ORANGE FRANCE LAUNCHES 118 712 BY TEXT

Orange has launched an SMS directory enquiries service called “118 712 by text” in France. It allows mobile users, with any operator in Metropolitan France, to look up professionals or individuals or perform reverse searches. The user needs to enter an activity or name along with the city or postcode and send it to 118 712. For reverse search one can simply enter a 10-digit telephone number and SMS it to 118 712. Pricing for the service is € 0.50 per request, in addition to cost of the SMS depending on one’s mobile plan. If there are multiple results, 118 712 by text offers a list of up to five choices. Users can then send a text requesting further information at no additional cost for three of the results. There is no charge levied if the service is unable to respond to any user request. In France, Orange also operates 118 712 landline and mobile voice service and the 118712.fr online directory site. -Smarajit Dasgupta

LOCATION SERVICES SPACE HEATS UP WITH POINTABOUT LAUNCH

The location services space has seen the sudden arrival of PointAbout, a Washington, DC-based firm that launched earlier this year to enhance mobile service applications by making websites "location aware." Launched by veterans from Microsoft, GE, and others, one of PointAbout's strengths is the fact that it is able to leverage its understanding of handsets and carriers to develop solutions more easily than firms without such understanding. PointAbout's first customer is real estate firm Long & Foster, for which PointAbout will location-enable their listings. PointAbout is now setting about replicating their Long & Foster agreement everywhere possible.

PointAbout has also submitted the first entry to the Apps for Democracy contest being sponsored by the District of Columbia's Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), digital agency iStrategyLabs, and Mashable. The objective of the contest is to spur innovation from the private sector to utilize data publicly available from the city's data catalog, which provides real-time data from multiple agencies. The city believes access to this information will be a catalyst ensuring agencies operate as more responsive, better performing organizations. Data available runs the gamut from juvenile arrests to vacant property. The contest will divide US$ 20,000 between 60 winners, the highest award value being US$ 2,000 and the lowest being US$ 100. The application deadline is November 12th, and the awards ceremony will take place on the 13th.

After installing the PointAbout application on an iPhone, the application presents the user with a number of "location aware" applications, such as Wi-Fi Hotspots from Zone, Zagat, Events from Yahoo! Upcoming, Movies from Fandango, news, Weather, local gas prices, Yelp, and Washington Metro (some of the applications are not yet enabled). Selecting Washington Metro as an example--this seems to be one of first applications PointAbout introduced--PointAbout displays the closest metro stations, sorted by distance from our location. Selecting a station then allows us to see the next train, get directions to the station, or get more info.

This is a Beta application, so there is no surprise about the fact that we encountered a number of problems, though it's not always possible to determine whether the problem is with PointAbout or with the network. One problem we encountered involved screen navigation--the left arrow buttons don't reliably take you back to the prior screen so it seems faster to get out of the application and get back in rather than to wait to see if the arrow button will work. PointAbout does a great job showing information about the next train. PointAbout pulls up Google Maps to provide directions and pulls in the Metro's home page for more info--both selections are valuable--but the presentations suffer from the fact that neither the map nor the Metro home page have been configured for the smaller phone screen. Another question we had is that while one can install an application in PointAbout--which is of course itself another application--it's not entirely clear that there will always be an advantage to doing this. In the case of Yelp, for instance, the Yelp iPhone app is already location aware. PointAbout will have to differentiate itself somehow in order to justify using Yelp within PointAbout rather than simply within the home screen.

PointAbout CEO Scott Suhy explained recently that their immediate objective is to gain revenue from enterprise agreements, though they anticipate moving towards a 50/50 mix of enterprise revenue and mobile advertising revenue in the future. They expect to be profitable this year and are looking for funding to expand. -Stuart Whitaker

MOBILE COMMERCE’S “NEARME” ON SONY ERICSSON PHONES

Sony Ericsson’s 8.1 megapixel Cyber-shot C905 phone will come preloaded with Mobile Commerce’s “NearMe” application. The tool will also be available for download on the GPS-enabled C702 Cyber-shot and W760 Walkman handsets. UK-based Mobile Commerce describes “NearMe” as a local search service that provides users with detailed address and phone number information on local businesses, amenities, venues, and events, all based on current location using the GPS capabilities of the user’s handset. The application, being offered for free by Sony Ericsson, includes UK wide content such as cinema, club, and gig listings; over 11,000 recommended venues for eating and drinking in; as well as over 1.9 million business search listings, and optimized Multimap maps. Users can also select locations from pre-stored favorites and find, where relevant, additional information such as film reviews, costs, and show times. David Hilton, Head of Marketing at Sony Ericsson UK & Ireland, said, “Creating a Java application with best of breed content was a key objective to showcase our GPS handsets to our prime target market. Following an extensive market search we selected Mobile Commerce as our application partner and we are delighted with the “NearMe” application and have already defined a roadmap of enhancements to bring even more functionality and choice to our customers.” -Smarajit Dasgupta

