", if you're in desperate need to find some flowers.

4. Compass in map view

Similar to maps.app, you can now use the compass while in the map screen. Just tap on the current location button twice to activate the compass.

*hat tip to @mugunthkumar for reminding us about this.

5. Updated carpark rates

Yeah, like finally right? We know a few folks who were pretty annoyed with our outdated carpark rates, but we're a small team and we try our best. Do cut us some slack, okay? :P

That's all we have for now. You can help us improve by telling us how you're using the app, and what isn't working out for you. As usual, feedback via twitter or email is welcome.

Have a great weekend ahead everyone!

iPhone app update: 1.1 released, 1.2 submitted

2010-08-19T18:12:00.004+08:00

Hi all, version 1.1 of the gothere.sg app is now in the App Store!

Here's what's new with this update:

1. Retina display graphics, high resolution maps

When we got our hands on an iPhone 4 and saw our app for the first time, we knew we had to do something about those ugly pixels. Count yourself lucky, iPhone 4 owners!

2. Taxi booking

The dial button calls the LTA Common Taxi Number (6-DIAL-CAB), but you still need to tell the operator your location and destination. The SMS button composes a message to Comfort's SMS-A-CAB service, with your current location in a postal code.

3. Real-time bus arrival information

Thanks to Deepak's SBS NextBus, we now have bus arrival information for SBS buses. Just tap on a bus stop in the map to bring up the infowindow, and then tap on the bus number to see the next bus arrival times.

What's next?

We have just submitted version 1.2 to Apple for review. Judging by our experience so far, the new update should take about 7 to 8 days to get reviewed and approved!

Version 1.2 will include:

Tap on title to return to home screen (the much requested shortcut)
Search nearby, from the place page
Departure time options
Minimise ERP and avoid highway options
Compass in map view

We hope you've found the application useful so far. We're still working hard to improve the app, so if you have any feedback or need help with troubleshooting, please don't hesitate to drop us an email.

Has Apple approved the gothere.sg iPhone app?

2010-08-06T12:35:00.000+08:00

You bet they have! It's on sale right now. Get it fast! And just so you know, we are already hard at work adding some new nifty features to it. Visit the app store and find out more about the gothere.sg iPhone app!

iPhone Sneak Peek - Searching for places

2010-08-04T14:30:00.000+08:00

Here's another video, this time showing off how to find places with the app!

iPhone Sneak Peek

2010-07-28T13:40:00.002+08:00

We have some great news to share! The gothere.sg iPhone app has been submitted to the iTunes App Store. And now we just gotta wait for Apple to give us their seal of approval. Our iPhone app has come a very long way. Truth be told, we have made over 5 different iPhone apps over the last year and a half. Unfortunately, we felt neither of them offer a fantastic user experience, and you know how we are all about creating a great user experience!

Well, that's all over now because we have finally designed and built an iPhone app that we love! And we really mean it! This app trumps over our mobile web version, even gothere.sg on the web, and really just about every other thing we have come up with.

What's a sneak peak without pictures right? We'll go one better and show you a short homemade video!

Here's a look at some of the features in the app.

Find public transport and driving directions anywhere in Singapore.
Ninja search engine - you can search using postal codes, building names, acronyms like "amk", and even businesses and amenities like "korean food" or "atms".
Simply start typing and we'll automagically suggest popular locations, as well as places you've recently searched for.
Compare the duration and cost between the various modes of transport, including bus, train, taxi and car. You can even choose between multiple routes for each mode of transport.
View useful details in your trip summary, such as the fare, duration, distance, ERP charges and number of transfers.
Find directions for your blur taxi driver and also see the full breakdown of the estimated fare, including peak hour surcharges and more.
Pick and choose a carpark around your destination and we'll show you the rates and guide you there.
Search or browse amenities and businesses around your location.
View more information about a place including the full address, phone number and even hungrygowhere reviews.
Explore the beautiful full screen map and tap on any bus stop or carpark to find out more about them.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. We'll be showing you more of the app in the coming days as we wait for the kind people at Apple to approve it. Stay tuned!

P.S. The app will not be free. However, we'll be sure to give you, our ardent supporters, a special early bird deal. =)

Week-long sponsorships, now on gothere.sg

2010-05-12T23:51:00.000+08:00

Have you noticed a message from our wonderful sponsors at the top of every search and directions page?

