mapinfomag_spring200..

ALCATEL’S iMLS
LOCATION-BASED SERVER
IS THE MARKET’S FIRST
FULLY INTEGRATED,
SCALABLE SOLUTION
By Stuart Rosenfield, senior director, marketing,
and Bill Dyer, director, new ventures,
Network Applications Division, Alcatel
Alcatel, one of the world’s largest providers of
telecom solutions in the world, is leveraging its
expertise in end-to-end wireless and locationbased
infrastructure, solutions and services,
by recently introducing an advanced version
of its Intelligent Mobile Location Server (iMLS)
with new innovative service modules. It is
offering these new services with the help of
several content partners, the foremost of
which is MapInfo.
Alcatel tightly integrates technology from
MapInfo—directly into iMLS, enabling service
providers to deploy time-critical and revenuegenerating
services such as E911 and location-based
billing. The technology, developed
by Alcatel and MapInfo and embedded into
iMLS, allows for the translation of location
information from the switch into location-based
analysis and information within milliseconds.
Alcatel plans to release several additional
iMLS modules during 2001, including E411
services and location-based directories,
targeted advertising and m-commerce, fleet
monitoring and tracking, mapping and routing
and location sensitive billing applications.
NEUMOBILITY AND MAPINFO
DELIVERING MOBILE
COMMERCE PLATFORM
By Jeff Callegari, vice president of engineering,
and Kimberly McDowell, vice president of
sales and marketing, Neumobility
Neumobility recently introduced NeuTrac,
a location-based services (LBS) and mobile
commerce platform that uses a number of
MapInfo products to deliver a complete robust
solution for the LBS marketplace. NeuTrac
is an open platform, embracing standards
and methodologies wherever possible—
and implementing unique and creative
solutions where necessary.
NeuTrac has leveraged Neumobility’s prior
experience in delivering “carrier grade”
solutions with a core understanding of the
LBS marketplace and an intense focus on
solving practical end consumer and merchant
needs. The NeuTrac platform—and the suite
of applications it was announced with—
depend heavily on MapInfo’s products to
support mapping, navigation and geospatial
functionality. Neumobility and MapInfo teamed
to create a winning Web user experience
and multi-device interfaces for mobile users.
With MapInfo technology, NeuTrac provides
carriers and ISPs with a total solution to their
LBS/commerce needs, as well as uniquely
presenting a pragmatic user interface for
consumers and merchants.
GENIMAP’S MOBILE
LOCATION-BASED SOLUTIONS
ARE TARGETED TO
NETWORK OPERATORS
By Mikko Salonen, director, Genimap’s
Internet and mobile location business unit
Genimap aims to become a leading player
in mobile location solutions. Partly owned
by MapInfo Corporation, Genimap Oy was
formed recently following the acquisition by
WSOY (one of SanomaWSOY’s five sectors)
of Karttakeskus Oy in September 2000
and its merger with WSOY’s map company,
Geodata Oy.
Genimap, a leading mapping company in
Finland and formerly known as Karttakeskus
Oy, develops location-based solutions for the
mobile information society. Powered by
MapInfo ® MapXtreme ® , Genimap’s mobile
applications are targeted to network operators,
enabling their end users mobile mapping
intelligence. In addition, its mobile mapping
technology can be implemented in corporate
solutions and third-party applications. In late
1999, Genimap developed and launched
in Finland the world’s first commercial, one
country covering location-based WAP service
for Telia. And, for years, Nokia has been
Genimap’s key partner in development of
mobile applications. Last November, Genimap
and Nokia signed a licensing agreement for
Genimap’s mobile location-based value-added
services—AddressFinder and RouteFinder—
LUCENT AND MAPINFO
DEMONSTRATE THE POWERFUL
POTENTIAL OF MOBILE
LOCATION-BASED SERVICES
By Jim Ciriello, director, Mobile Internet
Strategies & Alliances for Lucent Technologies.
As a leader in next-generation mobile networks,
Lucent Technologies is pioneering the
development of end-to-end solutions that
deliver clear business benefits to operators
and end-users alike. Working in partnership
with a leading content and solution provider
like MapInfo, which is now a member of
Lucent’s Cooperative InnovationsSM program,
Lucent is enabling network operators to view
at first hand the powerful impact of locationbased
services for GPRS (General Packet Radio
Service) and future UMTS (Universal Mobile
Telecommunications Services) networks.
At a recent showcase demonstration at the
3GSM World Congress in Cannes, Lucent,
in collaboration with MapInfo, dramatized
the revenue generation potential of its 3
generation location and device-aware wireless
solutions. Utilizing the MiLifeTM applications
suite developed by Bell Labs, the demonstration
incorporated MapInfo’s CityGuide, RoutePlanning
and Navigation wireless applications to deliver
a realistic experience of how users will interact
with a variety of 3 generation devices. Utilizing
a specially designed FutureFone handset
simulator—an integrated telephony/mobile
Internet browser device—users were able to
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ORACLE AND MAPINFO DELIVER
BETTER, FASTER WIRELESS
LOCATION SERVICES
By Xavier R. Lopez, director, location services
server technologies, Oracle Corporation
MapInfo and Oracle further our successful and
ongoing partnership to deliver a wireless location
services platform that meets the demanding
scalability and performance requirements
of wireless carriers, portals and enterprise
customers. It includes tight integration of
MapInfo technology with Oracle location
functionality in Oracle9i database and Oracle9i
Application Server (Oracle9iAS) Wireless Edition.
MapInfo’s MapInfo ® MapMarker ® , MapInfo ®
MapXtreme ® Java TM
Edition, MapInfo ® Routing J
Server and MapInfo ® MapInsight TM
are readily
integrated into Oracle9i and Oracle9iAS Wireless
Edition. These Java components run inside
the same address space as the application
server or database server, eliminating context
switching overhead and reducing network traffic.
This allows for the dynamic generation of
location-specific information such as addresses,
directions and maps directly to thin client
devices. On the client, J2ME-enabled handsets
and PDAs can be enhanced with MapInfo ®
MapXtend TM
to provide enhanced graphic
interface, query and analysis capabilities.
Oracle9i TM
Application Server Wireless Edition
provides the industry’s leading technology
platform for wireless location-based services
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MOTOROLA TEAMS WITH
MAPINFO TO PROVIDE
LOCATION-BASED SERVICES
By Bill Werner, corporate vice president and
general manager, iDEN Subscriber Group, Motorola
Motorola and MapInfo have teamed up to provide
miGuide , MapInfo’s location-based application
that delivers maps and driving directions,
on Java technology-enabled handsets by
Motorola.
MapInfo’s driving directions and map application
will run on the new Motorola i85s and
i50sx handsets which incorporate Java 2
Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME ) technology.
These new phones will be available beginning
this month through iDEN © network operators
including Nextel Communications, Southern
LINC and Pacific Wireless Technologies in the
United States. TELUS Mobility in Canada will
offer the i85s model in the coming months.
miGuide, a J2ME technology-based application
designed for business travelers, enables users
to access helpful location-aware information
including yellow pages, retail business locations,
maps and driving directions. The use of
J2ME technology enables a seamless integration
between the subscriber’s application and
the servers that provide the content while
offering a feature-rich user experience.
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SPRING 2001 MAPINFO MAGAZINE
www.mapinfo.com/magazine
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