CTIA Wireless IT: mobile end-user software news roundup

- Gary Thayer, Editor

September 27-29, 2005 -- (MobileVillage) -- The semi-annual CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment show runs this week at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center, so it's no surprise that exhibitors are announcing new products. Below is a compilation of mobile end-user software products. (For operator and enterprise software news from CTIA, click here.)

Greenlight Wireless has added an online translation service to Skweezer, a service which optimizes Web content for mobile phones, smartphones and PDAs. The new translation feature -- provided through Skweezer partner WorldLingo -- allows a user to translate any Web page into 13 possible languages including Japanese, Korean, and Russian. For more information on Skweezer see skweezer.com or Greenlight Wireless' summary page on MobileVillage.

Handmark announced version 2.0 of its Pocket Express wireless content services for BlackBerry, Palm, and Windows Mobile cell phones, smartphones, and wireless PDAs. Handmark claims Pocket Express to be up to thirty times faster than browser-based web access and with up to 80% fewer keystrokes. News, sports, movies, maps and more can be automatically updated throughout the day. Content can be reached using the five-way navigation buttons on the user's device or the number keys on a phone keypad.

Pocket Express can also map any address in the U.S. and Canada and provide turn-by-turn driving directions between two points. Pocket Express Directories allows users to look up any published personal or business phone number, perform reverse phone number and address searches, or find a person or a business without paying traditional directory assistance charges. Once found, Pocket Express users can add a listing to the device address book, dial the phone number automatically, or display a map showing how to get there.

New features in version 2.0 include:

• New "Tuxedo" interface provides access to all services from PageOne.
• Location-based services enabling the delivery of geographic-specific information including nearby restaurants or movie theaters on handsets that support detection of the user's location.
• More news coverage and news photos through a new affiliation between Handmark and the Associated Press.
• Real-time personalized sports scores along with sports news stories.
• Personalized movie listings with showtimes, synopses, ratings and ticket purchases.
• U.S. and Canada maps with larger text and new colors.
• Expanded worldwide weather coverage.
• Dictionary services through a new Dictionary channel available on Palm and Windows Mobile editions of Pocket Express.

Pocket Express v 2.0 will be available free to all current subscribers. Handmark Pocket Express costs US $6.99 per month or $69.90 per year, and is available starting October 7 via handmark.com, select retail stores, or directly on a Sprint PCS Vision phone. For more information, see handmark.com or the company's summary page on MobileVillage.

i-mate USA, the Windows Mobile device and software vendor, announced 1-View, an application that allows users to instantly access their music, photos, videos, documents and other files on their i-mate device or any PC. 1-View works on all i-mate devices running Windows Mobile 2003 SE Pocket PC and Windows Mobile 5.0, and can operate over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPRS, EVDO, 3G and Edge wireless networks.

1-View users can also upload files and data from their i-mate device to a PC; download documents, music, photos and videos from any PC to an i-mate device; access their digital photo collections; access a home PC from a laptop at work, or a laptop at work from a home PC; view a device bar showing all connected PCs and mobile devices, and a unified listing of all files.

For more information on the 1-View and imate devices, see clubimate.com.

Lumitrend announced that its cell phone data backup service, called CellBackup, is now available for Java-compatible cell phones. (The company previously released a BREW-compatible version.) CellBackup allows cell phone users to automatically back up all of the content on their phones including contacts, pictures, ringtones, wallpaper, and videos without the need for additional equipment or wired connections, according to Lumitrend.

The J2ME version of CellBackup will be available starting October 1 at Lumitrend.com. There is a one-time download fee of $9.99 that covers the lifetime of the phone. Lumitrend says that CellBackup will also be available through select carriers over the coming months.

Vancouver-based Mobile Operandi announced its peer-driven discovery platform for mobile content, called mophone. Through photo sharing, blogging, music, gaming, mophone lets members find and legally share content (photos, ringtones, wallpapers, messages, games, etc.) within what the company calls "dynamic mobile communities".

Mophone provides each member with a personal web site, complete with a virtual replica of the user's actual mobile phone. From their homepage and locker, members can simply "drag and drop" to easily upload, store, manage, and share all their mobile content. Content is then instantly and automatically synched to the user's mobile phone. Members can browse and search the "mophone supermall" for content from friends or the community at large. Members can also instantly purchase an array of digital content directly from the mophone site.

The public beta version of mophone 1.0 will be available for free download starting September 27, 2005 at mophone.com. Commercial availability will follow later this fall.

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