Viigo News

#TAXI (#-8-2-9-4) is now available for all Viigo users right when they need it; when searching in Local Interest and Flights and Travel modules

Toronto, ON (November 17, 2009) – Viigo, developer of the popular mobile content and services platform for smartphones and CellWand, a developer of mobile search applications through abbreviated dialing codes, announced a marketing partnership whereby CellWand’s award-winning #TAXI® application will be available as a service within Viigo.

Viigo users will receive instant access to #TAXI (‘Pound Taxi’) in a number of areas of Viigo’s platform, including local interest when searching for Bars, Clubs and Restaurants, local weather, flights and travel information and other relevant areas for users who might be out on the town and potentially in need of a taxi. By accessing #TAXI (# 8-2-9-4) with one click, callers will be able to get connected to the first available taxicab company serving their local calling area, receive a recommendation for a local cab company or the caller can choose the cab company of their choice in any city or town across the country.

Viigo’s mobile content platform is universally recognized as one of the most popular smartphone applications in North America.

“A large percentage of Viigo users are between the ages of 25 and 44, so this really is a great demographic for us to hit and the nature of use allows us to promote to this group in a very timely and relevant way when they are searching for bars, restaurants, movies and travel information.” said Nick Quain, co-founder and CEO of CellWand. “We’re extremely excited about the short and long-term potential of Viigo’s promotional medium”

“#TAXI connects people quickly to a taxi wherever they are, whenever they need one” said Mark Ruddock, President and CEO of Viigo. “It’s all about one click convenience, and that’s what makes it such a great service for Viigo.”

#TAXI is available on 85% of U.S mobile phones with wireless carriers including AT&T Mobility, Sprint and Verizon Wireless and on virtually every mobile phone in Canada, including Bell Mobility, Rogers Wireless and TELUS and has connected millions of callers to taxis.

The service utilizes a proprietary taxi database rating system and allows callers to simply state the name of their city or town in order to be connected. The service includes several unique features:

• Recommending the first available taxicab company best able to serve callers
• Allowing the connection to a preferred cab company
• Avoiding busy signals when connecting to a taxicab dispatch
• Finding the first available taxicab company dispatch during the busiest of times.

ABOUT CELLWAND COMMUNICATIONS INC.
CellWand is North America’s leading provider of mobile search applications through abbreviated dialing codes. Utilizing location based technology, voice recognition and intelligent databases, these lifestyle applications give mobile phone users an easier way of connecting to businesses and information, while providing wireless carriers with increased Average Revenue Per User (ARPU).

CellWand’s first application, #TAXI® (Pound Taxi) is available on virtually every mobile phone in Canada with Bell Mobility, Fido, Rogers, TELUS, Virgin Mobile, Aliant, MTS and SaskTel, and now in the U.S. with AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, Alltel and Boost Mobile. CellWand is a privately held company founded in January 2000 with its headquarters in Toronto, Canada and was recently recognized by IDC as one of the 10 Canadian Wireless Companies to Watch in 2008. #TAXI is a proud corporate sponsor of MADD and MADD Canada as part of promoting an easy way to plan ahead and get home safely after drinking. For more information visit CellWand’s website at www.cellwand.com and www.poundtaxi.com.

World’s third largest telecommunications company to introduce Viigo as first application available as Virtual Preload in Ecuador

(October 01, 2009) – Viigo Inc. (www.viigo.com), developer of the popular mobile content and services platform for smartphones, announced today that Movistar Ecuador, Telefónica subsidiary’s, the world’s leading operator for music, videogames and television, will feature a co-branded version of the award winning Viigo for BlackBerry application as a virtual preload (VPL) across its entire line of BlackBerry devices.

By offering Viigo for BlackBerry as a virtual preload, Movistar Ecuador is giving its customers access to an application that provides customizable news feeds, weather reports, sports information, financial intelligence, the facility to make purchases, participate in social networks, read books, track flights and more the moment they turn on the device.

“Telefonica is one of largest and most innovative telecommunications providers in the world, and we are thrilled to be a partner,” said Mark Ruddock, CEO, Viigo. “Being chosen as the first app to be preloaded on their BlackBerry smartphones within Ecuador is a great first step in what we hope will be a global relationship.”

As a co-branded version of Viigo for BlackBerry, Movistar Ecuador will offer customized content including local news feeds, blogs, weather and more.

“At Telefonica, we want to improve people’s lives by providing innovative services based on information and communication technologies,” said Sergio Almallo, Marketing VP, Movistar Ecuador. “We believe that the addition of Viigo, a robust content gateway for smartphones, furthers that goal.”

The term “virtual preload” is used by RIM to describe the process of automatically provisioning an application icon on a device. In that way, the application can be made available to a user with a single click.

ABOUT TELEFONICA
Telefónica is one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies by market cap. Its activities are centred mainly on the fixed and mobile telephony businesses, while its broadband business is the key growth driver underpinning both. It operates in 25 countries and its customer base exceeds 260 million globally. Telefónica’s growth strategy is focused on the markets in which it has a strong foothold: Spain, Europe and Latin America. For further information about Telefonica please visit www.telefonica.com.ec

Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment partners with Viigo to provide quick and easy access to news, live scores, schedules, rosters and more anytime and anywhere

(September 28, 2009) – Viigo Inc. (www.viigo.com), developer of the award winning mobile content and services platform for smartphones, announced today that it has partnered with the Toronto Maple Leafs to bring Leafs news, scores, schedules, roster information, statistics and more to BlackBerry and Windows Mobile smartphones.

