MobileAria and WeatherBank Announce Partnership to Avert Delays
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--June 26, 2001--MobileAria Inc., the leading developer of wireless multimedia services for the automobile, today announced a partnership with WeatherBank Inc.
WeatherBank is the first private-sector company to deliver weather information to the Olympic Games, as well as to market leaders in transportation, energy, news and other industries. The partnership will provide MobileAria service subscribers with in-car access to precise weather conditions and forecasts to avoid traffic snarls and road restrictions and closures.
"Knowing impending weather conditions will allow MobileAria subscribers to adjust their plans to avoid the frustrations of traffic jams and maintain productivity," said Michael Orr, CEO of MobileAria. "WeatherBank will provide the current and forecasted weather conditions based on the driver's location, route and destination, customized by MobileAria's routing engines."
WeatherBank provides weather services specific to the transportation industry, including aviation, major trucking lines, railroads and now MobileAria. WeatherBank enables MobileAria subscribers to retrieve weather information from a national perspective to a single square mile, and from a five-day general forecast to a specified hour based on the global positioning system (GPS) included in the service device. In addition, users will be able to keep the customized information in their handheld devices even when not in the vehicle.
MobileAria is creating an open-service platform for delivering wireless Internet content and applications integrated in a non-distracting, hands-on-the-wheel, eyes-on-the-road manner for the in-vehicle environment. The service will be delivered through a hands-free, voice-activated interface that will enable users to increase their productivity while driving. The service will provide access to personal information, wireless Internet access to applications like email (including voice tag email response), news, location-sensitive information, directory services, weather, stock quotes, flight information, directions/routing and traffic information. MobileAria's service will address the voice and data automotive service market, which is expected to grow to $33 billion by 2010, according to UBS Warburg.
"MobileAria is positioned to be a major player in the telematics industry and will demonstrate WeatherBank's value to a new audience," said Steven Root, president and CEO of WeatherBank. "MobileAria's wide multi-channel distribution to motorists with both old and new vehicles furthers our mission to bring the highest-quality, location-specific weather information services to both the consumer and the industrial community."
