WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

Funambol, a provider of Mobile 2.0 messaging software powered by open source, and Laszlo Systems, a Rich Internet Application (RIA) software and developer of the OpenLaszlo open source development platform, announced that they are integrating the commercial versions of their award-winning Mobile 2.0 and Web 2.0 messaging solutions. The joint offering combines Laszlo Webtop, a unified web-based communication suite that includes email, contacts and calendar, with Funambol’s push email and PIM sync software, which is deployable across 1.5 billion mobile phones. The combined solution enables service providers to rapidly transform their email operations into a compelling new way for consumer and business users to access email, contacts and calendars over the Internet and on mobile devices. The offering also enables service providers to leverage an ad-based model for online and mobile users, providing an important new revenue stream.

“The Funambol-Laszlo solution fills an important void in the market,” said Fabrizio Capobianco, CEO of Funambol. “Service providers are facing a build vs. buy vs. outsource email decision. Many are competing, directly or indirectly, with Web 2.0 email and mobile offerings, from Google, Yahoo!, AOL and Hotmail (LiveMail). The Funambol-Laszlo solution enables service providers to upgrade their email systems to be state-of-the-art and to compete on a level playing field with Web 2.0 and Mobile 2.0 offerings.”

Service providers need to make some difficult choices about their messaging services. Upgrading their internal systems requires extensive time and resources, and developing Web 2.0 and mobile messaging applications, which are now de rigueur, is not their core competency. Most commercially available systems are not competitive in terms of their user interfaces and breadth of mobile capabilities. Outsourcing also does not provide the breadth, depth and rich interface of messaging and mobile offerings from the top portals and search engines. The Funambol-Laszlo solution provides service providers with a world-class Web 2.0 email, contacts and calendar interface, and a push email and PIM sync solution for 1.5 billion devices. The joint solution easily integrates into a service provider’s infrastructure and enables service providers to generate incremental revenue from online and mobile advertising.

"As users move from desktop to mobile devices, they will expect a

richer Web 2.0-like experience on cell phones,” said Antony Campitelli, Vice President of Marketing at Laszlo. “The Funambol-Laszlo solution combines Mobile 2.0 with Web 2.0 to satisfy this need, and in the process, creates a new compelling revenue generator for service providers.”

The Funambol-Laszlo solution is available immediately. For more

information, please visit the Funambol website at http://www.funambol.com or the Laszlo website at http://www.laszlosystems.com.