Picofun launches world's first entertainment application for GPRS

Picofun launches world's first entertainment application for GPRS Picofun Football now available in two flavours, WAP for GSM and GPRS Swedish mobile entertainment company Picofun today introduced the first interactive, multi-user game for GPRS-phones, named Picofun Football. The game, previously solely available for the GSM WAP platform, is a strategic "football manager-type" game where users can buy and sell players to set up individual teams challenging each other in tournaments. Picofun Football was the first multi-user game for WAP and has now been modified to run on GPRS, the standard that is set to supersede GSM as the main communication infrastructure for mobile Internet. Picofun Football has been tested and verified in Ericsson's Mobile Applications Initiative (MAI) labs in Sweden, and is now demonstrated to mobile operators in Ericsson's GPRS containers around the world. - Early on we realized the potentials with GPRS, and rewriting Picofun Football for the platform is a natural step in our strive to be the leading developer of entertainment applications for mobile Internet, says Picofun CEO Johan Lenander. With GPRS, the users can enjoy faster, permanent connections as well as other advantages such as more advanced and complex applications. However, the full force of Mobile Internet entertainment will really be made possible by writing tailor-made software for the GPRS platform, and we expect to release such a product in August. Fully dedicated GPRS application to be released this summer A new game will soon be added to Picofun's portfolio of mobile Internet entertainment applications. It is currently undergoing extensive testing in Ericsson's MAI laboratories where it will be used to showcase the entire strength of the GPRS technology. - What we are doing with this new application is to make sure that we benefit from all the potentials available through GPRS, says Johan Lenander. An interesting quality with GPRS is the possibility to download applications to your phone and then play them locally without having to bother about call costs. Even relatively simple phones are capable of offering advanced and exciting entertainment. - GPRS will provide us with further proof that entertainment will be one of the key drivers in the development of the Mobile Internet, and we are proud to be able to say that Picofun clearly leads this development. - MAI is excited to be a part of bringing entertainment to the Mobile Internet marketplace, says Patrik Svensson, Director of MAI, Ericsson. Gaming is a very important segment of Mobile Internet and we have every confidence that we can help Picofun deliver killer entertainment applications to the market." For more information, contact: Fredrik Syrén Patrik Svensson VP Marketing, Picofun Director of MAI, Ericsson +46 708 218003 +46 8 404 9027 fredrik.syren@picofun.com patrik.svensson@era.ericsson.se PICOFUN Picofun (www.picofun.com) or (wap.picofun.com) develops and markets leading edge mobile Internet entertainment under its own brand, and distributes it via network operators, virtual operators and independent mobile portals to the end user's cellular phone. Picofun is the Venture Cup East winner 2000, a business plan competition hosted by McKinsey Sweden, and also E-challenge 2000 finalist, a pan-European competition to select the hottest Internet & wireless companies in Europe, hosted by E- chron. The company is based in Stockholm and has another office in the Ideon Research Park in Lund. Picofun is owned by its employees and Startupfactory (www.startupfactory.com). ERICSSON Ericsson is the leading communications supplier, combining innovation in mobility and Internet in creating the new era of mobile Internet. Ericsson provides total solutions covering everything from systems and applications to mobile phones and other communications tools. With more than 100,000 employees in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for customers all over the world. The Mobile Applications Initiative, sponsored by Ericsson, supports application developers with testing, training, and consulting as they take their Mobile Internet products to market. ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/06/15/20000615BIT00630/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/06/15/20000615BIT00630/bit0002.pdf