You are lost in a strange town, it's late at night and you need to find a hotel, what do you do? Well if you own one of the new generation of mobile phones you will soon be able to access information and directions to the nearest hotel, as well as pick up the news, weather and even order a Pizza, thanks to Jingo Communications' new mobile information service, WapWorld. WAP - wireless appliance protocol - is a new technology that enables users of WAP enabled mobile devices e.g. phones) to access, send and receive data from bespoke content services and via the Internet. WAP enabled mobile phones are now available in the UK and consumers are snapping them up from major mobile communications retailers.
UK based pioneers in Internet technical solutions, Jingo has just launched Europe's first independent dial-up WAP gateway. The WapWorld.Net gateway puts information at your fingertips and already has thousands of users dialling in daily for news and information. The initial content consists of news, weather and features such as horoscopes and jokes. The content is being developed in-house at Jingo by an experienced editorial team and is set to expand massively over the coming months. Jingo has developed independent software solutions to drive WapWorld and to deliver Internet services to users. The WAP gateway has been pre-installed on all Nokia 7110 WAP phones sold through The Carphone Warehouse.
"Targeted local information and commerce will be two key forces for the widespread adoption of WAP, and Jingo is already providing the technology to drive them. This is a market set for explosive growth and there is a tremendous opportunity to deliver information, knowledge, mail and, in the not too distant future, music, video and even TV programming, to mobile devices. We believe the winners will be the companies who recognise the needs of users on the move and who deliver an easy to use, reliable and secure solution with relevant and compelling content," says Mark Gibbons, managing director of Jingo Communications.
For example, WapWorld will soon be able to enable users to key-in the street or postcode details of their location. Through this WapWorld will be able to offer targeted local information services, such as a taxi number or details of a hotel within 5 minutes walk. Further down the line users will be able to find out if that hotel has a vacancy and then make a room reservation, all through WapWorld.
WapWorld does not restrict users to a single service. "WapWorld will provide an independent open gateway service. We are not tied to a network provider," adds Mark Gibbons.
"WapWorld already allows access to WAP content through all the UK networks (Vodafone, Orange etc). It is currently the only gateway to provide this service."
The WapWorld gateway is free to access and calls from Mobile phones are charged at the standard national rates.
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