Aha Mobile is one of the many iPhone app makers racing to be the killer platform for a new “augmented reality” era. Augmented reality, as defined by Tim Chang, a venture capitalist at Norwest Venture Partners, is about making the physical world accessible around you.
For now, Aha Mobile wants to make information you need while driving – like nearest gas station, coffee shop, road congestion – readily accessible. In fact, by January, these channels will be available in audio form to make them similar to a car radio. So, touching the ‘coffee’ channel will result in a voice saying, “The nearest Peet’s coffee is a half-mile away.” Additionally, Aha Mobile connects fellow drivers with one another, allowing them to share road rage and stories, and giving listeners another form of talk radio to entertain themselves with.
In my second-part interview with Robert Acker, CEO of Aha Mobile, a young startup that received $3 million in financing from Venrock this past spring, we talk about how Aha Mobile is going to make money through 10-second audio advertisements and the company’s plans to integrate with auto makers and car navigation systems, like Garmin and TomTom.
Acker also talks about the company’s plans to integrate with other platforms, such as Blackberry next spring and how he sees a new talk-radio genre emerging as he connects drivers on the road.
