Category Archives: News

Locatrix Communications will again be a guest of the GSMA at next week’s Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona. The annual congress is the largest mobile industry event in the world, with over 50,00 delegates attending.

Locatrix will be demonstrating its mobile application solutions at the GSMA’s App Garage stand (Hall 7, booth 7APG) during the event, and according to CTO Andrew Eross, it will be a fantastic week in Barcelona.

“Now the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC) is adopting the OneAPI standard as the foundation for network enabler connectivity, interest in the OneAPI will be enormous”, says Eross. “We expect substantial interest in not just our applications but also the Locatrix Developer Portal, which allows operators and other communities to manage third-party access to mobile APIs”.

Locatrix staff members will be demonstrating solutions at Pod 4 during the following times:

• Monday 14th February: 1500-1900hrs
• Tuesday 15th February: 0900-1200hrs
• Wednesday 16th February: 1200-1500hrs
• Thursday 17th February: 1500-1600hrs

If you would like to schedule a meeting with Mark White or Andrew Eross during the MWC, please e-mail mark at locatrix dot com with your request, and we will do our best to fit you in!

Locatrix is really pleased today to unveil Locatrix SNX, a social gateway solution for mobile network operators. SNX lets mobile operators create and monetize social network shopfronts and viral recommendation channels for their value-added services and mobile content.

The following video demonstrates Telstra’s Caller Tones Facebook solution, the first application built using Locatrix SNX.

Based on the extensible Locatrix application framework, SNX-based social applications help mobile operators to promote mobile value added services by encouraging their subscribers to share and make recommendations to their friends.

“SNX Applications can be used to promote or provision any mobile service,” says Andrew Eross, Locatrix Chief Technology Officer. “The solution was designed to help operators open and leverage a fresh channel to their subscribers, turning what is normally a ‘Fan Page’ environment into a service where subscribers can actually engage with and provision their mobile services.”

New SNX applications being developed by Locatrix for our mobile network operator customers include location-based services, mobile payment and also pre-paid fulfillment and management services.

It’s all about engaging subscribers where they already spend time, says Eross. “There’s half a billion Facebook users, and that’s where they spend increasing amounts of time. SNX lets operators engage their subscribers through the social channel, enabling the types of user recommendations that provide viral marketing capabilities. That’s the holy grail of social network marketing, and SNX fulfils this requirement nicely”.

Interested mobile operators can contact Locatrix for additional demonstrations anddiscussions for SNX solutions that best meet their marketing objectives. Facebook users can check out the application here.

Our recent win in the ACS Queensland IT Awards is covered in this month’s Business Acumen magazine. An excerpt is below.

Brisbane-mobile location-based software developer Locatrix Communications has taken out a 2009 Australian Computing Society Queensland ICT Award for the Whereis® Everyone system they developed with Telstra.

Locatrix Communications CEO Mark White said they were delighted to win the Telecommunications Award for the Whereis® Everyone web and mobile phone application that allows friends to locate each other and find places to meet using their Telstra mobile phones.

“The system really is fantastic and allows people to find friends and convenient locations where they can catch up,” Mr White said.

Locatrix, which operates from Queensland Government owned i.lab incubator at Toowong, first developed the mobile Whereis® Everyone application in 2006 and last year helped Telstra launch the web-based version of the application. 

i.lab Chief Executive Officer Anne-Marie Birkill congratulated Locatrix on receiving the award.  ”i.lab works closely with all our client companies to grow their innovative ideas into strong and sustainable businesses and Locatrix is a perfect ambassador for our program,” Ms Birkill said.

“In their three years at i.lab, Locatrix has developed and commercialised their product and established a fantastic partnership with one of Australia’s premier telecommunications companies,” she said.

Ms Birkill said by providing flexible office space, mentoring by industry experienced professionals and entrepreneurs, skills development and networking opportunities and business development support, i.lab was encouraging investment in new technology-based companies and creating knowledge-based jobs for Queenslanders. 

Mr White commented that the success of Whereis® Everyone was down to the exciting range of uses for consumers including being able to share locations with friends and family, help them connect and share experiences as well as find nearby places to meet, like at a coffee shop, restaurant or bar. 

“Whereis® Everyone can send you alerts when your friends or family members are near, and allows you to see any or all of their locations on a map, either on a single mobile screen or from the website,” Mr White said. 

He said the application works on any Telstra Next G^TMmobile.

Mr White said winning the award was fantastic recognition for the Locatrix team and was also evidence of the rapidly growing interest in mobile social networking applications beyond sites like Facebook and MySpace.

Mr White said that unlike tracking applications, Whereis® Everyone gives subscribers full control over whom they share their location with.

“Locatrix and Telstra take the privacy of users very seriously,” he said, adding that safeguards were used to make sure no mobile user is located without their consent.

