Gravitate and Webraska signs agreement to integrate worldwide navigation services into Location Precise Platform

Gravitate and Webraska signs agreement to integrate worldwide navigation services into Location Precise Platform

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--- Jan. 22, 2001-- Gravitate Inc. and Webraska announced an agreement in which Gravitate will integrate Webraska's Personal Navigation Application Programming Interface (PN-API) providing mapping, navigation and traffic information technology as a core element of the Gravitate Platform for Location Precise wireless Internet services.

The complete solution, incorporating Webraska technology, will be offered by Gravitate initially throughout North America and Europe, and then to the rest of the world. Gravitate markets its products to three primary targets within the wireless Internet industry -- original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and infrastructure providers, carriers and network operators and application service providers (ASPs) or content providers. Combining Gravitate and Webraska's technologies will allow these customers to build enhanced location-based services.

"This agreement represents a union of two solutions that could not be more synergistic," said John Trobough, chief executive officer of Gravitate. "With Webraska as our mapping and routing partner, the Gravitate Platform has very strong technology legs to run on -- we can offer the Gravitate Platform to virtually the whole world, along with one of the world's finest suites of personal navigation applications."

With Webraska technology, the Gravitate Platform allows applications developers to build in a clear visual representation of the precise location of various mobile users, their proximity to each other and their proximity to common points of interest, and then offer door-to-door and shortest travel journey distance to enable them to meet face to face. For example, a user could easily locate the proximity of an available taxi or his/her best friends who happened to be in town.

"This technology integration starts to shape our world and the many things to come," said Trobough. "The agreement also sends a clear signal of Gravitate's commitment to serve the worldwide mobile wireless industry with best-of-breed technology solutions."

"Our respective offerings complement each other very effectively for the provision of value-added location-based services and Gravitate has demonstrated a strong understanding of the Location Precise market," said Charles Nahas, GM for Webraska North America.

"With the ability to locate users via their GVoice technology, adding Webraska's state-of-the-art mapping and routing capabilities to the Gravitate Platform is a natural combination that provides a unique user experience." Location Precise is the next evolution of the convergence of three technologies -- the Internet, wireless communications and mobile positioning -- allowing for a whole new class of advanced applications for wireless devices.

With a Location Precise infrastructure, carriers and network operators can offer services to subscribers based on who and what is proximate to their mobile unit, providing far more relevant content than location-blind or location-aware techniques.

Gvoice, Clouds Makes Gravitate Platform A Best-Of-Breed Mobile User Locating Solution

The Gravitate Platform is deployable even without the Location Precise infrastructure enhancements mandated by FCC E911, thanks to the platform's integrated GVoice technology. This highly sophisticated voice recognition system performs a computer-automated location query of the caller, transforms the location data into an XY coordinate and provides the user with inherently more accurate information based on the exact location of the user. Additionally, through its patent-pending Client Locator and User Discovery System (CLoUDS) algorithms, the Gravitate Platform allows for the use of the real-time location of subscribers and their proximity to each other or to a common point of interest to be integrated into mobile-to-mobile and other applications.

The Webraska product suite enables applications developers and their partners to add door-to-door directions and mapping based on shortest journey time for location-based services such as mobile e-commerce, games, city guides, fleet management and mobile Extranet. Webraska routing applications then directs subscribers along the fastest way to their destination.

Webraska Mobile Technologies
Webraska is the worldwide provider of wireless navigation, mapping and traffic information services and technologies for telecom operators and car manufacturers. Turning mobile devices into worldwide personal navigation systems, Webraska's revolutionary IbDN(TM) (Internet-based Distribution Navigation) patented technology and its Personal Navigation Suite(TM) of value-added services are solving the needs of mobile users everyday, increasing revenues, customer loyalty and brand recognition for leading service providers around the world, including SFR, Vizzavi, KPN, Belgacom, Airtel, Orange, ADAC and VoiceStream.

Helping carriers leverage their UMTS, wireless Internet and location technology assets, Webraska also offers the Personal Navigation API(TM) that allows application developers to launch, in a matter of hours, anywhere in most of Europe, North America and increasingly the Asia-Pacific region, "location and navigation-enabled" wireless applications (location-based services, m-commerce, games, city guides, fleet management, mobile Extranet, etc.). It is available directly to all developers via Webraska's ASP centers and via licensees of the Global Navigation Server(TM) platform and Global Navigation Database.

Webraska's technology has already been chosen by industry leaders, including Phone.com (Openwave), Alcatel, Sagem, Schlumberger, SignalSoft, Wireless Car, PSA, Cellpoint, CT Motion, CPS, Blue Impact, Wapamente and in Fusio.

The company has headquarters in Poissy, France and offices in London; Brussels, Belgium; Madrid, Spain; Rotterdam, Netherlands; Milan, Italy; Stockholm, Sweden; Tokyo; Singapore; Melbourne, Australia; and Montreal. For more information, visit www.webraska.com .

Gravitate Inc.
Based in South San Francisco and founded in October 1999, Gravitate is a provider of best-of-breed enabling technologies and applications for the rapid development and deployment of Location Precise wireless services. The Gravitate Platform is the first comprehensive software solution and suite of applications supporting mobile-to-mobile and static-to-mobile services deployed on wireless devices. For more information, visit www.gravitate-usa.com