Connections

”BELGRADE TALKING”, AN APPLICATION OF ”TELEKOM SRBIJA”
Personal Guide through Tourist Attractions
Based on technology of ”Augmented Reality”, this unique cultural guide covers more than fifty locations and brings a completely different perception of the Serbian capital. The original special addition dedicated to ”Exit” and the Petrovaradin Fortress served as the basis for development of a special application for Novi Sad. In Montenegro, this application currently covers coastal cities, Cetinje and Podgorica, and it is planned to be expanded to other areas as well

Who was born in the building of the Presidency of Serbia, why ”The Victor” is not on Terazije, where is the resting place of Emperor Dušan – are some of the answers you may find in the new free-of-charge application ”Belgrade Talking” of ”Telekom Srbija”, based on the concept of ”Augmented Reality”. This unique cultural guide, in a fast, educational and entertaining manner guides the users through more than 50 city locations and brings a completely new perception of the capital. After downloading the application, it is sufficient to point the smartphone camera to the nearest location. That instant, a series of short stories will open up, and the audio guide begins its narration, so the users can be focused on the architecture of the buildings, institutions, monuments, religious objects and details, and not on the phone display. Drawn maps that guide through the history and present of Belgrade enable users to plan their sightseeing in advance, and the application will suggest the best route for sightseeing and will navigate through it, taking into account the place where the user is located at the given moment. If you are up to it, you can take the ”Great Walking Tour”, meet ”the most important Serbs”, ”Serbian rulers”, or choose the tour entitled ”Religion in Belgrade”, which are some of the offered tours. Some of the tourist attractions which opened their doors and offered their stories are, among others, ”The Victor”, monument to Prince Mihailo, Monument of Gratitude to France, Karađorđe, Terazije Fountain, monument to Vuk Karadžić, building of the City Assembly, building of the Presidency of Serbia, National Assembly, hotel ”Moscow”, restaurant ”Znak pitanja”, National and Belgrade City Library, the House of Đura Jakšić, residencies of Princess Ljubica and Prince Miloš, museums of Nikola Tesla and ”May 25”, ”The House of Flowers”, Congregational Temple, Temple of Saint Sava, St. Marc’s Church, Ružica Church, Church of Christ the King, Synagogue and Bajrakli Mosque.
Since this application appeared on Google Play and App Store in early July,  the application attracted great interest, both from tourists and the citizens of Belgrade who wanted to learn more about important attractions of the capital. It was evaluated with average grade 4.6 and it received positive comments.
Head of the PR Department of ”Telekom Srbija” Bojan Svilanović reminds us that this company has been implementing projects which have multifold significance for the local community:
– Our intention is to, in an entertaining and previously unseen manner present our city to all those who want to get to know it better, both foreigners and citizens of Serbia who are always our dear guests, and local people who often in a hurry do not pay attention to the beauty and historical significance of the buildings that surround them every day. The advantage of this application is also that it is free of charge, downloading of the application is free of charge, and maybe it is most important to mention that this is one of the first applications of the technology of ”Augmented Reality”, which provides all the fans of smartphone with a brand new user experience.

