Miyowa, a company providing instant messaging and presence enriched Mobile Web 2.0 technologies, today announced the launch of InTouch 5, a community and entertainment solution for the converging mobile operator. According to the company, the mobile application puts the mobile at the center of an end-user’s “digital life”.
By offering users a complete digital life on their mobile device, the application allows them to integrate their mobile address book with social presence, mobile IM, mail, user-generated content such as MP3, pictures and videos, file sharing and location services. Such features, the company believes, will give end users a digital life even when on the go.
The solution uses a Miyowa developed communications protocol which extends the IMPS (Instant Messaging and Presence Service) standard to deliver Web 2.0 functionality including avatars, file sharing and shared multimedia files to Windows Mobile, Symbian, Java and BREW-based mobile device via the world's thinnest client software.
Company sources also added that Miyowa's open communications protocol increases mobile application responsiveness and reaction, resulting in a 50 to 80 percent bandwidth reduction on the carrier network, and increased handset battery life by nearly two times.
Pascal Lorne, CEO at Miyowa, said his company had attempted to tailor their mobile applications to end user requirements. The InTouch 5 application can be leveraged on an operator's existing infrastructure thus making it the ideal solution for carriers looking to take their data plan offerings to the next level.
Stating that Miyowa's InTouch 5 solution was especially advantageous for carriers, company officials said the solution enables carriers to provide customers with increased services over data plans that quickly port to new handset models. This ensures that users do not have to enter into restrictive relationships with social networks and IM providers since operators can incorporate all communities required by users in one comprehensive social networking platform.
Jill Aldort, senior analyst at Yankee Group, said as competition intensified and new subscriber acquisition rates slowed, the mobile market had reached the crossroads.
Aldort added, "Miyowa's InTouch 5 application enables carriers to build a complete community offering that includes Web 2.0 digital assets in an aggregated platform which has not previously been available. As data usage adoption continues to rise, carriers will need to be able to offer the complete Web 2.0 portfolio in order to compete and continue to grow their ARPU and new subscriber base."
A Red Herring Top 100 company, Miyowa was established in 2003 in Paris and processes over 3 million interactions per day. Miyowa offers universal, handset-independent, standard-compliant Mobile Instant Messaging technology. The company recently completed a second round of financing of $8 million bringing their total financing to date to $12.7 million. It is expected that Miyowa’s new funding will be used to further expand their operations into the U.S. and Asia.
Nitya Prashant is a contributing editor for IoTevolutionworld. To read more of Nitya's articles, please visit her columnist page.