By extending its presence to smartphones, the Maple Leafs are responding to the changing dynamics of information distribution and is addressing the increasing demand from its fans to be able to quickly and easily access information on their favorite team at any time of the day, regardless of where they are.

“We’re excited about our partnership with Viigo which gives our fans unprecedented access to all the information they want to know about the Maple Leafs, where they want and when they want,” said Chris Hebb, Senior VP of Broadcast and Content for Maple Leaf Sport. “Viigo also makes it very easy for Leafs fans to share information about their favourite hockey team with their friends and family anywhere in the world instantaneously.”

Offered as a free service, those who download the application, http://getviigo.com/leafs, to their device will receive a Toronto Maple Leafs version of Viigo complete with dedicated channels for breaking news, live scores, roster, schedules, statistics and more. Further, all the modules news, weather, sports, finance, flight schedules and status, entertainment, local interest Viigo is renowned for are included.

“Viigo is proud to have been selected as the mobile platform for the Maple Leafs one of the world’s most recognized sports brands,” said Mark Ruddock, CEO, Viigo. “At Viigo we are dedicated to finding ways of enriching the mobile experience by providing content that people find compelling whether for work or play, locally or globally and for this reason we are excited to be offering versions of our application for the Maple Leafs.”

Viigo is selected as a core partner by Samsung

(September 1, 2009) – Viigo Inc. (www.viigo.com), developer of the award winning mobile content and services platform for smartphones, announced today that Samsung Electronics, a global leader in mobile industry, will feature Viigo for Windows Mobile in a new on-device application store for Samsung smartphones from September 14, 2009.

“Samsung underwent an intensive evaluation process in order to provide the most competitive applications for Samsung Application Store and Viigo was easily among the top rated,” said Kanghyun Kwon, Vice President of content service team, Media Solution Center, Samsung. “Accordingly, we invited Viigo to be an Innovation Partner, an exclusive invitation only program, so that we may continue to work together to deliver best-of-class products and services to the mobile market.”

At launch, the Application Store will be available in the UK, France and Italy, with more than 30 countries to follow in coming years. The Store will be available on the Omnia and I8910 HD smartphones as well as the forthcoming Omnia II and OmniaLITE devices. In available countries, the Application Store is directly accessible on the smartphone by selecting the Application Store icon in the Internet folder on devices.

“Viigo is pleased to have been selected as a featured application for the launch of Samsung’s Application Store, and honored to have been chosen as a selected partner,” said Mark Ruddock, CEO, Viigo. “Smartphones are really all about apps, and on device stores make it easier than ever for people to identify and download those applications that will heighten both the utility of and enjoyment of their devices.”

People who currently own Omnia will need to download the mobile client from www.samsungapps.com and install it to their device in order to find the Application Store icon. I8910HD customers can upgrade their software by selecting the Application Download icon on their phones.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2008 consolidated sales of US$96 billion. Employing approximately 164,600 people in 179 offices across 61 countries, the company consists of two business units: Digital Media & Communications and Device Solutions. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com

Viigo has introduced support for StatusNet Servers to give enterprises the option of mobile microblogging from behind the corporate firewall

(August 27, 2009) – Viigo Inc. (www.viigo.com), developer of the popular mobile content and services platform for smartphones, today announced the introduction and immediate availability of secure mobile microblogging.  This new feature, ideal for enterprise use, is made possible through the integration of StatusNet within the Viigo application.

Much has recently been made of the surge in popularity of microblogging services Twitter and FriendFeed, among others.  And while these services have proven to be an excellent way for individuals to quickly share information with the world, join in conversations on a particular topic or follow an area of interest, companies have seemingly limited their participation to retail consumer brand awareness campaigns or as a support or help desk tool.  

However, corporate interest in the use of microblogging as a means of enabling greater collaboration is increasing.  This is particularly true of sales teams as they look to improve their ability to rapidly leverage knowledge that exists across the enterprise.  By posting questions to the corporate microblog, immediate dialogue with other sales or presales team members can be initiated and answers quickly identified. This is of great benefit for organizations as it can shorten sales cycles and reduce the need for incremental employees and/or systems.

“We are now seeing a great deal of interest from our corporate customers in leveraging microblogging support within our Enterprise offering,” said Mark Ruddock, CEO, Viigo. “Demand for this service stems primarily from a desire to foster greater real-time (but secure) collaboration within enterprises.  Viigo’s mobile offering is rapidly becoming an integral part of these efforts.”

StatusNet is a free and Open Source microblogging platform that helps people in a community, company or group exchange short (140 character) messages either over the public Internet, or securely via a corporate Intranet. Users can view public conversations, or can choose specific people or conversations to “follow” in order to receive only the content or insights they are interested in.

“We’re excited about Viigo’s support for StatusNet,” says Evan Prodromou, CEO of Montreal-based StatusNet, Inc. “StatusNet enterprise users can now integrate their microblogging experience safely and securely into Viigo’s excellent interface for Enterprise communications. Viigo will be an important tool for CIOs and IT managers who want to use the power of microblogging to keep their workforce connected and informed.”

Viigo for Enterprise allows corporations to deliver all the information employees need to smartphones quickly, easily, and cost-effectively with no additional investment in infrastructure, security, or support systems.  For more information visit, http://www.viigo.com/solutions/enterprise.