Over the past 2 years, many users have asked us about the lack of ads on gothere.sg. We do not believe in plastering our website with ads. We have a great service here with a wonderful user experience. Displaying run of-the-mill, mass produced ads will simply destroy the user experience and ruin the trust with our users. We wanted something that doesn't degrade the experience of using gothere.sg, something thoughtfully designed, something worthy of your attention. Something different.

As you probably know, gothere.sg is not a service provided by your tax dollars, nor is it a service backed by a giant company. We are a small local indie outfit. Despite our size and lack of resources, we are moving faster than any of the larger map services; we are the first to update our maps and directions with the Circle Line, we are also the first to roll out a preview of the distance-based fares so our users can prepare for the upcoming change. We believe we are providing a public service, so gothere.sg needs to be accessible to everyone. This means that charging you, our user, is a non-option. Therefore, we'll be bringing in a few sponsors each week to showcase their establishment, product, service or event. Their sponsorship will help keep us going while everyone can continue to enjoy using gothere.sg.

The message above is our way of allowing our sponsors to reach out to you, so you'd better check them out to show your appreciation! ;) We'll be hand-picking the sponsored messages to make sure that they offer something local and relevant to you. Most importantly, the messages will be well-designed and interesting. Flash and distracting animation is strictly prohibited. Seriously.

We hope you find the sponsored messages helpful and refreshing. If you have any comments on how they can be improved, please don't hesitate to email us. On the other hand, if you'd like to learn how to become a sponsor on gothere.sg, do visit our sponsors page to find out more.

Check and compare the new distance-based fares

2010-05-08T00:40:00.000+08:00

Distance-based Fares

The Public Transport Council (PTC) recently announced that come 3 July, a new distance-based fare system will be introduced. 2 in 3 commuters are expected to see a reduction ($0.48 a week) or no change in their weekly public transport expenditure. As for the remaining third, their weekly public transport expenditure is expected to increase by $0.31.

This video from LTA explains how distance based fares will affect you:

So, are you one of the lucky few who will enjoy the savings, or at least maintain status quo? Or are you the unfortunate ones who has to pay more for public transport? Try out our implementation of the new distance-based fare system and find out!

Please be reminded that as much as we wish to provide accurate information to our users, our distances are at best an estimation. We urge you, our dear user, not to kick up a ruckus if our system shows a steep increase in your fares. =] Likewise, please do not start buying beer for your friends the moment you see the amount of savings you are going to enjoy.

Casino Royale

With the opening of Resort World Sentosa in February and the soft launch of Marina Bay Sands last week, Singapore is well on its way to becoming a city of SIN. Okay, that's not funny. =[

If you have been wanting to to make a trip to the casinos, you'll definitely be pleased to know that we have just updated our public transport network to include bus services to both casinos.

We hope these two updates will be useful to you. Please bear in mind the possible change in your public transport expenditure before you go try your luck at the casinos. Ka-Ching!

Update: New Circle Line Stations and NTU Shuttle Services

2010-04-20T12:37:00.001+08:00

Here are 2 new updates to our maps that we'd like to share with you today.

Circle Line Phase 2: Dhoby Ghaut to Bartley

With the 11 new stations connecting Dhoby Ghaut and Bartley, the Circle Line (CCL) is starting to take shape, helping to make train commuting in Singapore faster and more convenient. Explore the 11 new CCL stations on our maps - Dhoby Ghaut, Bras Basah, Esplanade, Promenade, Nicoll Highway, Stadium, Mountbatten, Dakota, Paya Lebar, MacPherson and Tai Seng.

CNA reported that travelling between the north and eastern parts of Singapore is now much more convenient, with travel times taking up to less than half of what they used to on certain routes. It seems like a no-brainer, but we decided to do some simple comparisons anyway.

For a commuter travelling between Bishan and Paya Lebar, here's how the picture looked like before April 16.

The entire commute took 38 minutes, including approximately 8 minutes of estimated transfer and train waiting times.

Here's how the journey looks like with the new CCL stations.

Bishan and Paya Lebar are now only 6 stations apart, and the travelling time is expected to be about 20 minutes, including approximately 4 minutes of waiting time, and 0 transfers.

Now, compare this with driving from Bishan to Paya Lebar say around 8am in the morning. The CTE and PIE are bound to be congested and there's also an ERP charge of $2.00 each time you pass by the CTE after Braddell Road. If you haven't considered taking the train as your primary mode of transport to work, maybe you should now!

