Company Expands Depth and Breadth of LBS Services Offered Through Action Engine's Advanced Data Services Platform
REDMOND, Wash.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—May 17, 2004— ( www.actionengine.com) Action Engine Corporation, the pioneer and leading provider of Advanced Data Services (ADS) solutions for wireless operators, today announced support for Microsoft MapPoint(R) Location Server (MLS). The company will integrate MLS with its ADS platform to provide 'real-time' location services, including the added ability for mobile subscribers to determine the immediate location of other mobile subscribers.Action Engine's ADS platform currently supports Microsoft's complementary web services technology -- MapPoint Web Service 3.5 (MWS). By combining the mapping tools of MWS with the 'real-time' location capabilities of MLS, Action Engine further expands the value of its ADS solution for wireless operators deploying data services over smart phones and devices.
According to Ron Jasper, EVP of marketing and business development for Action Engine, "Location-based services represent a growing market that is redefining how people instantly access and use information while mobile. By supporting leading technologies like MapPoint Location Server and MapPoint Web Service, Action Engine is driving the industry and enabling wireless carriers to take full advantage of existing infrastructure and location technologies to rapidly deploy value-added, revenue-generating data applications and services to their mobile subscribers."
With today's announcement, operators deploying Action Engine's ADS solution will have the ability to offer 'real-time' personal location services combined with applications that deliver mapping tools for destination information, integrated maps, driving directions, distance calculations, proximity searches and other location intelligence.
For example, a mobile subscriber can leverage ADS applications to locate nearby friends, family and co-workers, as well as local destinations such as a Starbucks. Because Action Engine's software integrates with the native capabilities of the handset, including the phone dialer, SMS and MMS clients and PIM functions, subscribers can use their mobile phone to easily identify a friend in the area, contact him or her, invite them to meet, and even send directions. Action Engine's LBS-supported applications can also be applied in a business scenario where the same user could locate a colleague or business contact during a conference for example, and request a spontaneous meeting at a nearby location.
"With MapPoint Location Server support, subscribers will have an easy and intuitive way to locate friends, family or even co-workers using a mobile device. An individual's location is automatically detected by their phone, eliminating the hassle of having to enter it in separately, and then others can be located who have opted into the service and allowed their location to be shared with their friends, family or co-workers," said Michael Graff, general manager of Microsoft's MapPoint business unit. "Action Engine's support for MLS and MapPoint Web Service is a great illustration of how location technology can be an ingredient to bring about a more meaningful mobile experience by delivering information people care about in real-time with in proximity to them."
Action Engine's ADS software solution enables wireless operators to easily and economically develop and deploy a differentiated and custom-branded suite of data applications that functions across multiple device types and mobile operating systems. Unlike legacy technologies that have failed to catalyze wireless data adoption, Action Engine's technology optimizes both device and network usage through its 'smart client' approach -- providing subscribers with unparalleled network efficiency and convenient and always-available access to applications and data independent of a network connection. Consequently, Action Engine is helping global wireless operators improve bottom line performance by successfully driving data usage, adoption and customer loyalty.
About Action Engine Corporation
Action Engine Corporation is the pioneer and world's leading provider of Advanced Data Service solutions for global wireless carriers. The company's software solution has been deployed by a robust list of global carriers that include Orange SA (FOREIGN OTC: ORGEF), mmO2 (NYSE: OOM; LSE OOM), SMART Communications, Inc., among others. Founded in 2000, Action Engine is privately held with headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Additional information is available at www.actionengine.com.
Contact:
Action Engine Corporation Kristine Szarkowitz, 425-498-1524 Email Contact