Mitsui & Co. Global Investment (MGI) - Venture Capital, Start-Up

NEWS 2009

[05/20/2009]

WaveMarket’s Veriplace™ Location Aggregation Platform
Opens Publicly for All Developers

Third-Party Developers Can Now Access
Privacy-Protected User Location Data

EMERYVILLE, CA, MAY 20, 2009 —WaveMarket (www.wavemarket.com), a leader in mobile location-based search and services, today announced the public opening of Veriplace™ , the first location aggregation platform in North America. Veriplace is a standards-based open location and privacy platform that offers third-party developers live access to the location data of mobile phone customers. Developers can access everything they need to location-enable their web, WAP, SMS, widget or mobile application at the Veriplace Developer website, http://developer.veriplace.com/.

Based on the same commercially proven security and privacy solutions used in WaveMarket’s industry-leading Family Locator products already available on tens of millions of mobile phones, Veriplace™ provides web, WAP, SMS, widget and mobile application developers access to a user’s location -- as long as the user grants permission. The platform empowers users with tools to protect their location data, regardless of the technology used to locate them, and unlocks an LBS opportunity for carriers and developers. Mobile users can grant or revoke location permission at any time via the Veriplace™ website or mobile website.

“Veriplace unlocks the huge potential of LBS for application developers because it provides a safe way for carriers to release location data,” said Tasso Roumeliotis, WaveMarket’s CEO. “Veriplace always puts users in complete control of their own location information; data is never released without the user explicitly granting permission. Users can log on at any time and see a complete history of who located them and when the location request occurred, thereby eliminating any surprises about their location data being released. Trust, privacy and user control are all core to Veriplace.”

Features of Veriplace include:

• Location Aggregation:Location-enable all types of applications across a variety of location technologies. Veriplace provides developers with location access for web, WAP, SMS, widget, and mobile applications via a single, consistent web service interface.
• Cross-Carrier Location:Veriplace offers a single web service interface for access to location data from multiple carriers. For example, any social networking application can access location data and privacy settings of users on different carriers via a single API.
• End User Privacy Locker:End users are always in complete control of their location data– location information is never released without a user’s explicit permission.
• Privacy and Security: Simple but specific settings enable users to control which applications and people may access their location, at what time, and with what accuracy. The platform is built on a best-of-breed privacy and security model that protects millions of users across WaveMarket’s existing deployments.
• Compliance, Auditing and Billing:The Veriplace platform performs regular security systems checks on developer partners to ensure that they always use best security practices. Veriplace also tracks all location attempts by technology used, developer and user to support MRC, per locate, and ad-supported revenue models.
• Application on-boarding: Web, WAP, SMS, widget and mobile application developers can streamline the launching of services that take advantage of location information. Developers do not have to come to separate agreements with mobile carriers.

“The feedback from our Beta developers -- web, WAP, SMS, widget and mobile -- has been incredibly positive. We expect the first ones to launch commercially on tier-one carriers using the Veriplace platform in a matter of weeks,” added Roumeliotis. “We are thrilled to open Veriplace publicly to all application developers so that they may offer mobile users a wide variety of powerful location-aware applications.”

“uShip.com is an online shipping marketplace, matching individuals and businesses with shipping needs to thousands of transportation companies that bid for the loads,” said Matt Chasen, CEO of uShip.com. “Veriplace’s web-services location aggregation API makes a great addition to our mobile offerings and enables us to offer shipment tracking to our customers on a level never before seen in the transportation industry. This functionality adds tremendous value to our service and gives us an important competitive advantage.”
All developers can now register for a free developer account to explore the location API, build applications and begin locating phones at the Veriplace Developer Website.

About WaveMarket

WaveMarket Inc., headquartered in Emeryville, Calif., is a world leader in mobile location-based platform and services, offering a software product suite that includes both white-label application solutions and its industry-leading location aggregation platform, Veriplace™. With more than a half-dozen commercial deployments in the United States, Canada, and Latin America, WaveMarket’s white-label solutions include its industry leading family finder, search, and asset tracker, and the Veriplace™Location Aggregation Platform, which provides powerful privacy and security systems to allow carriers to offer third-party developers location access without having to certify each application on a case-by-case basis. WaveMarket’s mobile platform components include turn-by-turn navigation, mobile social networking and dynamic-tiled mapping, all designed to be commercially deployed with partner brands such as the WaveMarket-designed and engineered Ask Mobile GPS. Marketing to brands and mobile carriers in the United States, Europe and Asia, WaveMarket's customers include top-tier North American carriers Sprint Nextel, Alltel, Bell Mobility, Aliant and MTS Allstream, Vivo in Brazil, and SK Telecom, South Korea's leading wireless carrier. Founded in 2000, the company is financed by a group that includes Draper Fisher Jurvetson, QUALCOMM Ventures, BlueRun Ventures (formerly Nokia Venture Partners), Intel Capital, and Mitsui Ventures. For more information, visit http://www.wavemarket.com.