Campus Buzz Part 2: NTU Shuttle Services

Since our last update introducing NUS maps on gothere.sg, we've had plenty of NTU students asking if we could include maps of their school on our website. Well, we've been hard at work updating the maps around Boon Lay, and today we're happy to reveal detailed maps for NTU's Yunnan Garden campus on gothere.sg!

You will be able to search for locations like lecture theatres (e.g. NTU LT23), and also find directions via the university's campus shuttle bus service between places (e.g. NTU LT23 to NIE). We think it's pretty cool that directions on gothere.sg now make use of both campus shuttle services in NTU and NUS. :) Oh, and we're also working with the fine folks of NTU on something exciting, so do stay tuned for more news on this.

We hope you find these updates useful - happy commuting!

No more sneaking around. It's official.

2009-12-22T17:33:00.049+08:00

The new year is just round the corner and it's about time we stopped sneaking around, pun intended. We would like to thank everyone who sent in their feedback, telling us what you thought about sneak and how we could improve it. After squashing tonnes of bugs and making numerous improvements, we're now ready to unveil sneak as the new gothere.sg.

For those who missed our first post introducing the new gothere.sg, the goal of this redesign is really to make it easier for you to find the things you want, and to improve the experience of browsing and searching for anything in Singapore.

We have since gotten lots of suggestions and feedback, and have made a few improvements to sneak over the past few weeks:

Apart from tweaking our search algorithms and fixing bugs, we've also included a few new things for gothere.sg.

Carpark entrances and rates

Carpark roads in HDB estates have made it into our maps, so you'll be getting more accurate driving directions, down to the entrance of the carpark. More commercial carpark entrances around the island have also been included.

To make things even better, we'll list up to 5 carparks near your destination. You can check the rates and choose which carpark you'd like to park at.

Expressway entrances in directions

Have you ever taken the wrong turn to PIE (Tuas) when you were supposed to head east to PIE (Changi Airport)? We've added expressway entrances into our directions so you won't be making the wrong turn again.

Real-time information in tool tips

When you hover your mouse over the bus stops, carparks, ERP icons and more, you'll get tidbits of real-time information in a tool tip. This is especially useful for carparks and ERP gantries as you'll be seeing the current rates and charges.

Search for bus stops

You can now search for bus stops with their 5-digit bus stop numbers.

Embed and current location

Existing features on gothere.sg which were not present in sneak have been added in as well. You can now get your current location (on Mozilla Firefox) and also share our maps by embedding them on your website.

We love the new gothere.sg and we hope you do as well. The older version is still available for now if you're reluctant to switch.

We'd like to thank each and every one of you who have contributed feedback and suggestions. It has been immensely helpful. That's all folks, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Sneak peek update: Street View!

2009-12-02T15:54:00.000+08:00

We've updated sneak with Google Street View!

To display the Street View layer, click on the "camera" icon on the map controls, and you'll see the roads where imagery is available. Clicking anywhere along the highlighted roads will open up the imagery for that spot.

You can zoom in, pan around and move to other locations. To return to the maps, click on the close button.

As some of you may know, we were driving around Singapore in our minivan-with-cameras last December in order to release our own maps and street images. Well, what do you know, we crossed paths with the Google Street View vehicle!

We're not totally done with the integration yet, but we hope this update will go a long way in helping you find places more easily. Thanks Google!

Sneak peek update: Show me the traffic!

2009-12-01T16:08:00.004+08:00

We've been getting loads of emails requesting for real time traffic information. We have a bunch of ideas for a better integration of real time traffic information, but unfortunately that will have to wait. In the meantime, we decided that you shouldn't have to wait! Hence, we are borrowing some sugar from our friendly giant's cafe latte.

To display the traffic layer, click on the 'traffic light' icon.

Before:

After:

Hope this update will sweeten your day. =)

Sneak peek update: Switch directions, Close map info window

2009-11-26T21:14:00.003+08:00

Hi everyone, we're listening to your feedback! We have just added buttons for switching directions, and closing the info window on the map.

Switch directions

Close info window

We hope your experience on sneak.gothere.sg is now a little more complete with these updates. =]

Hello, Google!

2009-11-19T16:47:00.016+08:00

Google announced real time traffic and public transport routing for Singapore yesterday. Google is a big, scary, but-not-evil monster and they are here to eat us for lunch. :P

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, it's actually an exciting time for Gothere. We have been expecting this launch for some time. With Google here, we can finally check out how we fare in the face of the giant.

