Have you ever found yourself slowing down in traffic and wished you knew what the drivers around the next bend were seeing out of their windshields? Maybe it’s a field of break lights and you should take that exit you are about to pass, or maybe traffic is moving again ahead and switching to surface streets will end up costing you 20 minutes of time you don’t have.
The only thing you can be sure of is whatever you choose to do will end up being the wrong choice. Fortunately, Aha has arrived to help you answer that very question…as well as many others about the road around you.
People have more ways than ever to access information while in a car, but most of them are too dangerous to safely use while driving. We believe that when you are behind the wheel, less really is more, so Aha strives to deliver just the information every driver wants, prefiltered for their preferences and location. We also deliver it in a new and better way.
For example, rather than having you try to study colored lines on tiny maps, we let you hear traffic reports from drivers ahead of you, combined with audio reports we create from data we get from the leading provider of traffic data (INRIX). Rather than having you run a search and sort through the results, just let us know you are hungry and we’ll constantly monitor the road ahead of you and let you know when you are within “spitting” or “throwing” distance from a restaurant that meets your minimum preset criteria.
We are NOT a navigation application, so don’t expect turn-by-turn directions. Instead, we are focused on giving you the information you need to safely make decisions while driving to a destination you already know how to get to, the situation that most of us find ourselves in 95% of the time.
Aha’s unique feature set (please pardon my transition to marketing/sales speak here) includes:
- Listen to Live, Personalized Traffic Channels:
Like a radio station dedicated to the roads you care about, Aha lets you listen to traffic “Shouts” (or voice notes) from other drivers without taking your eyes off the road. Aha also uses best-in-class INRIX traffic data to tell you how traffic is flowing and alert you to congestion or accidents on the major road segments around you, without requiring you to study a map.
- “Shout” Out Your Own Traffic Reports:
Tap the bottom section of any driving screen and you can and share a 15-second traffic report to help the drivers around you. Your Shout automatically feeds into the road and city-specific Shout Rooms based on your current location.
- Get “Nearby” Alerts for Things You Care About:
Are you hungry, want to grab a cup of coffee, or need to take a bathroom break? Select “yes” to any of those questions and Aha’s “Nearby” function alerts you to places along the way, like restrooms from SitOrSquat or highly rated restaurants from Yelp. Aha will also alert you to red-light and speed cameras as you approach them, using data from PhotoEnforced.com. At 65 MPH, less is more, so Aha only gives you the relevant results pre-filtered for your preferences and location.
- Be Entertained in the Car!
Aha also wants to make driving fun. For example, the “Caraoke” Shout Room lets you send out a 15 second recording of your radio sing along, then get rated by other drivers. In the “#%& Drivers” Shout Room, let off steam by venting about a bad driver or your frustrating commute.
Thanks for stopping by, and joining us on the ride.
Robert Acker
CEO, Aha Mobile