Ericsson and a range of application providers today announced a range of new services that will be available on Ericsson's Mobile Internet portal, built on WAP (Wireless Application Protocol). Consumers will be able to, via their phones, shop for CDs, get tips on restaurants and sights, and also get International news, weather forecasts and stock information on their mobile phones.
By working together with application providers who each have a strong position in their respective field, Ericsson will have a broad range of services available for all kinds of consumers. This further emphasises Ericsson's commitment to build the use of mobile Internet and bring easy-to-use communications solutions to consumers. The applications announced will be available shortly and more services will be announced later. Already today, consumers who enter the Ericsson Mobile Internet WAP-portal can have access to a range of services, such as news, product support and telecom-related issues. Many of the current WAP-services are about receiving information, but in the near future there will be a range of interactive services, where consumers can input and receive information, get answers to their questions or have products delivered.
Ericsson is currently rolling out the MC 218, an EPOC-based handheld computer, which will be the first WAP-product on the market. The Ericsson MC218 supports e-mail, fax, SMS messages and Internet access. Ericsson has also announced the R380, an EPOC-based smart phone with WAP capabilities, which will be available around the turn of the year. The R380 is a small-sized dual band mobile phone with in-built PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) functionality.
Boxman Boxman, Europe's largest entertainment retailer on the Internet, will soon be launching its first WAP-based application. With the service, designed especially for the new PDA format, Boxman takes its first step towards multi- channel retailing. Boxman's PDA service will at first allow purchase of chart music from across Europe and will gradually move into a full-scale online entertainment store.
"We believe that mobile technology will play a major role in the future of on-line retail and are very excited to be one of the key participants in Ericsson's aggressive expansion into this new market," says Boxman's CEO Tony Salter.
CitiKey CitiKey, the leading mobile platform for city information and services, is enhancing its services using WAP technology to deliver information and services for people on the move. CitiKey users will be able to reserve and pay for their movie or theatre tickets directly on their WAP-device. Afterwards, they can locate nearby restaurants and have directions presented on digital maps. Users can access guides to hotels, restaurants and shopping, receive information on public transport and see a calendar of events.
"Mobile technology will revolutionize city information and services and will change the way people visit, experience and work in cities," says Ziad Ismail, CEO of CitiKey.
Pactive Pactive is a newsbroker, offering custom-filtered information from approximately 8,000 sources. Pactive cooperates with some of the leading news providers in the world, like Dow Jones, CBS and AFP. Now it is possible to get the latest news with the new news service that Pactive have developed as a part of Ericsson mobile Internet site which support Ericsson's handheld mobile companions including the MC 218. The news service allows visitors to read the latest international news from areas like sport, finance, telecommunication and IT, weather forecast from 40 cities around the world and stock quotes from the NASDAQ list.
"When there will be a wide spread of WAP usage, we foresee that consumers will use a mix of global and local services and that most of these will be interactive," says Jan Ahrenbring, Vice President Marketing and Communications at Ericsson Mobile Communications. "This is a very exciting new market that we are part of creating. Applications will drive the sales of devices and the devices will drive the development of applications which suit the individual consumers' needs."
To promote Internet access using a mobile phone, Ericsson was part of establishing the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Forum. The general objective of the forum was to enable the wireless industry and content developers to provide compatible products and services across a wide variety of platforms. WAP-compatible devices are capable of translating the incoming Internet data to match the capabilities of the mobile device. The specific goal of the WAP Forum is to create a global wireless Internet protocol for small screen mobile terminals that are unable to display HTML-based Web pages.
Ericsson's Mobile Internet portal can be found on: http://mobile.ericsson.se/mobileinternet
Ericsson supports companies who want to start WAP-sites and services with its' WAP-Aid service.
Images of the concept can be viewed: http://www.ericsson.se/pressroom/phli_pco.shtml and at: http://www.sgb.se/www/wape
Ericsson is the leading provider in the new telecoms world, with communications solutions that combine telecom and datacom technologies with freedom of mobility for the user. With more than 100,000 employees in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for its customers - network operators, service providers, enterprises and consumers - the world over.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Jan Ahrenbring, Marketing and Communications Director Ericsson Mobile Communications AB Phone: + 46 8 764 1460 or +46 70 590 9900
Bo Albertson, PR & Information Manager Ericsson Mobile Communications AB Phone: + 46 8 764 1388 or +46 70 510 0992
About WAP WAP, Wireless Application Protocol, is the de facto world-wide standard for providing Internet communications and advanced mobile telephony services on digital mobile phones, pagers, personal digital assistants and other wireless terminals. WAP is compatible with GSM900, 1800 and 1900, CDMA, TDMA wireless standards, as well as all of the proposed 3G communication systems. Ericsson, together with Nokia and Motorola, has introduced a new marketing initiative to simplify recognition of mobile Internet applications. The Mobile Media Mode (MMM) will enable users, content providers and operators to recognize services, Internet sites and devices, such as smart phones, which provide access to these services. Additional information about WAP is available at http://www.wapforum.org
About Boxman Boxman's virtual life began in December 1997 in Sweden, offering music CD, DVD video and games. Within less than one year Boxman managed to capture 4% of the total music CD market across all distribution methods. Following the launch of companies in Norway, Denmark and Finland, Boxman has 70-90% of sales within the Scandinavian online CD market assuming the leading position in European online entertainment retail. With the recent launches of Boxman in France, the UK and Germany, as well as new sites to come throughout Europe over the coming months, Boxman anticipate a turnover of £80 Million for the millennium. For further information, please visit: http://www.boxman.com
About CitiKey CitiKey launched in Stockholm in February 1999 and several of Europe's major cities are currently under development. CitiKey, the world's first digital pocket guide, is a mobile platform for city information and services. This means access to hotel, restaurant and shopping guides, city maps, information on public transport, a calendar of events including films, opera, theatre and sport. CitiKey's solution for mobile services has been awarded with several prizes including "European Innovation of the Year" and "Stockholm City Invention Prize." More information is available at http://www.citikey.com
About Pactive Pactive offers a robust family of information services that deliver custom- filtered individual news via the World Wide Web, corporate Intranets and mobile phones. Using patented filtering and pattern matching technology, Pactive news service delivers more corporate customization and more end user personalization in addition to the breadth and depth of business intelligence needed to meet the changing needs of knowledge workers. Pactive develops the entire content needed for a web site based on their customers' thoughts and ideas. The speed and accuracy of Pactive newsservice provides a cost-effective solution for delivering important information. Pactive AB is located in Helsingborg in Sweden and is a subsidiary to Mactive AB. More information is available at http://www.techfil.se
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