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MapInfo Takes the Lead in Adopting Specifications for Location Services
MapInfo® miAware 2.0 First Location-based Services Platform to Adhere to Mobile Location Protocol Specifications
MapInfo® miAware 2.0 First Location-based Services Platform to Adhere to Mobile Location Protocol Specifications
MapInfo Corporation (Nasdaq: MAPS) today announced that MapInfo miAware 2.0 is the industrys first mobile location services platform to adhere to Mobile Location Protocol specifications set by the Location Interoperability Forum (LIF), which is now part of the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). This, coupled with support for the Open GIS Consortiums OpenLS-proposed specifications, makes MapInfo the leading adopter of mobile location services specifications from prominent industry standards groups. miAware, which enables wireless carriers to create highly customised mobile location services, is currently being deployed by Vodafone, the worlds largest wireless services provider, in several different sites.
MapInfo has been helping to develop specifications in the Open GIS Consortium since 1997," said Kurt Buehler, Vice President and CTO of the Open GIS Consortium. MapInfo was a participant in the OpenLS initiative and has contributed significantly to making the activities of OGC and OMA harmonious. They have worked on important specification developments for location-based services and have successfully implemented some of these draft specifications, such as the OpenLS Directory Service, in their mobile location services platform. I look forward to working with MapInfo, other OGC members, the OMA and other relevant standards organisations to further advance a harmonised set of worldwide mobile location standards."
Significant Features and Benefits of miAware 2.0
miAware 2.0 is a robust, scalable and highly customisable platform that enables wireless service providers to quickly and easily deliver revenue-generating services for businesses and consumers. Carriers can rely on MapInfo as their single-source vendor for LBS applications, or take advantage of MapInfos partnerships with wireless industry leaders, such as Sun, whose J2EE servers power MapInfo miAware.
Built on MapInfos proven technology and data for mapping, geocoding and routing, miAware provides a comprehensive suite of location specific services using XML, including:
• finding the users current location with a map and details
• find-the-nearest" points of interest, landmarks or friends
• transform a location into ZIP Code, postal boundary, street intersection, and more
• get the quickest directions between two or more locations
In addition, wireless carriers can use the miAware platform to develop their own unique location offerings, customising them to their subscribers needs. miAware also provides a framework for the use of various content provided by third-party partners, such as Yellow Pages, traffic incidents, retail business locations and ATM locations.
miAware 2.0 includes Enterprise Manager, which enables a system administrator to deploy, administer, support and manage miAware from a single installation. A system administrator can easily install and seamlessly maintain the mobile location services platform and all of its underlying components and data, resulting in enhanced performance and reduced downtime. The administration console provides a graphical user interface, making it easier than ever to install, uninstall and configure services, shutdown/restart services and show statistics such as number of transactions, success/failure rates, popular transactions and hit rates.
In addition, with miAwares advanced routing capabilities, users can now receive route plans that best suit their personal travel preferences. For example, users can query for directions that avoid specified road types such as toll-roads or highways. miAwares routing engine can calculate a journey that includes multiple stops. Additionally, the reverse geocoding services have been enhanced, helping users find more useful information about their current location or destination such as the nearest intersections or landmarks. miAware can also be configured to provide users with responses in multiple languages including English, German, Italian, Spanish and many others.
With miAware, MapInfo delivers a technically superior platform that complies with specifications from the LIF and the OpenLS, and has been proven through rigorous integration, testing and acceptance by leading service providers. The new features of miAware 2.0 reflect MapInfos commitment to delivering what our customers are asking for - a robust and flexible platform for the delivery of various, unique location-based applications and solutions," said Larry Delaney, director, location-based services, MapInfo. For example, we now have major enterprise customers using miAware to deliver enhanced services to their customers as well as to enhance internal operational efficiencies. And our carrier customers are finding new ways to deploy location-based services for their customers to get faster roadside assistance, find people or points of interest, or get directions to other locations from where they are currently located."
For more detailed information about the technical features of miAware 2.0, please visit www.miaware.com
About the OpenLS
The Open GIS Consortiums (OGC) Open Location Services Initiative (OpenLS) is devoted to the development of OpenGIS® interface specifications that facilitate the use of location and other forms of spatial information in the wireless Internet environment. The purpose of the Initiative is to produce open specifications for interoperable location application services that will integrate spatial data and processing resources into telecommunications and Internet services infrastructure.
About MapInfo
MapInfo Corporation is a global software company that integrates software, data and services to help customers realise greater value from location-based information and drive more insightful decisions. MapInfo solutions are available in 20 languages through a network of strategic partners and distribution channels in 60 countries. Headquartered in Troy, NY, MapInfo Corporation is on the World Wide Web at www.mapinfo.com. The companys UK and European headquarters are in Windsor, UK.
For further information, please contact:
Matthew Spencer Michelle Adair/ Sue Glanville
MapInfo Limited EuroPR Group
Tel +44 (0) 1753 848200 Tel +44 (0) 20 8971 6413
Email: matthew.spencer@mapinfo.com Email: madair@europrgroup.com
sglanville@europrgroup.com
MapInfo and its products are registered trademarks of MapInfo Corporation. Other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.
Of Note
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. For this purpose, any statement that is not a statement of historical fact is a forward-looking statement, including without limitation statements concerning market demand for MapInfos products and solutions, the potential benefits of MapInfos software to customers, and the integration of MapInfos software offerings with existing solutions. Factors that may cause these statements not to be true or to differ materially from the manner in which they are presented include potential difficulties related to third party integration of MapInfos software, market acceptance of MapInfos offerings, decreased spending by customers or potential customers on technology solutions and the impact of economic trends that affect generally the market for MapInfos software and other product offerings. MapInfo takes no responsibility to update any forward-looking statements.
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