SAN FRANCISCO -- The nation's largest wireless provider announced a sweeping upgrade to its location-services play, adding assisted-GPS (A-GPS) technology to its network and unveiling plans for a range of new, location-assisted services.In an announcement made in conjunction with the CTIA I.T. trade show...
While Opera Software ASA continues to attract attention with its mobile browsers and a host of startups go directly to consumers with their transcoding technology, InfoGin is quietly making headway by cozying up to carriers.The 8-year-old Israel-based startup notched its first big win in...
Former ringtone purveyor Zingy is shuttering its mobile personalization business and will reorganize under the resuscitated Vindigo brand.Zingy, a longtime player in the mobile content space, merged two years ago with Vindigo, which offers consumer applications such as MapQuest Mobile and Vindigo City Guide....
Verizon Wireless overhauled its mobile Web service, adding content and redesigning the site in an effort to make it more user-friendly.The carrier tweaked its wireless home page, installing drop-down bars for news headlines and shortcuts to content, and expanded its main menu to allow...
MEDIA COMPANIES AND RETAILERS are beginning to target wireless users with free, advertising-supported services. And carriers are slowly tolerating-if not quite embracing-such offerings.USA Today last week launched a mobile search service that delivers text alerts about news, sports scores, stock quotes and other topics...
DETROIT-OnStar subscribers will be able to send driving directions to their vehicles under a new partnership between General Motors' telematics service and the MapQuest Web site.The navigation program, called OnStar Web Destination Entry, is scheduled to begin this summer. It will allow customers to...
Vodafone Germany launched a downloadable Java-based mapping application that features hi-resolution aerial photos and a searchable database of more than 4,000 German points of interest. Like Google Earth and other mapping applications for computers, Mobile Earth allows users to access satellite images of specific...
SAN FRANCISCO—Directions and map services are proving to be popular among wireless users who download mobile applications, according to a new study from Telephia. The report found MapQuest Mobile was the top revenue-generating downloadable mobile application during the first quarter with 21.9 percent of...
SAN FRANCISCO-If the kickoff for Navteq's Global LBS Challenge is any indicator, 2006 may be the year location-based services finally get legs. Software developers, reporters, venture capitalists and other insiders packed the room here Tuesday for the North American launch of Navteq's annual competition....
The mobile-gaming waters got even more crowded last week as New York-based publisher Vindigo said it will dive in with "a broad selection" of adventure and casual games later this year. Vindigo, which is best known for a variety of wireless news and local...
NEW ORLEANS-America Online Inc. is expected to expand on its mobile offerings this week, adding picture messaging, traffic data and premium services to its portfolio of instant messaging services. The picture messaging application allows users to send photos from desktop AIM clients to any...
DULLES, Va.-MapQuest Mobile subscribers can now send color maps and driving directions from the company's Web site to their mobile phones. The location-based services company announced Send to Phone, enabling users to request and access maps and directions directly over their handsets. Mobile publisher...
BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Verizon Wireless users can browse restaurant recommendations, read reviews and get driving directions with a new service launched Tuesday.Verizon teamed with software developer Vindigo Studios, location-based services provider MapQuest and travel and lifestyle Web site Gayot.com to offer the application, which is available...
Nextel Communications Inc. affiliate Nextel Partners Inc. completed its 30,000-square-foot customer care center expansion in Panama City Beach, Fla., which the carrier said would help support its rapid growth. The expansion is located adjacent to the carrier's existing 65,000-square-foot center that opened in 2002....
CHICAGO-M7 Networks and U.S. Cellular will partner to boost the carrier's wireless data services, the companies announced Tuesday.M7 Networks' SMS Hub Service will help deliver U.S. Cellular's easyedge service, improving the functionality of certain applications including a mobile Mapquest service and eBay's AwayAuction."We are...
ATLANTA-The U.S. wireless content industry continues to crackle with growing pains as Japanese gaming company Square Enix announced it will buy UIEvolution for a stunning $58 million in cash. The deal is the latest in a series of major mergers and acquisitions in the...
After almost four years of waiting, Jason Devitt believes the time is now.Packet-switched networks are online. Mobile phones feature color graphics. And-perhaps most importantly-carriers can bill for third-party applications."None of those things existed when we started the company," said Devitt, chief executive officer of...
Qualcomm Inc. announced a series of new partners for its BREW application download service, including Internet heavyweight America Online Inc.AOL said it will sell a variety of BREW applications, including those supporting its instant-messaging service, its e-mail service and its MapQuest location-services offering. Qualcomm...
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif.-Verizon Wireless continues to expand its Get It Now data offerings, adding new content from Walt Disney and MapQuest.First, Walt Disney's wireless business announced an expanded deal with Verizon Wireless, with plans to add content from Disney's extreme sports site, ESPN.com, its...
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif.-Verizon Wireless continues to expand its Get It Now data offerings, adding new content from Walt Disney and MapQuest.First, Walt Disney's wireless business announced an expanded deal with Verizon Wireless, with plans to add content from Disney's extreme sports site, EXPN.com, its...
Laurent Vermot-Gauchy wants to introduce a new acronym into the location services market-ELS, or enterprise location-centric services.As head of location-services company Maporama, Vermot-Gauchy is looking to sell location information and services to the business market. And Maporama is not alone in its focus on...
BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Verizon Wireless Inc. and America Online Inc. announced the immediate availability of a suite of AOL services and features to Verizon Wireless Mobile Web subscribers.The AOL services include AOL Mail, news, financial information, driving directions and local event and entertainment information via AOL's...
RESTON, Va.—America Online Inc., continuing its wireless strategy of partnering with carriers to distribute its content, announced a deal with Nextel Communications Inc. to offer its popular AOL instant messaging and e-mail programs over Nextel's packet-data network.AOL has signed content agreements with numerous wireless...
DULLES, Va.-MapQuest.com announced the release of Mobile MapQuest v. 3.0, which will allow personal digital assistant users to access interactive maps anytime, anywhere, on their PDAs. The images have been formatted to accommodate a PDA's screen size. The software can be downloaded directly from...
