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SpatialNews Press Release
IBM and Webraska team to deliver location-based
wireless services
IBM and Webraska today announced they will work together to
jointly develop and market location-based services for mobile
devices.
Location-based services are a new kind of technology that blends
information about a person's location with other useful content,
providing relevant, timely and intensely local information to
consumers when and where they need it. For example, a person
on a business trip in an unfamiliar city can use a mobile phone to
request the location of the nearest copy centre. The cell phone
rings back the location, providing them with turn-by-turn
directions, and even allows them to send the document by email,
so it's ready when they get there.
Webraska is a leading provider of wireless navigation services and
technologies. The company will work with IBM to integrate their
technology on top of IBM hardware and software to create a
robust, and highly scalable infrastructure for the deployment of
location-based services. Applications include: personal agendas,
games, city-guides, sales force automation applications, fleet
management, dispatch centres, delivery, emergency, tourist
guides, advertising, and corporate or entertainment applications -
all offered in a proven, secure and reliable environment.
The two companies are working together to port Webraska's
Wireless Navigation PlatformTM and Personal Navigation APITM
(built on industry standard EJB components) to the complete
PSeries and XSeries ranges of IBM e-Server, as well as integrate
the Webraska offerings with IBM's middleware platforms, including
WebSphere Everyplace Suite and DB2.
"Offering Webraska’s solutions to millions of phones, car
equipment and PDAs requires strong partners. The interoperability
between IBM’s highly scalable and robust platforms and our
high-end technology will offer substantial opportunities for all our
application developer partners and our automotive and telecom
customers", said Jean-Michel Durocher, CEO and Founder of
Webraska.
The market for location-based services is expected to top $20B
by 2005, according to industry analyst Ovum. They predict that by
then 80 percent of the more than one billion users of wireless
data services will be using location-based services, and that
location-based services will account for more than 10 percent of
the total $1.8 trillion worth of mobile e-commerce transactions.
"We are seeing a growing demand for wireless applications in the
areas that are time-critical, location-specific, or spontaneous in
nature, such as email and instant messaging, banking and
finance, news, entertainment ticketing , and location-based
advertising services ," said Val Rahmani, general manager, IBM
wireless solutions. "IBM, together with Webraska is one of the first
to offer a secure wireless infrastructure platform for companies to
easily create these next generation wireless applications --
whether its for B2C, B2B or business-to-employee applications."
In parallel, the Webraska offering will be integrated into Lotus
Notes Domino EveryPlace calendar and address book. Lotus Notes
80 million users will benefit from advanced navigation
functionalities to manage their time, with maps, optimised routes
including real-time traffic information, and full voice turn-by-turn
navigation using Webraska’s IbDNTM on wireless devices that
support precise localization.
The agreement includes:
Interoperability between Webraska Wireless Navigation Platform
and IBM
WebSphere Everyplace Suite, DB2 and eServers
Webraska technology to be integrated in Lotus Notes Domino
Everyplace calendar and address book
Worldwide joint sales and marketing activities in Telecom and
Automotive sectors Webraska and IBM will initially address the
telecom and automotive markets, where Webraska has worldwide
customers such as SFR, Orange, VoiceStream and TIM.
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