uLocate-Latest Press Release on N-Series integration

Boston, MA - April 29, 2008 -- Latest Press Release from uLocate re:N-series integration

"uLocate Communications, Inc. announced today that WHERE is now available to users of the Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia N95 and Nokia N82 devices. As a result, users of these advanced smartphones will be able to customize their device with WHERE to unleash the full potential of their device’s embedded GPS technology. For Nokia N81 users, a self-reported location version of WHERE has also been made available.

WHERE offers users access to over 60 unique location-based applications. These applications deliver content that is based on a user’s current location and include options for local search, weather, news, shopping, events and friend finding. Every application on WHERE allows users to click-to-call, get directions to, or see a map of their selection. Users can also send the location, with a map and directions, to their friends via SMS.

Some of the applications on WHERE are location based versions of content from popular brands. Want to find the cheapest gas available based on your current location? Then choose the Gas Buddy application on WHERE. Wondering where the best place to eat is? Use Yelp on WHERE to get restaurant reviews, directions and more. Hear that your favorite sports team is in town? Find tickets to the game with StubHub on WHERE.

WHERE also gives users access to Buddy Beacon, the world’s largest mobile friend finding community. Buddy Beacon uses GPS technology to let users connect with their friends, share their location and update their status across a number of online social networking sites including Facebook. With Buddy Beacon, users can see their nearby friends on a map and connect with them directly through the application.

WHERE is free to Nokia Nseries users and is easy to access, and install, through the Nokia Download store’s GPS / Location section. This means that with just a few clicks, Nseries users can gain access to the application and begin exploring the world around them, and finding what matters, with WHERE."

Truphone Update -Second round of funding raises USD33m

I posted an entry in January on Truphone and its ambitious plans to become the Skype of the mobile world.

This week the GSMA Mobile Business Briefing reported that Truphone had announced that they had closed a second round of funding worth £16.5 million (US$32.7 million) to help build-out its core GSM network. The news comes just days after the company announced it had acquired SIM4travel, a Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) platform with travel SIM capabilities.

The latest cash injection was led by private investors, with all of Truphone's existing backers - Burda Digital Ventures, Eden Ventures, Independent News & Media and Wellington Partners - participating. The company raised £12.5 million in an earlier round of funding last year.

The company plans to enable low-cost GSM calls worldwide using the travel SIM in tandem with its existing mobile VoIP service, which works with high-end devices such as Nokia's N-series and allows free calling between Truphone users. Truphone aims to disrupt the existing mobile marketplace by offering cheaper international calls than the established mobile operators.

The company's infrastructure incorporates a global network of SIP gateways, a Nokia Siemens Networks mobile network Home Location Register (HLR) and a GSM identifier. The infrastructure is capable of supporting 40 million customers worldwide, Truphone says.

Tuenti -The Spanish Facebook growth story

Madrid-based Tuenti is making waves in the Spanish-speaking social networking space. Billed as the 'Hispanic Facebook', it has managed to register the biggest Spanish-based web community despite still only having a beta-version available of its platform.

The company is playing coy with the figures, but suggests that it already has exceeded Facebook's 380,000 Spanish members.Co-founder Zaryn Dentzel states that Tuenti emphasizes the privacy element of its members above any aggressive growth target...yet, the company has proved extremely capable at expanding its membership. It now serves over 70 million page views every day and the company is already experimenting with advertising.

Tuenti states that even though they will rely on advertising for their revenue, that 'it will not look like normal advertising' but instead will be intergrated within the normal user experience on the website.

The company is now planning to roll-out a mobile version of their website and has recruited a Swede to handle this task and who will join Tuenti's other 18 employees. Possibly the biggest coup (as yet not officially announced) is that Bernardo Hernandez, Marketing Director at Google Spain, will be taking a 1 year sabbatical in order to take over business development at the ambitious start-up. He will join Rupert Van Millinguen, another former Googler, already installed at the company.

Interesting developments lie ahead, particularly as the company builds its mapping capability and rolls out Location Based Services...