For more information about Locatrix visit www.locatrix.com and for more information about Whereis® Everyone visit http://everyone.whereis.com.

ENDS

For more information contact i.lab CEO Anne-Marie Birkill on (07) 33279802 or 0419 789 401 or Locatrix CEO Mark White on 0438 900 880 or email mark@locatrix.com.

2009 ACS Qld Telecommunications Award

Locatrix CEO Mark White has been invited to speak on a panel session at this month’s Mobile Asia Congress in Macau.

Entitled “Mobile Internet – Missing Link or Misnomer”, the panel is charged with discussing moneitization of mobile assets for a new Internet – location, charging and demographics, and will be held from 4pm on Wednesday, November 19th in Conference Auditorium 2.

Joining Mr White on the panel will be Mike Singh, CEO Telekom Caribe, terry Ahn, EVP of Global Business for KTF, Kul Wadhwa, Head of Business Development Wikimedia Foundation, and Aggarawal Dheeraj, CEO Altruist Technologies. The penal moderator is Martin Gutberlet, VP of Gartner.

“We’re excited by the opportunity to present at such a distinguished event”, says White. “Through helping network operators to leverage location as a mobile asset, the mobile Internet engages subscribers and makes content experiences more relevant and contextual.”

Mark White will be in Macau for the entire Mobile Asia Congress event.  For more information about Locatrix Communications, or to arrange a meeting with Locatrix in Macau, please contact Locatrix.

Locatrix Communications congratulates Telstra, Australia’s leading mobile network operator, on the media launch of Whereis Everyone. While a mobile version of Whereis Everyone has been available in Australia since late 2006, the new Whereis Everyone service extends the previous release with a whole range of new consumer-friendly features and a rich, dynamic web user interface.

Much more than a friend finder, Whereis Everyone provides subscribers with the ability to define and view personalized location areas, receive alerts on friend locations on specific days at pre-defined times, interact with a variety of different types of points-of-interest (POIs), upload their own photographs, and manage who can view and use their location details within a safe, secure privacy framework.

Whereis Everyone is based on the 3^rd generation release of Uandme, Locatrix Communications’ internationally recognized mobile location and social networking solution. Locatrix uses mobile location to create engaging subscriber experiences, and generate ARPU for its international customers. For more information on Uandme, please contact Locatrix.

Media Coverge Links:

Sunrise (Channel 7 video, Nationally broadcast morning show)
ZDNet.com.au (“Telstra Mobile Users Get Police Powers”)
Computerworld Australia
Google News Search 
The Age (Melbourne)

NICTA teams with Locatrix Communications to bring next generation technologies to emergency services

About NICTA

National ICT Australia Limited (NICTA) is a national research institute with a charter to build Australia’s pre-eminent Centre of Excellence for information and communications technology (ICT). NICTA is building capabilities in ICT research, research training and commercialisation in the ICT sector for the generation of national benefit.

NICTA is funded by the Australian Government as represented by the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and the Australian Research Council through the ICT Centre of Excellence program.

NICTA was established and is supported by its members: The Australian Capital Territory Government; The Australian National University; NSW Department of State and Regional Development; and The University of New South Wales. NICTA is also supported by its partners: the University of Sydney; University of Melbourne; the Victorian Government; the Queensland Government; Griffith University; Queensland University of Technology; and The University of Queensland.

For further information:

Kelly Mills, Communications Specialist, NICTA

Ph: 02 8374 5489 or 0448 434 858

NICTA, Australia’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Research Centre of Excellence has teamed with the Queensland Department of Emergency Services and a Brisbane ICT company to develop tools which will help emergency services agencies obtain timely information about unfolding situations.

NICTA’s Smart Applications for Emergencies (SAFE) project, based at NICTA’s Queensland Research Laboratory, is developing applications and tools to enable the capture and presentation of vital information about emergency situations, ranging from events such as devastating floods and cyclones to incidents like car accidents and fires.

NICTA has teamed with Brisbane company Locatrix Communications in its quest to provide real-time situational awareness information for emergency rescue operations.

“Getting information about unfolding emergency situations to the right people at the right time is of critical importance for emergency services agencies,” Queensland Department of Emergency Services, Executive Manager, Business Strategy Projects Nick Moss said.

“It is important that personnel in local, regional and state operations and coordination centres can quickly form a picture of what is happening in the field. Such information provides situational awareness and can improve response time and effectiveness in emergency rescue operations and can also improve safety of the crew members.”

Locatrix Communications is an innovator in location-based services. Its location services can be used by mobile and distributed enterprises to manage and locate their assets and personnel. The services are also used for mobile social networking.

“We value our cooperation with NICTA as it provides us with an opportunity to contribute to the development of applications supporting emergency services and also gives us insight into the research that can have an impact on our future direction,” Locatrix Communications founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark White said.

