Sprint Signs Partners for Pioneering XOHM WiMAX Location-Based Services
New Geobrowsing Services Will Customize, Localize and Enrich the Personal Mobile Broadband Experience
HERNDON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--XOHM(TM) WiMAX mobile broadband customers can have information customized for their locations and personalized to their needs with new Sprint (NYSE:S) ecosystem agreements that help pioneer subscriber location services.
Sprint is building a WiMAX high-speed mobile data network which will debut commercially in Baltimore this September. Other cities are expected to receive service in the fourth quarter and beyond. "The XOHM mobile broadband experience will be largely location-centric," explained Rick Robinson, vice president of XOHM Services. "We're creating a new dimension to online presence, making points of interest near your current location easy to identify and access. This 'geobrowsing' effect provides location context and will give XOHM members a richer personal broadband experience when they're mobile."
Unique location and personalization capabilities will customize information for the user at home, at work or places in between. Customers with WiMAX-capable devices such as laptops and other portable devices will have location-based information at their fingertips, easily finding businesses, entertainment or events and quickly checking weather and traffic to get there. They can search for interests, see results plotted on a map, acquire detailed information, get directions and assemble friends conveniently while mobile.
The location-enabled mobile experience will span a range of devices such as laptops, mobile Internet devices, media players, cameras and car navigation. XOHM is enabling web services application programming interfaces (APIs) so a broad collection of service developers and device partners can use location to offer increased utility for XOHM members. XOHM will offer these location capabilities with a corresponding privacy policy to make sure XOHM members are informed about how XOHM will handle their data. At launch, a XOHM portal will offer location-based content from leading brands including:
-- uLocate Communications Inc. of Boston, Mass. the primary
partner in building XOHM's location enabled mobile experience,
is providing its WHERE(TM) platform and leading friend finding
application Buddy Beacon(R) to connect XOHM customers with
their favorite people, places and things. Through WHERE, XOHM
users will have access to local information including
restaurant reviews, news, events, weather and much more.
Select launch partners on the WHERE platform include Yelp,
Eventful, Topix, NAVTEQ and Accuweather.
-- Yelp Inc. of San Francisco, Calif., the leading Web site for
local business reviews, provides relevant user reviews and
ratings for anything local, from restaurants to doctors and
more. The reviews can be searched and sorted by category or
shown in a map view, with access to Yelp.com for details on
any of the three million local reviews.
-- Eventful Inc. of San Diego, Calif., will provide users with
listings of local events displayed in a map view. Customers
can select sub-categories of interest, search for events and
click through to Eventful.com to get more event information
and purchase tickets.
-- Topix LLC of Palo Alto, Calif., will provide local news based
on current location as a summary, with an option to read full
stories and others at its site.
-- NAVTEQ of Chicago, Ill., will offer XOHM customers NAVTEQ
Traffic(TM) real-time local traffic and commuter updates with
links to the Traffic.com(R) Web site for additional detailed
construction, incident and drive time information.
-- AccuWeather of State College, Penna., will provide three-day
forecasts based on users' current locations. An easy link to
AccuWeather.com mobile Web site gives more forecast details,
radar/satellite images, and more.
-- Google Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., will contribute
industry-leading Local Search capability along with additional
features and functionality from Google Maps.
-- Openwave Systems Inc. of Redwood City, Calif. will provide the
location platform that enables XOHM partners to use location
to provide valuable services.
-- Autodesk Inc. of San Rafael, Calif., will provide a
standards-based interface and geospatial services, such as
addresses, ZIP code and city/state information, to enhance
location within the XOHM network.
"By incorporating location and local content at such a fundamental level Sprint is bringing something entirely new to the user experience," said Greg Sterling founder of Sterling Market Intelligence and senior analyst, Local Mobile Search. "And the ability of that experience to travel with the user and automatically adapt to new locations is equally powerful."
Sprint is working with WiMAX ecosystem partners and others to incorporate WiMAX technology in a range of computing, portable multi-media, interactive and other business and consumer electronic devices, and to provide XOHM customers with a unique mobile broadband service experience. Additional information can be found at www.xohm.com
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving nearly 52 million customers at the end of the second quarter 2008; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.
