On winning the GSMA Award for Innovation

A few weeks ago, we were nominated as a Semi Finalist for the GSMA Innovation Awards 2009. WorldMate Live was named the most innovative mobile application in a vertical market.

This is of course a great honor. But further then that, it may be an indicator about how the mobile industry and specifically operators are seeing the future. You see - the GSMA is really an association centered around the needs and interests of mobile operators, and these awards were geared towards what is interesting to them. Taking an interest in WorldMate Live is really wanting to get involved in travel, becoming a part of the travel distribution value chain - potentially going beyond being a data-pipe into and taking a part in commercial processes done via mobile devices - m-commerce.

m-commerce has been over-generalized and over-hyped in the past. Most self proclaimed m-commerce companies are really enablers to payment, tracking and so on. That's like saying e-commerce is about clearing credit cards on the Internet. Or like saying Amazon's business is to take money from people. Yes, this is an important enabler and important aspect of it... but it totally misses the point. Building the m-commerce business is about making products that are relevant to consume or purchase while on-the-move, available to purchase in a compelling manner through mobile devices. This is no trivial feat.

Travel is going to be at least as dominant a vertical in m-commerce as it is in e-commerce. Simply because travel is mobility and you consume travel products on the move. This is what WorldMate Live is ultimately about, and we're glad to see the mobile industry is taking an interest.

The Intelligent Travel Agent - Now In Your Holster

Earlier this week we have soft-launched our latest achievement and great hope for the future – our first m-commerce service. WorldMate Live now enables users to book hotel stays directly on their phones.

So what's the big deal you may ask? There are a zillion websites with hotel bookings, no?

But do you want to surf those websites on your mobile?

If you're traveling tomorrow and need a last second solution – wouldn't you rather have someone who tells you "well, you forgot to book, but no worries – I have 3 hotels just around the corner from where your meetings are tomorrow. They're also all 4-stars under $200 a night, best of all - one of them is a Hilton, so you're getting points on your HHonors card."

Well – that's exactly the WorldMate Live way of doing it. Hotel search that is based on the location of your meetings, your brand and budget preferences, and that reminds you to book in case you're embarking on a trip and haven't done so already – and then lets you complete the booking right on your smartphone with a few clicks.

And once you book – all the information flows into your WorldMate Live itinerary so WorldMate can guide you straight there.

Our version 1.0 implementation is integrated with our BlackBerry version of WorldMate Live and includes access to all Hotels.com inventory and prices. Pretty soon we will add platforms and inventory, as well as continue improving the user experience (adding AGPS and much more).

Safe Travels!