Mapion lets users point and click around Japan
Want to know whether there are any good restaurants in that building up ahead? Just point your phone at it, click the building's icon and find out. That's the idea behind Mapion Local Search, a service launched by GeoVector Corp. and Japan's Mapion. The service uses a database of local information, combined with a phone that includes both GPS and an integrated compass (currently just Sony Ericsson's W21S), to provide realtime point-and-click data to customers throughout Japan. While the service sounds like it could be useful in densely packed urban areas like Tokyo, it's doubtful it would fly in the American heartland; by the time you click on a mall to see what's going on inside, you'll have already driven way past it.
[Via textually.org]
