MTR accused of stealing app ideas from Hong Kong start-up
Pokeguide makers say they had a meeting with bosses at the rail giant, after which MTR integrated their ideas into smartphone app
The company that runs Hong Kong’s railways has been accused of stealing ideas from a small tech start-up and using them in its smartphone app, after meeting staff from the company over a possible collaboration.
Pokeguide said in a statement that the new navigation functions were “exactly the same” as those that it showed MTR managers in three or four meetings last year.
“It turned out that such a big company could just copy someone else’s idea and present it as its own,” the start-up wrote on its Facebook page, accusing the transport giant of using “stolen ideas”.
One feature that raised Pokeguide’s ire, called Fast Exit, speeds up passengers’ journeys by showing them which car of the train to board and which door is closest to the exit they will use.
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Another feature newly added to the app, called In-Station Finder, lets users share their exact location while inside Admiralty station – but currently no others – over WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or WeChat, and guides them to places like toilets or specific shops. Pokeguide developers claim this was their idea too.