Category: News
One of the main goals that we have at kMaps is to always be as user-friendly and functional as possible. We want to make ‘getting around,’ as easy as possible. We urge people to give us feedback in order to shape our product to their liking. Since the release of our ‘pilot’ version we’ve had feedback coming in from multiple channels and have considered all of it. People have been expressing to us that one thing they find difficult is to drink a cup of coffee and fully interact with kMaps. Specifically, zooming in and out.
One of the features in kMaps V2, that we’re really proud of, is One Finger Zoom. It does exactly what it sounds like. You are now able to zoom in and out with just one finger. Just lay your finger on the map for 2-3 seconds and then swipe up or down. Voila, you can get where you’re going and have your coffee too.
Enjoy this little video we made showing off One Finger Zoom.
This post discuses the ultimate goals of kMaps. It will touch on the initial ideas which lead to the development of our current product and will briefly discuss its future.
It was an idea that started years ago; a workaround to traffic jams. A thought of clear roads with no break lights in sight. It is a calming feeling, tossing those stressful bursts of road rage to the gutter. Not to be overdramatic, but every driver has been there; being rushed to make an appointment, only to be met around the corner by an army of cars. Why hasn’t anyone solved this issue? Why hasn’t anyone created a way to manage traffic flows? Traffic congestion does not only pertain to cars. What about pedestrian congestion, boat stalls, or plane delays? Why is there not one application to track all the traffic flows on this earth? With a large idea, comes even greater challenges.
The answer to this problem started as a web based solution, three and a half years ago. As development began, the potential user-base, began to change their habits. The mobile market took off and left web in its dust. Smartphones were everywhere and laptops started turning into tablets. The obvious decision was to pivot development to reflect a growing mobile user-base. After six months of development, a mobile platform began to take shape. With time, the first branch of the mobile interface was completed. It was an algorithm, allowing different stages of high quality, complex, vector graphic rendering. In other words, it bore us the possibility of rendering large, quality graphics. This step which will allow us to see traffic in real time, is necessary in order to address the issue of traffic congestion.
At this point, in order to connect to users on a mobile level, the decision was made to focus our attention on the travel industry. This way people would use our maps to help themselves get around. It was a perfect step because now we have a great audience that can interact with our product, while we provide them an essential utility. We then created a second algorithm, which compresses files to a very small size, as an aid to the user. If someone was to walk around with our maps in their pockets, we didn’t want to take up too much of their space. Currently, we have our first release of the app on the market and will soon be coming out with the second version. In addition, we will be releasing our WEB client and will be extending our app to all other mobile phone platformsThe traffic dilemma is a very complex one. It will take time to understand and solve it. We have created a stepping stone to understand how traffic works. Along the way we intend to supply our users with tools such as, offline navigation and fast, quality offline search. In the future, we plan on shifting over to the online maps market offering a vast majority of features, such as, realtime location sharing and tracking, location based texting and video sharing, while also incorporating social platforms. The possibilities are endless to the users ability as we imagine a fully customizable and interactive interface. kMaps will always reflect the wants and needs of its users, so all feedback will be greatly appreciated and considered for newer versions.
kMaps is a simple company with a simple goal: to help as many people get where they are going. This company was started over two and a half years ago when CEO Evgeny Karpov had the idea to map the world and eventually the human brain; but more on that later. Not only did he want everyone to have this information of the world, he wanted people to use it as a tool to improve their lives. He was tired of congested streets and too many wrong turns. The project started as a WEB engine to edit maps but then shifted. After a year of working diligently, he understood that there was a lot of work to be done and by releasing an application, it would get him closer to his goal. Due to a market shift to mobile phones it became clear that in order to pursue this goal a mobile application must be developed.
Versed in high level code and carrying a special algorithm for compression, he started. He began by compressing the data of the world into bite sized pieces. In order to do this he used a very unique technique for compression that he created. It allowed for huge pieces of data to be compressed into small bites. In other words, this process was ideal for laying the foundation for a downloadable offline map. After some setbacks and lots of coffee the first stage of compression was done. The next step was the creation of the unique rendering and data engines.
The engines used in this app were the most difficult challenge throughout its development. First off, the idea was to create one engine that would allow for high quantities of high quality data to be rendered instantaneously, and the second, to create an engine that allowed for quick storage and quick fetching of high quality data. After 1.5 years and countless sleepless nights, the rendering engines were created that allowed for high quality rendering and movement of data. The first engine renders high quality vector graphics while the second can organize, store, and fetch large amounts of data incredibly fast and with ample flexibility. When you put these features together you have the ingredients for a very powerful application with next generation possibilities.
This project started two and a half years ago and is coming to its fruition. Our promise, from the first release to any version in the future, is to help you. You could say it’s a kind of philosophy we have. Much like in the hospitality business where the customer comes first, for us, the user comes first. After all with out your help our dreams of mapping the world can’t succeed.
In the near future we will be releasing our sleek offline map application for all IOS devices. This blog is here for the you. We want to keep you up to date with changes and anything else on our end. We are here to help you and your issues, comments, insights, ideas, etc. Soon you will be able to download our app for free and be worry free.
kMaps is brewed in Prague and San Francisco by Evgeny Karpov and Farlen Mischel