We feel that Google's introduction will be a net positive for Gothere and the industry as a whole. As they bring more attention to the industry, it will be easier for Gothere as a small startup to reach out and work together with the bigger players. Also, there will now be plenty of people who will be inclined to try out the different map and directions websites because of the amount of media attention they will bring.

We are working diligently on a number of initiatives that we are confident will make Gothere even more helpful for our users. We are listening to you with big ears. Whether it's something that we are doing right, or something that's awfully wrong, we are always willing to listen. It's the only way we can make something that's always relevant to the people who matters - you.

As Mr Lee mentioned about Singapore, we have to make changes constantly to remain relevant and useful to the world. Rest assured that we are not staying put, we will always be evolving to make things better and easier for you.

You can probably say that Google is like your favourite coffee chain where you know you can definitely get a cafe latte in any of its stores, whether you're in sunny San Francisco or bustling Beijing. But nothing beats that cup of kopi-o siu dai from the nearby kopitiam uncle who knows you best.

[Iconic photo of Kopitiam Uncle from Liyin]

Location-based services is where the action is at the moment, and we're really happy to be in the thick of things pushing the industry forward! In all, we think that this is great news for Singaporean commuters, who will now have more choices in finding directions and locating places!

Sneak peek update: Car park entrances, improved markers and new maps

2009-11-18T03:58:00.047+08:00

Hot on the heels of our previous update, we're now back with more goodies for you on sneak.gothere.sg.

Car Park Entrances

From the popular shopping belts of Orchard Road and City Hall area to the skyscrapers in the CBD, drivers often find it difficult to get to the elusive car park entrance. We understand the pain of driving in circles at crowded areas and cursing, "I see the building, but where is the car park entrance!?"

You've been asking for driving routes to be integrated with the car park entrances, and that's exactly what we've done. Searching for directions to buildings in the Orchard Shopping District and CBD area will now give you instructions on how to reach the building's car park.

For example, when searching for directions from Orchard Road to Chinatown Point, the old directions will only bring you to New Bridge Road.

Our new directions now bring you directly to the Chinatown Point car park. This just makes life much better, doesn't it?

Improved transport markers

Our map markers now show you more information such as bus numbers and train lines. In addition, we've also improved the look of the routes so that they stand out more clearly on the maps.

New maps

We have also released new maps for both gothere.sg and sneak.gothere.sg. As previously mentioned, we hope the new map design will improve visual organisation and reduce clutter.

Improved map performance

Lastly, we are continously working towards improving the performance of our maps and webpages. Our new maps now load and render 25% faster!

Hope you enjoy our updates. We'll be rolling out more stuff and moving sneak out of beta shortly.

We have new maps on Gothere!

2009-11-07T00:12:00.002+08:00

To wrap up the week, we're introducing new maps for Gothere!

We're adjusting the look of our maps to make it easier to find the information you need. For example, we've optimised the road widths and building contours so as to improve visual organisation and reduce clutter, and we've made our maps less saturated so that important overlays such as directions and search results are more readable.

Here are a bunch of screenshots for you to see the changes.

We're not done with all the adjustments so it's only on sneak.gothere.sg for now. Nevertheless, we hope you like the direction we're heading. =] Have a great weekend ahead!

Sneak peek update: Print and Share

2009-11-04T21:37:00.003+08:00

Hey everyone, thanks for all the comments on sneak.gothere.sg so far! We know that there are still lots to work on, so check back regularly as we make improvements each week.

This week, we're adding a few more functions to make sneaky a little more shareable – "print", "share via email" and "get link".

Print out your maps

Our print-friendly directions include a large map for the route overview, as well as close-up maps for all the direction steps. You can also adjust the maps by dragging and zooming around. We even include the option to remove the maps if you want just the text.

And it's not just directions. We have print-friendly pages for places and businesses too.

Share with friends

We know that it's important to be able to share places and directions on gothere.sg by copying the link, so we've added this in for sneaky as well. Clicking on "get link" will give you a link that you can share with your friends.

Send an email

We have also made it easy to send information and links to your friends via email. Just tell us your friend's email address and we'll send her an email with a summary and a link to the page you're currently looking at.

That's it for now. As usual, please let us know if you have any feedback via Twitter, Facebook or email. Of course, you can comment here if you'll like to. =]

Sneak a peek!

