Poynt: Pointing Consumers in the Right Direction

OviPublisherSuccesses | 19 June, 2011 18:26

Poynt, pronounced "point," is a free-to-download app that utilizes Qt to transform a Nokia device into a consumer's personal concierge. The app - developed by Poynt Corporation using the Qt Mobility API and QtWebKit layout engine (the latter a project of Nokia's Qt Labs) - connects consumers with information on nearly every facet of local entertainment and information.

From restaurants, movies and retailers to current weather, gas prices and more, Poynt can help you discover things to do and places to visit in any city. Available in eight countries, the award-winning Poynt app averages 88% consumer retention each month and 20,000 unique users per day.

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Poynt Corporation is located in Calgary, Canada, and boasts pride in a small team comprised of six people who are dedicated to Poynt's projects for Nokia. Two of the six individuals are solely focused on app development for Nokia devices. Founded in 2002, Poynt Corporation also works closely with over 25 partners to provide the most comprehensive data in mobile location and effective solutions. Partners range from content and data suppliers like Eventful and Bing to transaction partners like OpenTable and MovieTickets.com.

Poynt's success story extends beyond download numbers. With an average of 88% consumer retention each month and 20,000 unique users per day, Poynt has clearly discovered a sweet spot among consumers - keeping it local!

In line with the company's mission to provide easy and simple local search options for mobile devices, Poynt features an intuitive user interface and a seamless location-based search (LBS) engine, both of which combine to create a simple but powerful user experience that invites consumers to revisit this all-in-one app for local entertainment time and again. This has enabled the free-to-download app to secure 22 searches per month on average from each regular user.



While Poynt is simple to use and provides consumers with an accessible user experience, this interface conceals the powerful and diverse selection of Nokia technologies that powers Poynt. At the heart of the app are location-based search services that leverage the GPS and Internet capabilities on New Symbian devices. Designed with Qt Mobility and rendered with the display engine from the QtWebKit project, the app can determine the location of the device and quickly pinpoint the nearest hot spots for entertainment, as well as deliver turn-by-turn navigation and reviews for venues and events in close proximity to the user. Consumers also have the option to set the location for their searches by entering the zip code they wish to explore.

"Qt has been a pleasure to work with," said Brad Murray, Vice President of Technology at Poynt Corporation. "We have been able to significantly reduce app creation times, allowing us to distribute our apps globally in a much shorter period of time. Within five days of launch, we had already bubbled up to a nice position in the utility category on Ovi Store. We expect our numbers to only get better with the recent improvements found in the Qt 4.7 release, coupled with Nokia's plan to sell 150 million more Symbian devices that use Qt."

Poynt offers the following features:

  • Movies - Find a theatre, view show times, watch trailers, buy tickets, ticket email confirmation
  • Businesses - Full directory of services, complete business search, listings of contact information
  • Restaurants - Restaurant reviews, book a table, invite friends via device contacts
  • People - White pages, reverse look up for missed calls, full contact integration (US and Canada only)
  • Gas Prices - Nearest stations, lowest gas prices (US only)
  • Weather - Integrated home screen weather, 5-day forecasts
  • Maps - Search results, set location and map from a new location, turn-by-turn directions

Considering the app is packed with so many different search verticals, Poynt Corporation utilized Qt Quick and QML to design a consumer-friendly UI that helps to minimize the navigation time. Using Qt allowed the company to decrease the number of resources needed to develop the app - Poynt for Ovi Store was developed by a single developer over several months.

"Nokia provides great developer support," said Murray. "In addition to Qt and the promotional opportunities offered by Nokia, the Nokia Developer team delivers fast support for any and all technical questions. We've been extremely pleased in working with them."

Murray goes on to say, "Qt is a powerful API that allows the software developer to be creative and produce nice UIs with animated transition. Qt Mobility API is great because it helps the developer access the phone's services and sensors."


The app also integrates on-device features such as calendar, networking (emailing and calling functionalities), messaging, multimedia display and sensor technologies, like the device compass and accelerometer. All of these features allow a consumer to be one touch away from completing any task beyond the initial discovery of a local venue or event.

For example, once a consumer finds a movie theatre, they can view a movie trailer, buy tickets, add a reminder to their calendar and then send the details to their contacts. By incorporating these common device functions into the app, Poynt truly offers a unified experience for end users. This enables consumers to complete multiple searches and transactions without ever having to exit the app, increasing the average number of transactions, searches and overall app usage.

"Poynt goes the extra mile by taking you to your next step, whether it's communicating with the place found or navigating your way there," wrote Steve Litchfield at All About Symbian.

Since the app launched in March 2011, it already has garnered attention from industry leaders and consumers alike. The company won the Nokia Prize at AppCircus Madrid 2011 and consumers rave about the app's features.

To broaden the reach of Poynt, the company has created localized versions of the app into five different languages - English, French, Italian, Spanish, and German - and plans to release the app in India. The company also frequently communicates with its users via Facebook and Twitter to announce new features and promotional activities like contests.

 


 

 


 

Poynt Corporation also partners with Nokia at industry events to help boost their exposure. The company launched an Ovi Store promotion in the United Kingdom's Ovi Store and, more recently, partnered with Nokia to present a live-demo of Poynt at the International CTIA 2011conference, held in March in Orlando, Florida.

Bart McCormick, Vice President of Business Development at Poynt, talks about how consumers are using and benefiting from the features of Poynt:

Poynt is free to download and available on New Symbian devices Nokia C6, Nokia C7, Nokia E7, Nokia N8 and Nokia X7.

For a complete overview of all Poynt Corporation apps, visit Ovi Store.

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