America Online Inc. is testing a suite of mobile search services that would allow users with Web-enabled phones to search the Internet for information, including local business listings, and to compare prices of goods from online retailers. Israeli technology provider InfoGin Ltd. is powering the service, which formats traditional Web pages for wireless phones. Internet search engines increasingly are looking to wireless users to expand their reach. Google Inc. launched its short message service-based search service last year, and Ask Jeeves provides a similar product. Last month, Yahoo! Inc. added an SMS service to its package of wireless search offerings.
Cingular Wireless L.L.C. will offer RazrWire Bluetooth-enabled eyewear in early August through an agreement with Motorola Inc. and sunglasses maker Oakley Inc. The carrier will offer the eyewear through select Cingular Wireless retail stores and online through all three companies’ Web sites. RazrWire combines patented Oakley optics with Bluetooth technology. The product’s controls include two volume buttons and a single button used to handle calls and allowing a user to carry on a phone conversation while up to 30 feet away from a compatible Bluetooth-enabled cell phone.
Amp’d Mobile Inc., which expects to launch mobile virtual network operator service later this year, said it will offer Kyocera Wireless Corp.’s first EV-DO handset. The Jet is expected to be the lowest-priced handset offered by Amp’d, the company said. The sliding phone includes BREW 3.1, a music player, digital camera, MPEG-4 video and playback, and push-to-talk capabilities.
Alltel Corp. is teaming with Fujifilm on an offering that allows users to create and send personal postcards from their handsets. With the BREW-based application, users can create a postcard and send it via e-mail to anyone in the United States for $2. A package of three postcards is $4.50; five postcards cost $8. Software developer Summus Inc. created the application, which is available on select phones from Motorola Inc., UTStarcomm Inc. and Nokia Corp.
