A new mobile phone application from Ask offers GPS navigation as the centerpiece of the features it can deliver. The big question: will people be willing to pay $9.99 per month for it?



GPS map navigation and directions combined with Citysearch and Evite comprise the latest version of Ask Mobile. The service works with a handful of Sprint Nextel phones from Sanyo, including the popular Katana device.

The Ask team called the new Mobile product a "genuine extension" of what phones and PDAs can do. On the Ask blog, they described how the new GPS version works.

Their "lifestyle application" can be used to share the phone owner's location with others. The wonders of GPS make it appear on other Sprint phones running the service. For users on other services, the application can send a link to a map with driving directions via SMS.

The Evite service in Ask Mobile makes those invitations through the service portable. But Citysearch looks like the real killer feature in this application.

"Find top-rated businesses closest to you, and read editorial and user reviews right from your phone," said the description. This is why search engines see mobile devices as being important parts of their strategies.

Savvy businesses are going to want to ensure they can be found on a GPS-aware service. No one wants to own the best dim sum place in town, only to have potential customers directed to the second-best place because it's optimized better for search.

Ask is taking the high road with its new application when it comes to subscriptions. Sprint Nextel users can sign up for a two-week free trial, at the end of which they will be asked if they want to keep Ask Mobile and pay the $9.99 monthly fee on their mobile bills.

If the answer is no, the trial ends and there is no "gotcha!" charge waiting to trip up people. We give them credit for that approach. But we can't help but think competitors are going to follow with equally strong offerings or better, at a viciously competitive price point.

Ask, Mobile, GPS