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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
fastmobile Partners With Caudwell Group
CHICAGO, Sept. 8 -- fastmobile, the innovative provider of voice and data instant messaging software for mobile phones, today announced fastchat's launch into the European mobile retail market through a commercial alliance with Wizcom Limited, which is part of the Caudwell Group, the United Kingdom's market leading mobile communications provider.
Beginning in October, fastchat will be available to consumers in the United Kingdom through Wizcom's retail stores, Phones4U. The service will initially be sold on Symbian OS compatible phones, with plans to dramatically increase the number of handsets in time for the Christmas sales boom.
fastchat combines a unique private walkie-talkie style instant voice messaging feature with the latest multimedia messaging capabilities (including picture, video, email and text) into one easy-to-use application that allows subscribers to chat with friends across mobile carriers, handset models and also to PCs globally.
John O'Boyle, European marketing director of fastmobile, said, "This is a major first not just for Wizcom and fastmobile, but for U.K. consumers, as it now makes it easy for consumers to add walkie talkie capabilities to their mobile phones within minutes. Walkie-talkie conversations can now be held on compatible GPRS handsets across all the major U.K. networks and internationally.
"fastchat could easily generate as fundamental a change to our communication habits as email first did, and then SMS. Regardless of all the other mobile industry firsts, fastchat will certainly be one of the killer applications for this year and for the foreseeable future. Today's announcement is merely the first in a series of launches that secures our position as the leading provider of push-to-talk and other innovative mobile communications applications to both mobile operators and distributors worldwide."
Ian O'Reilly, Wizcom director of the mobile value added services arm of the Caudwell Group, adds, "The push-to-talk communications feature has been very successful in the United States. Our launch of fastchat will be one of the first applications to truly use the always-on capabilities of GPRS in the United Kingdom, and we believe that this application is exactly the type of service that will produce incremental revenues in the consumer market."
The service requires no special hardware to be added to either mobile handsets or the operators' networks and does not affect other network operator services. It will be sold as an application to existing phones and as a value added service to new purchasers.
About fastmobile: fastmobile Limited develops advanced messaging technology products for use on all mobile phone networks in the UK.
fastmobile Limited is the UK subsidiary of Chicago-based fastmobile, Inc. The company is backed by private investment and venture capital from US companies BlueStar Ventures, Leo Capital Holdings and Red Barn Investments, and raised $4 million in its first round of funding.
The company employs more than 30 people across offices in America, the United Kingdom and South Korea. More information on the products and people at fastmobile is available at www.fastmobile.com.
About Wizcom: Wizcom Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Caudwell Group, sister companies include Phones4u and 2020 Logistics. Wizcom develop, deliver and actively take to market a range of mobile entertainment, personalisation and service products primarily in the consumer market. Wizcom European products include: Java games distribution, OTA handset configuration, mobile portals and Video clips, as well the traditional ringtones, logos and wallpapers. UK firsts include www.findamobile.com (mobile phone locator), MSN Hotmail (sms alerts) and www.MMSengine.com (true MMS broadcast services). More information can be found at www.caudwell.com and www.wizcommerce.com.
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