AIRPRINT NETWORKS SELECTS BRIGHTSTAR AS GLOBAL PARTNER TO SUPPORT AND SELL INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY
Company Taps Brightstar’s Unmatched Global Distribution Access to Bring Print Capabilities to Consumer’s Wireless Handsets
FRAMINGHAM, MASS. – April 18, 2006 –- Airprint Networks announced today they have selected Brightstar Corp., the leading wireless distribution and supply chain management company, as their exclusive distribution partner to support and sell their technology and products designed to easily print information while mobile from a wireless phone or device.
Airprint Networks is a developer of technology for retrieving and printing airline and event tickets, store coupons, mobile maps, entertainment content, and other documents via a mobile device.
According to Airprint CEO Mark Thirman, Airprint’s services will allow consumers to access digital documents and print them from a printer that connects to their wireless phone via BluetoothTM technology. The companies debuted the technology and printer at CTIA’s Wireless 2006 event in Las Vegas.
The benefit for mobile operators/wireless carriers is increased ARPU and a new source of premium subscriber traffic. Operators and their top tier content providers can work with Airprint to “print-enable” content allowing a subscriber to permanently capture a coupon, movie ticket, real-time baseball card, restaurant review and menu, or other business and infotainment items using a simple interface. Operators in Latin America and other markets can use this technology for the wireless delivery of “scratch cards” or prepaid monthly wireless cards in addition to other local content. “We provide a capability that works today without requiring retailers to expensively retrofit their POS or IT systems to document mobile marketing offers.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Brightstar will sell, market, and support Airprint’s patent-pending technology to its network operator customers throughout its global distribution footprint which includes North America, Latin America, Australia, and countries in Asia & Africa.
According to Javier Villamizar, president of High Growth markets for Brightstar, “Airprint Networks’ technology solves the ever-growing need for consumers to be able to access and print data directly from their wireless phone to support our mobile economy. We believe that this solution will provide consumers with greater access to real-time offers while giving marketers and operators further applicability to their advanced data services.”
The companies plan to launch products commercially in the third quarter 2006.
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About Airprint Networks
AirPrint Networks Inc. provides print-on-demand capabilities for mobile phones via a content delivery platform (software as service) and a small portable mobile printer for ordering, retrieving, and printing transactional content. AirPrint Networks is working to solve the key problem of documenting m-Commerce transactions. This fulfills the need with an accepted method of acknowledging payments: paper. The Company’s mission is to deliver a transactional content creation, management, and distribution platform for leading wireless companies, content providers, and handset/printer OEMs. The founding team includes key executives who have delivered hundreds of products that have delighted millions of customers earning billions in revenues over several decades. This privately held company has investors including Alps Electric (Japan). For more information, please visit http://www.airprintnetworks.com.
About Brightstar
Brightstar Corp. is the leading wireless distributor and supply chain solutions provider for the global wireless telecom industry. Headquartered in Miami, FL, Brightstar has operations in Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, U.A.E., Uruguay, the U.S. and Venezuela. The company serves over 220 network operators and 25,000 MVNOs, resellers, retailers and agents around the world and also represents many of the world’s leading wireless manufacturers. The company exceeded $2.25 billion in revenue in 2005. For more information, visit http://www.brightstarcorp.com.