13 February 2007

Multimap, one of the world’s leading online mapping providers, today unveils the latest version of its highly functional API (Application Programming Interface v.1.2) to the travel industry at the Travel Technology Show 2007, Earls Court 2, London (13th and 14th February, 2007). The new service brings together searching, routing, mapping, geocoding and POIs into a single one-stop service, for the first time. It allows travel websites to embed feature-rich, draggable maps with “ fast fill” smooth zooming to make it even easier for travelers to visualize the location of hotels and other travel destinations, and see what is in their surrounding area. The new service includes widgets (e.g., location breadcrumbs and overview map); custom markers with automatic “de-clutter” and tabbed information boxes; and choice of map types (map, aerial and hybrid). It also offers searching, Points of Interest data, and multi-language point-to-point travel directions*.

Jeff Kelisky, CEO of Multimap, will take part in a panel discussion called “X Marks the Spot - the Growing Use of Online Mapping” at the show, along with Johannes Kebeck, Virtual Earth Technology Specialist, Microsoft. The high-profile speakers will examine how online mapping and location-based services are evolving, the benefits of incorporating these services into travel websites, and what’s involved in creating mash-ups that combine maps with location-based information.

Commenting on the Multimap API v.1.2, Jeff Kelisky, CEO of Multimap, said, “We are proud to offer the latest version of our API service to the travel industry. The travel sector is generally ahead of other sectors when it comes to technology, and we have already received a great deal of positive feedback about the new service. We look forward to hearing what travel professionals at the show have to say when we demonstrate its high-functionality and breadth of features at the stand.”

*Features and capabilities of Multimap’s API version 1.2 include:

• Mapping - draggable maps with ‘fast fill’ smooth zooming; suite of widgets (including location breadcrumbs, overview map, map tools, zoom slider); custom menus, map interactions and events; custom markers with automatic ‘de-clutter’, tabbed info boxes, dynamic text and icons; and choice of map types (map, aerial imagery*, hybrid*) and styles (local*, global) – (* where available).
• Searching - choice of search modes, including search by radius, location ID, bounding box, donut and driving distance, search along route and non-spatial search; custom result ordering, pagination and display; fuzzy searching (including starts with, ends with, contains, sounds like); and plug-and-play POI data.
• Routing - point-to-point, multiple via points and ‘travelling salesman’ optimization; multi-language directions; multi-modal routing (e.g., drive to here, then walk to here) and avoid specific road types; choice of outputs (text, highlight, ‘expense claim’, summary); enabled for route animation.
• Geocoding - single point of access to Multimap’s full, best-in-class geocoding capability; high-accuracy, high-performance geocoding; and Javascript and HTTP access.
• Local Information* - Points of Interest (POI) can be easily displayed on maps, and routed to and from. Multimap provides access to a large range of POI, including schools, transportation, restaurants and bars, ATMs, car parks and more.

About Multimap

Multimap is one of the world’s leading providers of mapping and location-based services. The company delivers more online maps, point-to-point driving directions and geo-spatial ("where's my nearest?") searches to more companies than any other supplier in Europe. All services are offered on mobile, PDA, kiosk, and interactive TV platforms. We also offer a highly-functional API (Application Programming Interface).

The public website, www.multimap.com, provides a range of free, useful services to assist with everyday life. Key features include street-level maps of Europe, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia; road maps of the world; door-to-door travel directions; aerial photographs; links to location information; and services such as hotel, restaurant and entertainment booking. The public site attracts over 10 million unique users, registers more than 190 million page impressions every month, and is one of the top 10 most visited websites in the UK.

Multimap recently featured in The Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 league table of fastest-growing unquoted UK companies across all sectors. In 2006, Queen Elizabeth II awarded Multimap The Queen's Award for Enterprise in the innovation category, and Multimap was one of only three companies to feature in the Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 league of fastest-growing unquoted UK technology companies for the fourth year running. Also in 2006, the company featured in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 for the UK and Ireland, and the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 for EMEA. Multimap also featured in the Deloitte Touche's Technology Fast 50 league for London and Southern England in 2005 and, in the same year, Red Herring named Multimap as one of the Top 100 private companies in Europe.