2009-10-29T10:32:00.001+08:00

You may have noticed that we've been rather quiet lately. Well, that's because we've been busy improving and building the next version of Gothere.

Our goal is to make things on our maps easier to find. We also hope to improve the experience of browsing and looking for anything in Singapore. Here are a few things that you'll find at the new site:

Explore shops and amenities around a place.
Browse and narrow your searches with categories such as food, entertainment, retail, and more.
Search for everything in a single text box – whether you are looking for places, or directions.
Mix and match recent searches in your Backpack.

Here's a short screencast for you to see how the new design works.

Of course, nothing beats trying it for yourself over at http://sneak.gothere.sg/. As we're using the latest and greatest in web technologies, the new website will only support the latest versions of Firefox, Safari and Chrome (and Chrome Frame!). We'll add support for the other browsers as we go along.

We have a bunch of cool stuff that we'll be adding shortly but we want to gather and listen to your feedback and suggestions first. So please try it out and let us know what you think!

Interactive map of the JobsCentral Career & Learning Fair

2009-08-17T10:31:00.001+08:00

The folks from JobsCentral are organising the JobsCentral Career & Learning Fair at Suntec City this weekend (Aug 22 - 23)! The organisers promise lots of valuable face-time with the exhibitors, so you can be sure that this will be a good opportunity to meet potential employers and discover an array of higher education option. If you are looking for a job or further education, admission is free so go ahead and register now!

We've collaborated with JobsCentral to create an interactive map of the fair right here on gothere.sg. Remember what we did two weeks ago with the NUS campus maps? Well, this time, we're going for even more details!

Zoom right in at Suntec City and you'll see the floor plan of the fair.

To take a better look at the booths and exhibitors, zoom in closer. Interested in a particular booth? Click on the orange circle to view more information about the exhibitor.

You can use the maps to plan your visit, making sure that you have allocated sufficient time to visit all the companies that interest you.

Check out the fair now! Browse your way to Suntec City on our maps and click on the funky zebra, or zoom your way right into the fair area!

Campus Buzz

2009-07-23T11:56:00.001+08:00

August is typically when the school term starts for universities in Singapore. This often means thousands of doe-eyed freshmen entering their campuses for the first time, and getting lost in these huge and unfamiliar places. At Gothere, we do what we can to help people get around places, so this time is no different. Today, we're releasing better maps and directions for the National University of Singapore (NUS).

You can search for locations within NUS such as building names and block numbers. We also think that it's pretty nifty to be able to search for your lecture theatres.

That's not all, we're even doing directions! Let's say you've just finished your lecture at LT23 in the Faculty of Science and you're hungry for some laksa yong tau fu at the Arts Canteen. Just do a search for "NUS LT23" to "NUS Arts Canteen", and Gothere will tell you which NUS shuttle bus service to take to your destination.

If you are planning a route for the next day, don't forget to include the time you think you'll be leaving, as Gothere takes time into consideration the shuttle frequencies and service times.

Don't worry we haven't forgotten you, law students. The NUS Bukit Timah Campus also has new maps with searchable building names and locations.

We really love the detail that these maps show. Zoom into the maps and you'll see nicely drawn and labeled buildings. Hopefully, this is something that we can eventually roll out for all the other varsities, polytechnics and ITEs.

That's all we have for now. NUS students, we hope that you'll find this update pretty useful. If we had tools like this when we were freshmen, serendipity could have been achieved with much less effort.

Gothere now 3X more useful than before

2009-07-21T14:11:00.000+08:00

In June, we wrote a blog post saying that we intend to re-evaluate the way we calculate and display our directions. We've since been hard at work making changes to our routing engine and today, we're really excited to be unveiling a few features that we've been working on for the past month.

1. See alternative routes

When we launched the smartest, fastest and cheapest directions options, they were meant to provide more choices to the user. However, there are many instances where the "smartest" option is also the "fastest" or "cheapest", resulting in less choices for the user to choose from. We realised that we could do better, so as of today we're doing away with these options and will instead offer multiple alternative routes.

The alternative routes are presented in a text summary so that you'll be able quickly see important details such as the number of transfers.

To see how a route compares with another, just move your mouse over the option and the route will be overlayed on the map.

2. Variable waiting time for bus and trains

We previously introduced waiting times into the total journey time because we wanted to make it more representative of the actual journey time. We knew that adding a fixed waiting time wasn't the best solution, but it helped lay the foundation towards providing better results. We are finally ready, and the waiting times are now based on actual bus and train frequencies. We'd like to thank all who've provided feedback on how to improve our waiting times.

