Cox Interactive Media city site AccessAtlanta.com, the highest-rated and highest-ranked local web site in the U.S. (Media Metrix, Q4 '99), and AnyDevice.com, Inc., an Atlanta-based company providing technologies that enable Internet portals and other e-businesses to communicate with their customers through a wide range of devices, announced today the launch of AccessAtlanta Anywhere (www.accessatlanta.com/anywhere.html).
The free wireless service, which provides interactive content to mobile users on a wide range of non-PC devices, is the first initiative in a national rollout planned for CIMedia's top rated network of locally-focused city web sites across the country.
AccessAtlanta Anywhere was developed by AccessAtlanta.com and AnyDevice.com to help busy, mobile Atlantans save time and stay informed. During a three-week pilot program, over 5,200 users signed up for AccessAtlanta Anywhere prior to any advertising or promotion, signaling strong local demand for the new interactive service.
As a result of the partnership with AnyDevice.com, AccessAtlanta.com users can now access and customize their favorite AccessAtlanta.com channels and content--including local news, weather, sports, traffic, movie and entertainment--on any wireless device. These devices include web-enabled phones equipped with micro-browsers; wireless phones with alphanumeric paging (one-way communication); Palm Vii/PDA devices and custom e-mail applications.
CIMedia's entry into the wireless delivery market is a direct response to the explosive growth in the use of wireless devices among U.S. consumers.
"The timing for our new service launch is ideally aligned with market conditions and consumer demand," said Peter Winter, president of CIMedia. "There are three key factors that differentiate our wireless product: free access for any web-enabled wireless device, relentlessly local content and extensive customization capabilities." -0-
According to IDC, a division of International Data Group:
-- There are 76 million wireless users in the U.S.
-- 50,000 people sign up for wireless service in the U.S. each day
-- There are more wireless phones than PCs in the U.S.
-- By 2002, 75 percent of Internet viewing will take place on wireless platforms
-- In the next three years, 2.8 million handheld devices will be enabled with wireless capabilities.
-- Wireless-enabled handheld devices account for 35.2% of all handheld devices, vs. 64.8% for traditional handheld devices.
Additionally, Wireless Web Wonders predicts:
-- The number of "smart phones" produced will increase by 88% to 330 million in 2003, up from 175 million in 2002
-- PDA sales will skyrocket 118 percent to 35 million units in 2003, up from 16 million units in 2002
-- By 2003, 33% of the estimated 1 billion cellular subscribers will be using a smart phone's enhanced display and data entry and storage capabilities.
"AccessAtlanta Anywhere is yet another way for us to live up to our brand promise of helping busy people manage their lives," said George deGolian, general manager, AccessAtlanta.com. "Our partnership with AnyDevice.com allows us to send you just the content you want, when you want it, wherever you are. If our users want traffic updates e-mailed to them at 4:38 p.m. Monday through Friday, then we'll e-mail traffic updates to them at 4:38 p.m. This is an incredibly powerful extension of the AccessAtlanta.com brand."
"AnyDevice.com is pleased to be working with AccessAtlanta.com and looks forward to a mutually beneficial relationship with Cox Interactive Media as we continue to roll out the 'Anywhere' service to other city sites in the CIMedia network," said Tom Johnson, founder and CEO of AnyDevice.com. "Our consolidation and delivery technologies allow Internet access anytime, anyplace on any device. This means our customers, like AccessAtlanta.com, can expand their reach to consumers using a broad range of devices."
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