Wireless application service provider Air2Web took a step forward in company growth this week by rolling out its Always Interactive Suite, a wireless enablement platform used to extend enterprise and Internet data wirelessly.
To date, Air2Web has both created and hosted wireless Internet applications for its clients, which include Total Sports, LifeMinders and United Parcel Service. The announcement reveals Air2Web’s intention to allow others to create new applications themselves, built atop the interactive platform.
“What’s new is the platform and the interface is going from something we used to solve other people’s problems to be an openly available platform,” said Patrick Taylor, Air2Web vice president of marketing. “It’s an Air2Web platform that you build your applications on top of.”
Air2Web will still host the solution as an wireless ASP, but the application itself will be one developed by the business sector most intimately aware of how wireless connectivity will enhance that business.
“Before, our professional services team would do all the work,” Taylor said. “Now we’re opening up the platform and letting any developer get access to it. … If you give developers a platform that lets them get to a wide market, that will only grow application development.”
He said Air2Web always intended to get out of the application building part of the business. It only built applications to gain customers and show the market the possibility of wireless connectivity.
“It’s a lot of work,” Taylor said. “One, we could never scale it quickly enough for them. Two, if you put these skills in the hands of someone in the business application space where that’s their expertise, you’re going to see a whole lot more.”
The initial release of the platform supports basic wireless enablement. By the end of the year, Taylor said to look for added support for advertising and billing, as well as security, in future versions.
“The first version is the interactivity,” he said, “In the future, you’ll see us make the capabilities richer and more niche.”
