Air2Web Extends Wireless Capability to Europe and Asia Pacific with Two-Way SMS and I-mode and J-phone Standards Support; Air2Web Opens European Headquarters.Business Editors ATLANTA and AMSTERDAM, Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 19, 2001 Air2Web, the leading wireless platform provider, has launched version 2.1 of the Mobile Internet Refers to gaining access to the Internet using a lightweight, handheld device. See Mobile IP, PDA, smartphone and mobile TV. Platform to deliver wireless applications to the global market. Version 2.1 includes international support for two-way Short Message Service (SMS (1) (Storage Management System) Software used to routinely back up and archive files. See HSM. (2) (Systems Management Server) Systems management software from Microsoft that runs on Windows NT Server. ), I-mode, and J-phone wireless standards. Two-way capabilities are deployed immediately for the United Kingdom and Spain and will be extended to the rest of Europe by mid-2001. In parallel with the launch of Version 2.1, Air2Web has opened its European headquarters just outside of Amsterdam. The European operations are being headed by director of business development for Europe, Harry Drenth, who brings two decades of IT experience to the position. During his 20 years in the IT industry, Denth has worked in many facets of the business. Prior to joining Air2Web, Denth founded a consulting firm Noun 1. consulting firm - a firm of experts providing professional advice to an organization for a fee consulting company business firm, firm, house - the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a , which focused on mobile systems management and data synchronization. His company developed products to interconnect mobile applications to SAP systems. "Air2Web has established itself as the leading Mobile Internet Platform provider in the United States, and we are rapidly working to attain the same recognition in the European and Asian-Pacific markets," said Jay Sheth, vice president of International Alliances for Air2Web. "We began laying the groundwork in January with the opening of our Asian-Pacific headquarters in India and the establishment of our International Strategic Alliance Program which includes such channel partners as the U.K.'s Red Brigade, Finland's Yomi Media, and India's Mascot Systems. Opening the Air2Web European headquarters just puts us one step closer to this goal." Air2Web's wireless platform, accessed through an XML-based API, enables businesses to create, deploy and deliver enterprise applications such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) An integrated information system that serves all departments within an enterprise. Evolving out of the manufacturing industry, ERP implies the use of packaged software rather than proprietary software written by or for one customer. , CRM (Customer Relationship Management) An integrated information system that is used to plan, schedule and control the presales and postsales activities in an organization. and Supply Chain Management (SCM (1) (Software Configuration Management, Source Code Management) See configuration management. (2) See supply chain management. ) solutions to their customers and employees using any digital wireless device. This includes (SMS) and Internet capable (WAP (1) (Wireless Access Point) See access point. (2) (Wireless Application Protocol) A standard for providing cellular phones, pagers and other handheld devices with secure access to e-mail and text-based Web pages. ) phones, pagers and pervasive computing devices such as Palms. Extensions to Platform Enable International Deployment: The Mobile Internet Platform has been extended to allow applications to reflect country, language and character set preferences to deliver and accept content that is localized. In addition, support has been added for XML markup languages This page aims to list articles related XML markup languages. This is so that those interested in the subject can monitor changes to the pages by clicking on Related changes in the sidebar and on the bottom of the page. popular outside the United States including cHTML (Compact Hypertext Markup Language (hypertext, World-Wide Web, standard) Hypertext Markup Language - (HTML) A hypertext document format used on the World-Wide Web. HTML is built on top of SGML. "Tags" are embedded in the text. A tag consists of a "<", a "directive" (in lower case), zero or more parameters and a ">". ) and MML MML - Human-Machine Language. A language from ITU-T for telecommunications applications. It has a complex natural-language syntax. [CCITT Recommendations Z.311-Z.318, Z-341, Nov 1984]. (Mobile Markup Language). Air2Web's international support of two-way SMS allows application deployment that takes advantage of user-initiated two-way text conversations. United Parcel Service United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS), commonly referred to as UPS, is the world's largest package delivery company, delivering more than 15 million packages[1] a day to 6.1 million customers in over 200 countries and territories around the world. , the world's largest express carrier and package delivery company and one of Air2Web's U.S.-based customers, expects to use this support to expand their wireless package tracking applications internationally. This will allow UPS to take advantage of the users' ability to initiate a text-based inquiry with two-way SMS. "The growth in SMS traffic worldwide, predicted by groups like the GSM Association, is staggering," said Sanjoy Malik, president and chief executive officer of Air2Web. "With 200 billion anticipated messages in 2001, it is essential that Air2Web extend its two-way capability out to the international markets. "We recognize the importance of the European mobile data market, not only to our future customers but to our current multinational clients such as UPS and Digital Insight. Therefore, we have made it a priority to support both two-way and one-way SMS. "Additionally, Air2Web wants to be positioned to take advantage of the tremendous growth around the Japanese I-mode and J-phone wireless devices. According to a recent report, of NTT NTT Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation NTT New Technology Telescope NTT National Technology Transfer, Inc NTT Name That Tune (TV game show) NTT National Tree Trust NTT Number Theoretic Transform DoCoMo's 30 million Internet customers, roughly 8 million use the I-mode service," continued Malik. Other New Enhancements in Version 2.1: Wireless Provisioning -- this component enables end-users to provision their wireless device online from an Internet-enabled device (a WAP phone or pervasive computing device such as a PALM). In places like Japan and parts of Europe where PCs aren't as prevalent, this component enables a user to provision their WAP phone or PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) A handheld computer for managing contacts, appointments and tasks. It typically includes a name and address database, calendar, to-do list and note taker, which are the functions in a personal information manager (see PIM). right from the wireless device itself. Anonymous Browsing -- this component allows end-users to browse an application (which is less proprietary), via their WAP phone or PDA, without provisioning their wireless device. For example, an organization might want their employees to wirelessly view the latest company news. The employee simply enters the URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. for the "news application" into their wireless device, and they have instant access. About Air2Web Air2Web, based in Atlanta, is the leading Mobile Internet Platform provider. Air2Web's XML XML in full Extensible Markup Language. Markup language developed to be a simplified and more structural version of SGML. It incorporates features of HTML (e.g., hypertext linking), but is designed to overcome some of HTML's limitations. request/response-based platform allows for the easy integration of wireless capabilities in enterprise applications. Through the XML interface, an application can incorporate blended media interactions including data, speech recognition and text-to-speech conversions. The platform's Blended Media Engine provides the interactivity best suited to the device capability and the user needs. Additionally, applications based on the Air2Web platform work with all the various protocols, networks and devices that make up the complex wireless environment. Developers, using the Air2Web platform, are freed from the overhead of coding for multiple platforms and devices and can focus on building a competitive advantage through mobile applications. Air2Web provides state-of-the-art application hosting with day-to-day applications management and continuous support. Air2Web's customers include UPS, Digital Insight, ING Barings, Lexmark International, Bass Hotels & Resorts, NetBank, DotsConnect, TotalSports, and other leading media, finance, travel, transportation, and eCommerce companies. For more information about Air2Web, please visit http://www.air2web.com I-Mode statistics provided by Worlds Markets Research Centre's: "Business Briefing: Global m-Commerce 2001" |
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