One of NICTA’s strategic aims is to collaborate with local technology companies to nurture the Australian ICT industry. The relationship with Locatrix Communications will help build the mobile services industry in Brisbane and elsewhere in Australia.

“Right now we’re seeing that the market is ready for other location-based services, such as mobile social networking and location-sensitive advertising,” NICTA SAFE Networks Project Leader, University of Queensland ITEE Professor Jadwiga Indulska said.

“But in the not too distant future we’ll begin to see mobile computing applications that draw on a much wider range of information than location alone, and that will herald the age of ubiquitous, or pervasive, computing.

“Researchers in the field of ubiquitous computing generally refer to this wider range of data as ‘context information’, and it can include anything from location, to temperature readings to the level of pollution in the air.”

Prof Indulska said the development of this sort of technology will help revolutionise how emergency services organisations can respond to events as they are unfolding.

Locatrix Communications CEO to participate in LBS panel session at the GSM Association’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

Locatrix Communications CEO Mark White will join a stellar industry panel at this month’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to debate “Which Way to Go – The Right Technology for the Right Application”.

Moderated by Frost & Sullivan’s Gerry Purdy, the panel will address a variety of questions including: will location finally become pervasive in cell phones, what kind of accuracy can we expect, and what will be the most popular location-base services (and why).

Joining Mark White on the panel will be:

* Oren Nissim, Chief Executive Officer, Telmap
* Stephen Stuut, Chief Executive Officer, TruPosition
* Tom Babin, Knowledge Management & Discovery, Motolabs (Motorola)
* Kanwar Chadha, Co-founder and VP of Marketing, SiRF Technologies

“Participating in this prestigious event is a real honour”, according to Mr. White, but he also sees the panel as a watershed in the evolution of location-based services. “LBS, and specifically mobile LBS is an ecosystem that requires all the participants – operators, infrastructure providers, and application developers – to work collectively to create a great consumer experience. Bringing together a leadership group like this at the world’s premiere mobile event provides an opportunity to talk about what will be done, not just what could be done, when technology, network operators and application developers work in sync to deliver next-generation location experiences.”

The Mobile World Congress will be held at the Fira de Barcelona from 11-14 February 2008. The “Location, Location, Location” session and panel will be held on Wednesday February 13 at 4:15pm in Hall 5, Level 3, Office 8.

Mr White will also represent Locatrix Communications at a number of other industry and media events during the Mobile World Congress. Please contact us if you would like to arrange a meeting, interview, or product demonstration in Barcelona.

Mobile social networking update extends ARPU-generating features for network operators and content providers

Monday 3rd December 2007 – Brisbane, Australia – Locatrix Communications, the leading developer of mobile social networking and location-enhanced content solutions, today announced an update to Uandme™, its mobile social networking solution. Uandme allows mobile subscribers to view their friends’ locations, receive alerts when they are nearby, and suggest local places to meet. Mobile network operators (MNO) can deploy Uandme to create revenue-generating location-based services for their subscribers.
Uandme Release 2 adds support for Assisted GPS (AGPS) mobile location on supporting handsets, extensible consumer subscription models, and a plug-in framework for adding complementary location-enhanced applications.

The first Locatrix Communications customer to adopt Uandme is Telstra, Australia’s largest mobile network operator. Mario Davoli, General Manager Mobile Applications, Telstra Mobile, is delighted with the Uandme solution. “Locatrix are our close partners in developing and supporting our key location based applications. Their innovations and rapid development process in this space has helped us to continue to provide best of breed services.”

Uandme Release 2 illustrates Locatrix Communications’ commitment to innovation, according to Founder & CEO Mark White. “We work every day to improve our user experience, and also to extend the boundaries of mobile location-based interactions. Now with Release 2 as a framework, we can create extension and companion applications that appeal to a broadening subscriber demographic, and create growing revenue opportunities for our partners.”
Locatrix mobile social networking solutions, including Uandme, are available for deployment by mobile operators as hosted services via licensing or revenue-share models. For more information contact Locatrix Communications.

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About Locatrix Communications

Locatrix Communications uses mobile location to create and shape applications that engage subscribers, and that generate revenue for mobile network operators. Based in Brisbane, Australia, the company supports customers and partners worldwide.
Note to editors: Uandme is deployed on Telstra Mobile as Whereis Everyone™.

Press Contact

Mark White: +61438900880 or pr at locatrix dot com

Locatrix Communications is a big user of open-source software, and our production servers are no exception. After some evaluation we chose Ubuntu Linux for its maintainability and ease of server installation.  We have been rewarded with a very cost-effective solution and 100% uptime.

PC World wrote an article on our Ubuntu successes, and you can read it here.