ON THE RIGHT PATH

In cooperation with the Tourist Organization of Belgrade, the application was officially presented on July 8. During the panoramic bus tour, the media representatives had an opportunity to see how this application is functioning and to put themselves in the role of tourists. Dejan Veselinov, Director of the Tourist Organization of Belgrade, said on this occasion that the application, developed in accordance with the highest standards, will help pot the guests of Belgrade and citizens of Belgrade to learn more about the capital of Serbia:
– We will try to promote the application both in Belgrade and abroad, and in this way to contribute to the promotion of Belgrade as a tourist destination. We are aware that Belgrade is an increasingly popular tourist destination, that we have an increasing number of tourists, and this proves that we are on the right path.
Within the first version of the application ”Belgrade Talking”, ”Telekom Srbija” has also prepared a surprise for all visitors of ”Exit Festival” – called ”Exit special addition”. Ten locations on the Petrovaradin Fortress are presented: The watch tower, basement of the military gallery, Cistercian Abbey of Belefons (Belakut), Museum of the City of Novi Sad, Atelje 61, Association of the Artists of the Petrovaradin Fortress, Belgrade Gate, Roman Catholic Church of St. George, the fortress staircase, long barracks and Leopold’s Gate.
– ”Exit” is a world class festival, the most popular in this part of Europe, and it attracts numerous visitors from various countries. Company ”Telekom Srbija” has used the opportunity to complement the impression the tourist would take back home from Serbia by enabling them to, except having a great time with famous performers from around the world, also learn why the people from Petrovaradin had to pay satarina, where the first cannon that was sent to Karađorđe during the First Serbian Uprising was made, where Tito was imprisoned, why Atelje 61 is unique in the world... These and other secrets carried by the buildings of the ”Gibraltar on the Danube” are only an introduction into future stories about Novi Sad, which we will disclose to tourists in the application we have been preparing, and which will be fully dedicated to the ”Serbian Athens” – said Bojan Svilanović, the Manager of the Public Relations Department of ”Telekom Srbija”.
Ana Kriško Tomka, the PR of ”Exit” also says that the organizers of one of the most visited festivals in the region have gladly supported this project of ”Telekom Srbija”:
– I am very glad that we glad the opportunity to participate in this project and to make presentation of the application on the Petrovaradin Fortress, the venue where ”Exit” takes place. Many foreign and local media representatives say that this is one of the most interesting locations for a festival. And all those who have performed here say the same thing. I am happy that we can show our visitors what this location actually represents, what is its history, and even some entertaining details. I am sure that we will continue this cooperation, that we will upgrade this application and create locations throughout Serbia.”

MONTENEGRO TALKING

People from ”Telekom Srbija” confirm that they will continue developing this application. The Belgrade one will be supplemented with some interesting details, within the trivia section, the number of tourist routes will be expanded and stories about the ”Belgrade underneath Belgrade” will be introduced. The plan is that other cities in Serbia will get  their applications as well, which will be decided by the local population, who will have the opportunity to propose locations in their towns.
Except for tourists in Serbia, the possibility to get to know a new destination by using their mobile phones was also provided for the visitors of Montenegro, where ”M:tel”, in cooperation with the National Tourist Organization, has presented the application ”Montenegro Talking”. In Serbian, English and Russian languages, Podgorica, Cetinje and the coastal cities are telling their stories. Ana Martinović, PR Manager of ”M:tel”, says that this application has enabled to bring the tourist offer even closer to every visitor.
– For now, we have developed it only for the coastal cities, Podgorica and Cetinje, and soon we will cover other cities as well. The entire map has already been drawn, and by entering the application you can see all the buildings. By the end of the year it will also be translated into other foreign languages – says Martinović, and adds that the users of competitors’ companies may also browse the application, but will not have an audio record and the possibility of ”reality” walk.
In words of the ITP Manager at the National Tourist Organization of Montenegro, they, in accordance with the needs of contemporary tourists, dedicate special attention to internet promotion:
– We will also promote this application on the official website of tourism of Montenegro and through social networks. We are always ready to support projects like this and similar projects aimed at bringing the ”wild beauty” closer to the tourists and present it in a completely new way.
Applications within the project ”City Talking” have been prepared for two most commonly used platforms in the world of smartphones – ”Android” and ”iOS”. They support models of phones such as those of ”Android 2.3”, ”Gingerbread” and models of more recent generation, as well as ”iOS 5.0” and models of more recent generation. They are available on Google Play and on App Store for ”iOS”.

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A Step Forward We Can Be Proud of
– I congratulate to ”Telekom Srbija” for the idea, creativity and professionalism, because they have demonstrated that we can be and are leaders in new technologies. We are very proud that Belgrade has got such an application. It is in itself interesting, because the users can see how certain places looked like in the past, and they can also hear it. The application is also available for the hearing impaired or visually impaired people, who can use it in different ways, which is also an important advantage – says Dejan Veselinov, Director of the Tourist Organization of Belgrade.

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Encounters with Petrovaradin
”Exit Special Addition” was prepared in cooperation with the Tourist Organization of Novi Sad. Branislav Knežević, director of this organization, says that the application, besides being useful and very interesting, is also of great significance for the promotion of the city of Novi Sad:
– The applications for ”smart” phones are in expansion. The statistics say that in the upcoming two years people would use internet much more on smartphones than on computers. We have been working on improvement of our website and introducing some new digital possibilities for the promotion of the city of Novi Sad.