Inktomi Forges Into Wireless Internet; Wireless Infrastructure for Delivery ofNext-Generation Content, Commerce and
Applications
Tue Mar 14 06:16:00 EST 2000
FOSTER CITY, Calif., Mar 14, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Strategic Investment in AirFlash for Just-in-Time Mobile Phone Content
Alliances with AirFlash, Cap Gemini, GWcom, Hewlett-Packard Company,
Portal Software, Spyglass and Sun Microsystems
Inktomi Corp. (NASDAQ:INKT), developer of scalable Internet infrastructure
software, today announced a broad initiative to deliver infrastructure software
to wireless network operators, Internet portals and global enterprises for the
delivery of next-generation mobile data services. The initiative, which
encompasses Inktomi's portal services and network products, will provide
companies with the ability to deliver revenue-generating mobile services
providing millions of wireless subscribers worldwide with highly relevant,
differentiated content and commerce services.
Inktomi also announced six new alliances to rapidly expand its reach into the
wireless space. These include a strategic investment and alliance with AirFlash
for mobile phone Internet services, and alliances with Cap Gemini and Portal
Software for the provisioning and billing of wireless content and applications,
Hewlett-Packard Company for its wireless hardware platform, Sun Microsytems for
its wireless infrastructure solution set, Spyglass for content transformation
and GWcom to enable advanced mobile commerce services.
"With today's announcement we are firmly planting a marker for the future of
Inktomi as the global wireless infrastructure provider," said David
Peterschmidt, president and CEO at Inktomi. "In the coming years we will invest
significantly in this growth area, leveraging our leadership position in the
Internet infrastructure to become the de-facto provider of core technology for
the wireless Internet. Today's news is the first milestone of many to come from
Inktomi as we become essential to the Internet."
It is estimated that by the year 2005 the mobile e-commerce industry will expand
rapidly reaching 14 billion transactions with a total market of $200 billion(1).
The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association also projects that in five
years there will be 830 million wireless devices globally that will be capable
of connecting to the Internet.
AirFlash powered by Inktomi
Inktomi Search, Directory, and Commerce for Just-In-Time Mobile
Content
Today, Inktomi announced that it has acquired an equity stake in AirFlash Inc.,
a global application service provider for the delivery of mobile content and
commerce services. Under this agreement, AirFlash will integrate Inktomi Search,
Directory and Commerce with its location-based technology, enabling mobile
network operators and Internet portals to deliver personalized content and
commerce designed for mobile users. The joint solution will be co-branded,
"AirFlash powered by Inktomi."
Mobile phones are growing faster than the Internet. By 2003, there will be over
one billion in use with over 60 percent capable of receiving wireless
Internet(2). The private-label AirFlash powered by Inktomi solution will enable
wireless carriers and portals to build a branded, customized portal and mobile
commerce (m-commerce) offering to deliver differentiated mobile Internet
services to subscribers worldwide. These services will be available starting
third quarter 2000.
Unlike other wireless portal solutions that simply repurpose Web content for
mobile phones, AirFlash powered by Inktomi explicitly creates content for the
mobile medium relevant to the user's actual location. Bridging the online world
with the offline, the joint solution enables providers to deliver content such
as yellow pages, restaurants, hotels, real-time traffic, driving directions,
movies and entertainment listings, commerce applications and other information
that is pertinent to the vicinity of a mobile phone user. Users will also have
mobile access to a broad range of products, merchants and content through a
variety of wireless devices including, Wireless Application Protocol-enabled
(WAP) mobile phones and wireless PDAs.
"As a leader in providing the most advanced innovations for mobile Internet
users, we believe this is a significant partnership between Inktomi and
AirFlash. As an existing customer of Inktomi, we can benefit from this
pioneering, integrated portal services platform that will provide users with
highly relevant location-based content and commerce services," said Simon
Durrant, head of Product Marketing, Orange.
"We are delighted to be working with Inktomi to bring together technology and
expertise to extend both companies' leadership in wireless content
infrastructure," said Rama Aysola, CEO of AirFlash. "The AirFlash location-based
solution combined with Inktomi's broad suite of portal service offerings will
bring a powerful OEM solution to Wireless operators and Internet portals."
Portal Software and Cap Gemini
Inktomi Traffic Server for the Provisioning, Delivery and Billing
of Wireless Content and Applications
Inktomi and Portal Software (NASDAQ: PRSF), a leading provider of business
infrastructure software for Internet and next-generation communications
services, today announced plans to develop a platform for wireless content and
applications delivery. The proposed joint solution will provide wireless
operators with a scalable, integrated infrastructure for the provisioning,
delivery and billing of wireless Internet content and applications. This
platform will support emerging wireless protocols, enabling operators to build
high-speed data and WAP services for millions of users.
In addition, Inktomi is announcing an agreement with CAP Gemini, one of the
world's largest management consulting and systems integration companies, to
deliver turnkey integration services based on the integrated Inktomi-Portal
platform. The new alliance will provide wireless operators and Internet portals
the business infrastructure and systems integration required to support
applications and services based on General Packet Radio Service (GPRS),
Universal Mobile Telecommunications Services (UMTS) and Wireless Application
Protocol (WAP).
