Wikitude 4 is setting new standards for augmented reality browsers

[press release]

The service now offers new features for end users and technical support to make content available for AR (augmented reality)

Salzburg, 18th of January 2010: Mobilzy updates it’s augmented reality (AR) service Wikitude that is now as easy to use as use a regular web browser. The company based in Salzburg/Austria already won the „Best AR Browser“ Planet Readers Award last year – this year, the sucess of their augmented reality application Wikitude is to be continued and the developer team is once again setting new standards. The new version makes it possible to add so called „overlays“ without having to apply any professional programming skills. Also, the user interface of Wikitude was entirely reworked and matched to all relevant web browsers in usability matters – it is now a lot easier to use and enables the user to access and alter content smoothly. The content has grown accordingly: now, users can not only search websites such as Wikipedia, but also YouTube, Twitter, Google Local Search, Yelp and Booking.com.

More AR informations available now

Wikitude 4 now offers even more location based data of content distributors such as YouTube, Twitter, Google Local Search, Yelp, Qype, Panoramino and Booking.com. Users can now view YouTube videos, read tweets on Twitter, find hotels or restaurants in their vicinity and watch them in AR Mode. A few examples: find the world-renowned „Jedermann“ screening when standing on the „Kapitelplatz“ in Salzburg, watch the last sprint of the cyclists in the „Tour de France“ one more time while strolling down the Champs Élysées or revive the fortunate water landing of US Airways Nr. 1549 on the Hudson River before the backdrop of New Yorks skyline – all that on your smartphone. Wikitude 4 comes with an Android widget which can be added to the home screen of the phone. Local points of interest can be directly retrieved from the home screen.

Create AR content easily – no programming skills needed

In the next few weeks, Wikitude will be constantly offering new content, as adding new content is now a lot easier for users. Now, adding geo-coded data to Wikitude 4 is just as easy as posting a blog post: with the help of the software ARML, that is based on the format KML that Google Earth uses, there are now numerous ways of creating Wikitude content overlays. A good example is the way Austria Advertising is using a Best-of-Austria Overlay to promote touristic regions in Austria. This new advertising opportunity also opens up an entire range of communication possibilities for scheduled events such as the Olympic Games 2010 or the Football World Cup in South Africa this year.

New Interface helps to find and edit a multitude of infos

The user interface of Wikitude 4 is based on established web browsers in order to create an ideal surf experience in „reality“. That way, users can navigate, add bookmarks, check their search history and create and edit overlays and points of interest like they are used to from using their browser.

To make the handling of Wikitude as easy as possible, the latest entries in the geographic vicinity of the user are displayed right after starting the program. That way, the user can immediately chose which overlays are of interest; another new feature is the possibility to see all content in AR camera mode straight away. Just like in a regular web browser, the user can save favorites and get back to it later with just one click. If the user wants to keep track of all the overlays he has looked at, he can simply use the „History“ feature that will remember the last actions.

Adding new content is now made a lot easier with the help of the Wikitude Content Developer Network that consists of certified content developers. Companies that want to add their content to Wikitude can now directly contact that network via content [at] wikitude.org.

Wikitude 4 is now available for free download in the Android Market for all Android Phones. The iPhone 3GS version of Wikitude 4 that was developed in cooperation with the development partner easyMobiz will be available with the next weeks.

The free version Wikitude 3 for Symbian (N97 und N97 mini) is available in the Ovi Store.