The company hopes to expand its product to the top ten or 20 metropolitan areas in the U.S. and possibly also overseas. Once the location has been determined, you can search for restaurants, nightspots, movies and shops in the neighborhood. For instance, you can look up the closest Indian restaurant and get detailed walking directions, or you can search for new movie releases playing in the neighborhood and review titles, theater locations and show times. Best of all, the search takes less than half a minute in most instances, significantly less time than it would take to call MovieFone or browse through a pocketbook. Vindigo's restaurant reviews promise to add a community dimension to the program.
Users can rate the restaurant they visit using a star system and even write a snapshot review.
The next time they sync their handheld with a computer connected to the Internet, the information is automatically transmitted to Vindigo, which plans to aggregate user-submitted ratings and reviews for publication. With a handheld computer, you can rate a restaurant with just a few taps while you're waiting for the check. He says he has been astonished by the interest from users. Of course, reader-generated restaurant reviews put Vindigo square in the middle of a category that was pioneered by privately held publisher Zagat. There are plenty of other contenders in the local directory and information business.