Category Archives: News

International Reputation Grows for BITS-backed Wireless Innovator

Brisbane – Wireless start-up company Locatrix Communications has been selected to present at next week’s Global Wireless Venturing Forum (GWVF) event in Singapore. Mark White, Locatrix Communications’ CEO, will showcase the company in an early-stage investment forum, which will be attended by a focussed community of investment bankers, VCs and telecommunications executives from around the world. Locatrix is the only Australian company invited to showcase at this prestigious forum, which is an initiative of the National University of Singapore’s Entrepreneurship Centre.

Participation in this event is the latest accolade for Locatrix which, in addition to commencing trials with a global telecommunications network operator, was last month shortlisted in the national Secrets of IT Innovation competion. The IT Secrets competition is an initiative of the Committee for Marketing ICT of Australia (CoMICTA), consisting of representatives of State and Territory Governments, Austrade, Invest Australia, Department of Communications IT and the Arts (DCITA) and industry associations, and seeks to promote innovative companies in the fields of security, e-commerce, e-health, and wireless applications.

“We’ve been excited by the interest shown for Locatrix in Asia since opening our Singapore office, and the GWVF gives us a solid opportunity to leverage the investment momentum in global wireless initiatives,” said Mark White, Founder and CEO of Locatrix Communications. “Because our service opens revenue opportunities for wireless operators, as well as producity benefits for mobile enterprises, we’re seeing tremendous synergy with each of the partners we are speaking with.”

Locatrix Communications is the developer of Locatrix, a subscription-based service that collates location and context information from any wireless and fixed-network devices used by a subscriber, and securely makes that information available to their selected community of friends, family and colleagues. The service also location-enables office productivity applications such as Microsoft Outlook and any number of vertical market applications.

“Locatrix has been an innovator since before we invested in them,” says Rick Anstey, director of Gold Coast-based BITS fund inQbator and Chairman of Locatrix Communications. “However we’re now seeing the arrows hitting the target – and with wireless applications the sky’s the limit.”

About Locatrix Communications

Locatrix Communications has been formed with a single mission: to ignite the mobile marketplace with a range of innovative consumer- and business-oriented applications that enable the connected to connect. Since securing a seed funding round in late 2003, Locatrix has and secured patents on our sophisticated context and location convergence platform, and run successful technology trials. The Locatrix service will be available via a number of mobile operators in the second half of 2004. For more information, please visit www.locatrix.com.

Press contacts:
Mark White
Locatrix Communications
Tel: 04 3890 0880
Email: pr at locatrix dot com

Sets up regional office in Singapore to spearhead collaboration with mobile operators and enterprises in Asia

Singapore – Locatrix Communications, a venture-backed Australian company that helps mobile device users connect with their colleagues, friends and family, has announced Locatrix(tm), the world’s most advanced Personal Availability Service.

Locatrix is a solution that runs on any network – fixed or mobile – allowing mobile executives and employees to unobtrusively share their availability, context and location with a select group of colleagues, family and friends. “Our key objective is to provide context to mobility”, remarks Mark White, CEO and founder of Locatrix Communications.

“Anytime telephone calls are made without connecting – because the employee is in a meeting, in an aircraft, or somehow otherwise occupied productivity is lost. Our service helps companies by providing useful personal availability information to those that need it, and integrating this information seamlessly into their productivity tools – making it easier for people to successfully connect.”

Locatrix figures that the mobility trend is rising: worldwide mobile phone sales totaled 153 million units in the first quarter of 2004, the highest figure for sales in the first quarter of a year, according to Gartner, Inc. The company also predicts that worldwide mobile phone sales will exceed 600 million units in 2004. “But mobility itself doesn’t bring productivity. Networks create connectivity, but companies still need to ensure people connect with the right people”, said White.

Locatrix has also opened an office in Singapore. The office will initially be used as a platform for Locatrix to establish and service partnerships with telecom operators around Asia. “We are aiming to make Locatrix available to service providers and enterprises over the quarter. Once the infrastructure is up, we will enhance other productivity applications for busy traveling executives who can obtain real time information as well”, added White.

Locatrix allows executives to remain connected with a select circle of colleagues, friends and family over any type of network or device. The solution works over multiple devices – including mobile phones, laptop computers and PDA’s – and networks such as 802.11, LAN, GPRS, CDMA and the Internet, without any further investments in hardware. The solution also interfaces with common personal productivity applications.

About Locatrix Communications

Locatrix Communications has been formed with a single mission: to ignite the mobile marketplace with a range of innovative consumer- and business-oriented applications that enable the connected to connect. Since securing a seed funding round in late 2003, Locatrix has and secured patents on our sophisticated context and location convergence platform, and run successful technology trials. The Locatrix service will be available via a number of mobile operators in the second half of 2004. For more information, please visit www.locatrix.com.

Press contacts:
Jennifer Phang
Phang & Naughton Marketing Services Ltd
Tel: +852 2231 9499
Email: jenn at phangnaughton dot com