Handmark® Partners With ViaMichelin


location based services

PARIS, FRANCE and KANSAS CITY, MO — Handmark®, a global leader in mobile media, and ViaMichelin, the European expert in digital mapping and travel assistance services, today announced a three-year partnership agreement. Under the new agreement, Handmark will issue and distribute digital maps, route planning and the two world famous guides, The MICHELIN® Guide and The MICHELIN® Green Guide, for mobile phones and Smartphones in Europe.

For over 100 years, The MICHELIN® Guide has provided trusted recommendations for hotels and restaurants throughout Europe. The wireless version of The MICHELIN® Guide puts the best choices in restaurants and hotels at your fingertips no matter where you travel and the ViaMichelin maps and driving directions ensure you get there with ease.

ViaMichelin also offers exclusive tourist recommendations taken from The MICHELIN® Green Guide. Having instant wireless access to over 22,000 tourist sights in 23 European countries allows you to get the most out of travelling throughout Europe!

“Handmark is committed to bringing best-of-class services to the European wireless market and The MICHELIN® Guide is a great way to start,” said Sten Karlsson, Vice President and Managing Director of Handmark Europe. “Combining the strengths of the two companies will bring many innovative and unique services into the hands of mobile users over the years to come.”

“Handmark is a recognized leader in applications and services for a mobile generation, and ViaMichelin is the leading provider of travel assistance products and services, so it makes sense that ViaMichelin chose Handmark as our mobile application partner,” said Frédéric Hougard, European Sales Director, ViaMichelin. “Our partnership will give mobile device users a new and much broader opportunity to experience the unique advantages of The MICHELIN® Guide as they travel.”

About Handmark
Handmark is a global leader in the development and distribution of mobile content solutions. The company’s flagship Pocket Express™ wireless service bundle offers consumer-friendly access to news, reference and infotainment content on mobile phones as well as BlackBerry, Palm Treo and Windows Mobile wireless handhelds. The company also holds key mobile content distribution patents including Java-based push technology for wireless devices; it has technology and distribution relationships with CNN International, The Associated Press, Oxford University Press, Hasbro, MobiTV, TV Guide, JAMDAT Mobile and Zagat Survey as well as all major U.S. Mobile Operators; and dominates the market for mobile software sold through retail channels. Handmark has R&D facilities in Gothenburg, Sweden; Kansas City, Missouri; and Dallas, Texas, with sales offices in Kansas City, San Francisco, Stockholm, and London. For more information, visit www.handmark.com.

About ViaMichelin
A wholly owned subsidiary of the Michelin Group, ViaMichelin designs, develops and markets digital travel assistance products and services for motorists throughout Europe. Drawing on over a century of Michelin experience in travel assistance, ViaMichelin, launched in 2001, is aimed at both general public and business users alike. It offers a wide range of services (maps, route plans, hotel and restaurant recommendations, tourist information, online hotel booking service, weather and traffic reports) which are available through a variety of digital channels: the Internet (www.ViaMichelin.com), mobile phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant), portable GPS navigation systems…

For more information, visit www.ViaMichelin.com.