Autodesk Launches European Mobile Services Developer Program

Autodesk Inc., (Nasdaq: ADSK), today announced its Autodesk European Location Services Developer Program. This location-based services (LBS) program provides European developers with the resources and support needed to rapidly bring LBS applications and services to market. The LBS market is estimated to reach $200 million EUR by 2007, according to Frost and Sullivan, and wireless carriers around the world are location-enabling their networks to facilitate worldwide demand for LBS services such as social networking, gaming, personal navigation and directions.

Modeled on its successful U.S. program, this new program helps developers create LBS services using Autodesk's open standards platform to market their applications worldwide. Autodesk works with the most successful wireless carries in the world; including three of the five tier-one wireless providers in the United States.

Additionally, the program offers a solid geo-services and location privacy management platform architecture, a standards-based application programming interface (API) for the Web and handsets, as well as technical documentation and support. Autodesk plans to foster location-based developer discussions, blogs, events and discussion groups for the community on an ongoing basis. The European program was created with developers' needs in mind by utilizing feedback from Autodesk's Developer Council, a selected group of LBS developers devoted to guiding and informing Autodesk about the tools needed to bring commercially successful applications to market.

TikGames, an LBS gaming company, is an early member of the developer program. The company is a semifinalist in the EU Navteq Challenge, a contest for companies paving the way for solutions that enhance a mobile lifestyle. "We joined the Autodesk program, after conducting competitive research and determining that their coverage, physical maps and associated data were stronger and visually superior to those of other companies," said Alex Tikhman, Founder of TikGames. "Their platform is amazing to work with; our ability to access their maps and cutting-edge technology empowers us to quickly develop sophisticated, new games . Their program helped us gain marketing exposure for GeoUniverse, our wireless game facilitating a real world treasure hunt, to market."

Specific Aspects of the Developer Program Include:
* Free Connectivity to Hosted LocationLogic LBS Platform: In order to
minimize the risk, cost and speed at which applications are built,
Autodesk's LBS platform enables the creation of services for commercial
deployment, which easily integrate with, and link to, many of the
world's most successful network carriers.
* Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): Standards-based APIs make it
easy for developers to rapidly build and customize services for
deployment without the up-front and ongoing costs of maintaining a
separate server -side LBS infrastructure.
* Software Development Kit (SDK): This kit provides developers with the
building blocks, sample code and documentation needed for the
development process.
* Dedicated Support Services: Developers can take advantage of technical
and business oriented support and aid to bring their services to market.
* A Network of Carrier Relationships: Autodesk provides marketing and
technical support to introduce selected developers to tier-one carriers
and their broad base of network subscribers. Autodesk acts as the
trusted advisor for new applications.
* Suite of Geospatial Services: Includes routing and directions, device
location determination, content management, mobile user and object
tracking, mapping, visualization and navigation, and custom weather
features, etc.