HERNDON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--XOHM(TM) WiMAX mobile broadband customers can have information customized for their locations and personalized to their needs with new Sprint (NYSE:S) ecosystem agreements that help pioneer subscriber location services.
Sprint is building a WiMAX high-speed mobile data network which will debut commercially in Baltimore this September. Other cities are expected to receive service in the fourth quarter and beyond. "The XOHM mobile broadband experience will be largely location-centric," explained Rick Robinson, vice president of XOHM Services. "We're creating a new dimension to online presence, making points of interest near your current location easy to identify and access. This 'geobrowsing' effect provides location context and will give XOHM members a richer personal broadband experience when they're mobile."
Unique location and personalization capabilities will customize information for the user at home, at work or places in between. Customers with WiMAX-capable devices such as laptops and other portable devices will have location-based information at their fingertips, easily finding businesses, entertainment or events and quickly checking weather and traffic to get there. They can search for interests, see results plotted on a map, acquire detailed information, get directions and assemble friends conveniently while mobile.
The location-enabled mobile experience will span a range of devices such as laptops, mobile Internet devices, media players, cameras and car navigation. XOHM is enabling web services application programming interfaces (APIs) so a broad collection of service developers and device partners can use location to offer increased utility for XOHM members. XOHM will offer these location capabilities with a corresponding privacy policy to make sure XOHM members are informed about how XOHM will handle their data. At launch, a XOHM portal will offer location-based content from leading brands including:
-- uLocate Communications Inc. of Boston, Mass. the primary
partner in building XOHM's location enabled mobile experience,
is providing its WHERE(TM) platform and leading friend finding
application Buddy Beacon(R) to connect XOHM customers with
their favorite people, places and things. Through WHERE, XOHM
users will have access to local information including
restaurant reviews, news, events, weather and much more.
Select launch partners on the WHERE platform include Yelp,
Eventful, Topix, NAVTEQ and Accuweather.
-- Yelp Inc. of San Francisco, Calif., the leading Web site for
local business reviews, provides relevant user reviews and
ratings for anything local, from restaurants to doctors and
more. The reviews can be searched and sorted by category or
shown in a map view, with access to Yelp.com for details on
any of the three million local reviews.
-- Eventful Inc. of San Diego, Calif., will provide users with
listings of local events displayed in a map view. Customers
can select sub-categories of interest, search for events and
click through to Eventful.com to get more event information
and purchase tickets.
-- Topix LLC of Palo Alto, Calif., will provide local news based
on current location as a summary, with an option to read full
stories and others at its site.
-- NAVTEQ of Chicago, Ill., will offer XOHM customers NAVTEQ
Traffic(TM) real-time local traffic and commuter updates with
links to the Traffic.com(R) Web site for additional detailed
construction, incident and drive time information.
-- AccuWeather of State College, Penna., will provide three-day
forecasts based on users' current locations. An easy link to
AccuWeather.com mobile Web site gives more forecast details,
radar/satellite images, and more.
-- Google Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., will contribute
industry-leading Local Search capability along with additional
features and functionality from Google Maps.
-- Openwave Systems Inc. of Redwood City, Calif. will provide the
location platform that enables XOHM partners to use location
to provide valuable services.
-- Autodesk Inc. of San Rafael, Calif., will provide a
standards-based interface and geospatial services, such as
addresses, ZIP code and city/state information, to enhance
location within the XOHM network.
"By incorporating location and local content at such a fundamental level Sprint is bringing something entirely new to the user experience," said Greg Sterling founder of Sterling Market Intelligence and senior analyst, Local Mobile Search. "And the ability of that experience to travel with the user and automatically adapt to new locations is equally powerful."
Sprint is working with WiMAX ecosystem partners and others to incorporate WiMAX technology in a range of computing, portable multi-media, interactive and other business and consumer electronic devices, and to provide XOHM customers with a unique mobile broadband service experience. Additional information can be found at www.xohm.com
About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving nearly 52 million customers at the end of the second quarter 2008; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.
Posts
No comments: