Despite the flailing economy and its recent battering of the wireless industry at large, wireless platform application provider Air2Web has pushed on and is now announcing the release of the third version of its already successful Mobile Internet Platform.
“In fact, we’re doing quite well,” said Dale Gonzalez, vice president of wireless development for Air2Web. “Businesses are now looking for things to help their bottom line, and we can prove that wireless applications can do that.” And although he admitted, “nobody’s doing as well as they would’ve thought last November,” Gonzalez cites his company’s new customers, its ability to meet revised revenue targets and recent positive ROI input from current customers as signs that his company is staying afloat.
Version 3.0 of Air2Web’s Mobile Internet Platform extends capabilities and support offered by its 2.0 version, which has been on the market for just less than six months. Most significantly, version 3.0 offers “behind the firewall” support to enterprises, so enterprises can host the platform and build out applications themselves, rather than relying on Air2Web.
“Air2Web’s move to offer a non-hosted version of its platform enables enterprises to take advantage of the Air2Web solution, and yet maintain it on their premises,” said Roberta Wiggins, director of wireless and mobile communications with the Yankee Group. “This gives enterprises the best of both worlds and exemplifies Air2Web’s commitment to provide wireless solutions which work to improve a company’s productivity, sales and ultimately its bottom line.”
Keeping with Air2Web’s goal for its platform to support all wireless devices, version 3.0 adds support for all devices that run Microsoft PocketPC. The new platform also offers support for vCards, Palm Query Applications (PQAs) for developers and WAP alerts. In addition, the new version offers ease-of-implementation features to developers, including The Conversation Builder graphical interface, which helps application developers to build conversation applications quickly and easily. Debugging tools also monitor transactions between devices and the platform in real time so developers can speed testing functions.
Kanematsu Communications Ltd. of Japan, a systems integration and mobile solution company, has already signed on to market and sell Air2Web’s new platform. According to their agreement, KCS has duplicated the platform and infrastructure of Air2Web’s U.S. operations, allowing them to host, manage, and/or support applications. As part of their marketing initiative, KCS also plans to form a channel partner program and training program for the Air2Web platform.
Air2Web has also announced a partnership with the 24-hour international weather network, The Weather Channel (TWC), through which location and duration-specific severe weather alerts, in the form of text messages, will be sent to cellular phones and pagers. Subscribers to TWC’s weather.com Web site can sign up to receive the free wireless alerts beginning July 27.
Amid this recent flurry of announcements, Air2Web also told RCR Wireless News it is currently working to expand its platform’s ease-of use for application developers and plans are in the works to release a packaged e-mail product that will support Lotus Notes and Microsoft Exchange.
