IAC Unveils Ask Mobile GPS

NEW YORK — IAC announced the availability of Ask Mobile GPS, a GPS-enabled application that features information from Ask.com, Citysearch and Evite.com, along with instant location finder and turn-by-turn navigation.

The company is hailing the service as the first to combine local content, social networking and GPS navigation. It is now available for download at www.gps.ask.com.

"Ask Mobile GPS is just the start of our commitment to creating outstanding mobile offerings. IAC has the brands consumers love and use for life's every day activities, and our resources and scale give us the ability to integrate the best of our products and services into a holistic mobile offering for consumers," said Peter Horan, IAC media and advertising CEO. "This year we'll add more IAC brands to the application, such as Match.com, Ticketmaster and RealEstate.com, and we plan to expand to a broad array of mobile phones and services to support as many of our 275 million worldwide users as possible."

Ask Mobile GPS uses a widget interface. Features include the ability to:

• browse Citysearch's to find restaurants, bars, ATMs, spas and boutiques;
• view Evite invitations, including guest lists and locations;
• navigate around town with turn-by-turn driving directions and walking directions powered by GPS navigation.
• turn an address book into a social network — the GPS technology can reportedly pinpoint a location so the users can broadcast it to anyone in their contact list.

The device was designed to enable users to receive more information with minimal key strokes. According to the company, the GPS technology can automatically establish nearby locations and businesses without users having to enter in their locations. Also, categories and specific businesses are automatically suggested when searching for local business listings. Nearby cities are suggested when a location is entered, and nearby airports are suggested when searching airports.