"We are delighted to be the first integration partner for Inktomi's new offering
which will enable the deployment of a flexible and scalable platform to support
wireless service provisioning and delivery, and real-time billing," said
Jean-Marie Personeni, Chief Technology Officer CAP Gemini Telemedia Lab. "The
combination of Inktomi and Portal Software technologies delivered by CAP Gemini
allows mobile data service providers the benefit of faster time-to-market and
competitive service differentiation."
Hewlett-Packard Company
Inktomi Traffic Server for Hewlett Packard's Mobile E-services
Platform
Inktomi and Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HWP) today announced an alliance to
advance wireless connectivity to the Internet as part of HP's Mobile E-services
initiative for mobile operators and global enterprises. As part of the alliance,
Inktomi Traffic Server will become one of the core components of HP's Mobile
E-services platform, which is an integrated set of hardware, software and
services that forms the foundation for business-critical, mobile solutions. The
joint initiative will provide a scalable platform for mobile operators and
enterprises to expand service offerings beyond simple voice communications, and
enable the rapid deployment of mobile Internet services. In addition, Inktomi
has joined HP's Mobile E-services Bazaar, a program targeted at fostering the
development of services and applications for the mobile communications market.
This solution is scheduled to be available in the second half of this year.
Sun Microsystems
Inktomi Traffic Server for Sun's iFORCE Wireless Infrastructure
Solution
Inktomi and Sun will build on the success of their existing relationship to
create an iFORCE wireless infrastructure solution to enable the delivery of
wireless commerce, communication and content services for wireless operators.
Inktomi Network Products along with iPlanet's wireless communications
infrastructure products and Sun's market-leading platform will be core
components of the solution that will enable the integration of Internet and
wireless services. Under the iFORCE and Sun Portal Essentials program, Inktomi,
Sun and iPlanet will work together to jointly market and sell the wireless
infrastructure solution to service providers, network equipment providers and
carriers to deliver secure, personalized web content anywhere, anytime and on
any device.
Spyglass
Inktomi Traffic Server for Content Transformation on Multiple
Mobile Devices
Inktomi and Spyglass (NASDAQ: SPYG), today announced an extended alliance to
deliver a content transformation solution that takes richly formatted, dynamic
Web content and adapts it to match the capabilities of multiple mobile devices
such as cellular phones, palm devices and laptop computers with wireless modems.
Spyglass Prism integrated with the Inktomi Traffic Server platform is designed
to enable wireless Internet service providers, network service providers and
content providers to deliver faster access and optimal presentation of Internet
content to users of mobile devices such as WAP-enabled handsets and PDAs.
The integrated Inktomi-Spyglass solution fully utilizes Traffic Server's
caching, administration, system management and logging capabilities, and
Spyglass Prism can be distributed over multiple Traffic Server systems in a
scalable and fault tolerant configuration that expands quickly to meet a growing
subscriber base.
This solution is available today.
GWcom
Inktomi Commerce Engine for WAP-enabled Mobile Phones
Inktomi and GWcom, developer of the byair.com Global Wireless Internet Platform
and Applications Service, today announced an alliance to enable advanced
m-commerce services on mobile phones and other handheld devices. byair.com
wireless service will incorporate the Inktomi Commerce Engine for online
shopping on WAP-enabled mobile phones and PDAs. The agreement will enable users
to access powerful E-Commerce capabilities spanning a broad range of products,
merchants, and content.
GWcom, a global, experienced provider of wireless ASP services and the largest
wireless destination site in China, launched its first commercial stock trading
services nearly two years ago, and handles over 6.5M wireless information/stock
transactions per month. The company also supports traditional retailers and
e-retailers to become wireless enabled thereby enhancing customer contact and
retention. The company is based in Santa Clara, Calif. and operates in the U.S.
and China.
About Inktomi
Based in Foster City, Calif., Inktomi develops and markets scalable
infrastructure software designed for ISPs, content delivery and hosting
providers, Web portal and commerce sites, wireless operators and global
enterprises. Inktomi's portal services include the search, directory, and
commerce engine applications; network products include the Traffic Server
network cache platform, Content Delivery Suite and associated value-added
service applications. Inktomi's customer and strategic partner base today
includes such leading companies as America Online, British Telecommunications,
CNET, Excite@Home, Intel, Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, RealNetworks, Sun
Microsystems and Yahoo! The company has offices in North America, Asia and
Europe. For more information, visit inktomi.com.
Copyright (c) 2000 INKTOMI CORPORATION. All Rights Reserved. Inktomi, Traffic
Server, Scaling the Internet, WebMap and the tri-colored cube logo are all
trademarks or registered trademarks of Inktomi Corporation. All other company
and product names referenced herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks
of their respective holders.
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1 Strategy Analytics, RCR Radio Communications Report, January 10,
2000
2 The Yankee Group 1999 Study
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