ZI CORP CONSOLIDATING FOOTHOLD IN ASIAN MOBILE SPACE

Mobile search, text input, and advertising solutions provider Zi Corporation said it has entered into several new licensing agreements within the Asian mobile space. Zi has extended its eZiText licensing agreements with Guohong Communication and Digital Technology Company, an OEM focused primarily on the Chinese domestic market, and with UTStarcom for its mobile device division in addition to the previously announced deal with UTStarcom's IPTV set-top-box division. Zi has also formed an agreement with Longcheer Telecommunication Limited of China, which has licensed eZiText in several languages for use in its mobile handsets. CK Telecom, a Shenzhen manufacturer, has licensed Zi's handwriting recognition product Decuma. Under these agreements, Zi will receive both licensing fees and royalties. Earlier this year with China’s ZTE and Lenovo Mobile, UTStarcom, Kyocera Corp., and Trolltech, all licensed Zi products. Zi Corporation’s president and CEO Milos Djokovic said, "The mobile market in Asia is one of the fastest growing in the world. It is at the forefront of technological design and development, making it a highly competitive and desirable market in which to be a leader. This makes the fact that we have won these major deals in the region over the past few months, all the more satisfying for Zi and proves that our products are recognised as some of the most innovative and forward looking in a market where users are continually looking to maximise the capabilities of their device." Zi has subsidiaries in China and supports the entire region from its Beijing offices. -Smarajit Dasgupta

CHACHA / ROCK THE VOTE BEGINS TO DELIVER

Despite a few delays, Chacha has begun to deliver answers to questions about the US presidential election sent in the US to RTVOTE (788683), a political information program being operated in partnership with Rock the Vote. We sent three queries on October 15th and again on October 20th. We never received answers to the queries on the 15th, but received the responses as indicated to our queries on the 20th:

Query: "What are the positions on climate change?"

Answer: "Both candidates are for controlling emissions to stop climate change and reverse the greenhouse effect. ChaCha for now!"

Analysis: while climate change is considered by many to be the most important issue we are facing, it doesn't rank nearly as high as the economy or the war on terror in American voters' minds. While Chacha's answer doesn't reflect any of the differences in the candidates' positions and isn't likely to excite anyone to go to the polls, the answer seems reasonable given the complexity of the subject, the similarity of the candidates' positions, and the limitations of the SMS media.

Question: "What are the hours of absentee voting in Virginia?"

Answer: "The polls are open (6:00 AM to 7:00 PM). Telephone: 804 864-8901, Toll Free: 800 552-9745. Ask ChaCha 24/7! *Reply VOTE2008 for Election info."

Analysis: This is clearly non-responsive--the right answer to the wrong question. The polls are open on election day, November 4th, from 6 AM to 7 PM. However, many people are interested in voting early by absentee ballot either because they will be unable to vote on the 4th or because of the difficulties Americans have experienced recently with election mechanics. Absentee ballots may only be cast before November 4th at limited locations and may be cast in person during much more limited hours than this answer suggests. Rock The Vote's objective is to increase turnout, so incorrect answers such as this are counter productive. The 2000 election was decided by the US Supreme Court and if this turns out to be a close election, it is likely that there will be extended litigation on voter fraud and voter suppression--including incorrect or misleading voting information such as this.

Question: "What are the odds, the line on the presidential race?"

Answer: "Barack Obama: -600 John McCain: +350 if you were thinking about betting McCain, now is the time as his odds dropped considerably $Rply VOTE2008 for more info."

Analysis: this seems like a reasonable response, consistent with the results we found on www.1800-sports.com/presidential-betting-odds.shtml, which explains that a US$ 100 wager on McCain will pay US$ 600, and a US$ 600 wager on Obama will pay US$ 100. (Linesmaker.com offers a different yet similar response: McCain at 4-1, Obama at 1-7).

Services such as ChaCha are terrific for casual questions and social networking, but they may not be as well suited for questions that people take seriously, involving matters such as heated elections. ChaCha was not available for comment on these results. -Stuart Whitaker