3. Time-sensitive public transport directions

If you have used our driving or taxi directions, you may have realised that our taxi fare estimations and ERP costs were based on the time of the day. We're pleased to be bringing this functionality to our bus and train directions!

This means you'll now be able to search for special bus services that operate only on weekdays, or after hours (such as the SMRT Night Rider services).

Do let us know what you think of this new update. Remember to try it out before you go somewhere today! Have fun!

Even the desktop is now location-aware

2009-07-02T07:01:00.002+08:00

Hey Firefox 3.5 users, do you know that your browser now supports location-aware browsing? If you visited gothere.sg with your newly updated browser you would have realized when Firefox asked if you wanted to share your location with us.

We rearranged our map buttons to make space for that shiny new "Get My Location" button. Clicking on the button will trigger the Firefox prompt asking if you're willing to share your location with us. Once you do that, you'll be able to see your approximate location on the map.

If you click on the current location marker, you'll also be able to see an approximate address of your location. Click on the address to access our nearby amenities feature. You can also start searching right away for directions from that address.

So what are you waiting for, get Firefox now!

Location, location, location...

2009-06-19T09:12:00.000+08:00

We all woke up to the good news of Apple's announcement on the availability of the new iPhone OS 3.0 yesterday morning, which means that Mobile Safari is now location-aware for users who have upgraded to the new OS. To take advantage of this new feature, we've made our mobile site location-aware as well.

From today onwards, iPhone and iPod Touch users running the new OS will be able to use their current location when searching for directions on gothere.sg/m.

When prompted, simply allow gothere.sg/m to use your current location, and the search will be based on the location provided by your iPhone.

Note that this feature will only activated if you have upgraded to the new OS. If you haven't upgraded, you won't be able to see the link to "get your current location".

Besides a location-aware gothere.sg/m, there are plenty of other goodies that the iPhone OS 3.0 brings. So check it out now!

What's your exit strategy?

2009-06-11T16:03:00.000+08:00

To make our maps a little more informative, we've added MRT exit locations today. Browse the areas around MRT stations, and you'll find little icons representing their respective exits.

Do note that the icons only appear after you zoom in on the map. Take a look and tell us what you think of this new addition.

Our new and improved mobile website

2009-06-04T12:44:00.003+08:00

If you haven't used gothere.sg on your mobile phone, this was how our mobile site looked like. It was clean, efficient and did its job well. Unfortunately, it only provided bus and train directions, and many of you have been requesting for something more fully featured. Today, we're unveiling a new and improved mobile website.

The new gothere.sg/m retains its clean look, while adding a dash of colour to make information more readable, and also to keep things interesting. You can also now get directions for all 4 modes of transport on gothere.sg - bus, train, taxi and driving. Here's what changed.

Bus and Train directions

Bus and train directions are the same as before, but with nicer formatting. We've also updated these directions to include the approximate bus waiting time.

Taxi directions

Taxi fare estimations are based on time and location, so you'll be able to take note of all the surcharges applicable. If you are using an iPhone, click (or tap) on the LTA taxi booking hotline to dial for a taxi immediately.

Driving directions

We have also included driving directions as on gothere.sg, all formatted nicely for your phone. Now, you can always check out the total ERP charges for your journey, all nicely calculated for your convenience.

Not-so-Static Maps

While we don't support drag-able/pan-able maps on the mobile browser yet, we've added the next best thing: the ability to zoom in and out of the map. We have also increased the size of the map so you can look out for more landmarks around you.

And there's more!

Good browser, Bad browser

Don't blame us for being biased, but modern smartphones like the iPhone and Android¹ phones really have better browsers that are capable of cool things. Visiting gothere.sg on the iPhone will now bring you to a prettier mobile site.

Auto-suggest for the iPhone

This isn't a new feature but we have given it a facelift. Our auto-suggest feature brings up a list of suggested places based on your current query, so you can cut down on the number of keystrokes.

iPhone home screen icon

We also came up with a new icon that appears when you add gothere.sg to your home screen on the iPhone. We made a few variations, eventually settling for the right most one.

Go visit gothere.sg on your mobile phone now and tell us if you like what you see.

[1] If any of you want these features on an Android phone, please donate one for us to test with! We promise to take good care of her, and to work really fast to make gothere.sg look good on it. :)