Sprint Taps InfoSpace.com To Deliver Net
Directory Services
September 10, 1999
REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., Newsbytes
via NewsEdge Corporation : Sprint PCS
[NYSE:PCS] has announced that
InfoSpace.com, theWeb portal company, will
be providing the core system for its Wireless
Web service.
Sprint PCS' Wireless Web service is one of
the industry's first planned mobile multimedia
(MMM) services for mobile phone users with
handsets equipped with a microbrowser
interface.
The service, which launches commercially in
late September, will allow Sprint PCS
(personal communications services)
subscribers with microbrowser-equipped
handsets to gain access to MMM services on
their cellular phone's screen.
Deals have already been struck between
Sprint PCS and a variety of information
providers, such as MapQuest.com (for mobile
access to maps and driving routes) and
Yahoo (for Web portal data).
However, the deal with InfoSpace.com will
give Sprint PCS users access to a very wide
array of data from a variety of sources.
In late August, InfoSpace.com signed a key
marketing deal with Net2Phone, the Internet
telephony operator, allowing InfoSpace.com
to promote the Net2Phone PC- to-phone and
phone-to-phone range of Internet telephony
services to all its 1,800-plus affiliates.
It will therefore be interesting to see how
Sprint PCS reacts if InfoSpace.com starts
marketing a Net telephony service to its
cellular customers.
To launch its Wireless Web service, Sprint
PCS is now offering a PCS Touchpoint
handset from Denso Wireless. The phone,
which was developed exclusively for the PCS
carrier, is dual band and has been designed
specifically for MMM access.
In return for $199.99, users get a PCS digital
phone that includes Phone.com's UP.browser
microbrowser technology. The handset
supports digital services for use when within
range of a PCS network. For other areas of
the US, the phone supports the older analog
standards.
In use on digital networks, the 5.5 ounce
Touchpoint provides up to 3.25 hours of talk
time and up to 130 hours on standby using
its lithium ion battery. On analog networks,
the talk time is reduced to one hour, while
standby periods are up to 15 hours.
Also available for the Wireless Web service is
a single-band PCS handset from NeoPoint
called the Smartphone NP1000. This is a
handset that includes a full MMM interface,
as well as real-time e-mail capabilities,
contacts, personal scheduler, to-do list, and
wireless modem functions as standard.
Because of its high-end functions, despite
the fact that the handset is only a single
band unit, the NP1000 sells for twice the
cost of Denso unit at $199.
An optional extra for NP1000 is a $199.99
Wireless Web connection kit that includes a
connecting cable for a PC, user guide and
Sprint PCS dialer software.
Sprint PCS' Web site is at
sprintpcs.com .
Reported by Newsbytes.com,
newsbytes.com .
(19990909/Press Contact: Joni Hanson,
InfoSpace.com 425-602-0600; Ashley Pindell,
Sprint PCS 816-559-6702/WIRES TELECOM,
BUSINESS/)
<<Newsbytes -- 09-09-99>>
[Copyright 1999, NewsBytes] |
