Munich/Paris, November 2nd, 2001. Maporama SA, the European leader in online cartography and geocentric information, and WebToGo GmbH, the first complete wireless Internet provider for PDAs, today announced their cooperation. Internet users may now access location-based services when they need it most: on the road. With WebToGo and Maporama, owners of PDA (personal digital assistants) are able to use maps, find places and addresses or organize their travel. In a nutshell: the new cooperation helps travelers to reach their destinations faster.

Using the wireless, real-time connection of WebToGo, users may now find the fastest way around. “We are very excited about the partnership with Maporama. Thanks to the agreement, we are able to offer key location-based information on the go,” said Stephan Peters, Vice President of Marketing. He continues: “The WebToGo browser allows access to all web content, i.e. to any existing HTML site, and is not limited to the restricted offer of WAP. Fast access is guaranteed thanks to the dedicated WebToGo server, which optimizes web pages according to the size and resolution of the user’s PDA display. This is true, above all, for complex content like the comprehensive maps of www.maporama.com which are now just one click away from the palm of your hand.”

“This new partnership with WebToGo is a part of Maporama’s credo that its geocentric products are available everywhere and all the time. It extends greatly Maporama’s cross-platform compatibility, allowing companies to address mobile Internet users regardless of where there are or go.” says Laurent Vermot-Gauchy, Maporama’s CEO.

Maporama.com offers a wide range of online maps and itineraries, allowing Internet users to reach their destination faster and providing a wide variety of additional information regarding their geographical surroundings. Maporama is the worldwide leader in terms of geographic coverage. Over 1,000,000,000 people live in cities covered by detailed street maps available on Maporama’s servers. In addition, Maporama offers many exclusive functionalities, such as multi-modal itineraries allowing for combining different transportation modes within one road book (e.g. subway + on foot).

WebToGo is a complete Wireless Internet Solution for PDAs, providing mobile access to the web, email and SMS. Thanks to the easy installation process, new customers will be able to go online in less than 5 minutes – all without the usual hardship caused by a tedious configuration. Wireless communication is ensured either by connecting the PDA to a data enabled mobile phone – via infrared, modem, or Bluetooth – or by attaching a modem.

For further information, please visit www.maporama.com and www.WebToGo.de.

About Maporama

Maporama SA develops and markets a complete set of geocentric products that provide companies with a powerful tool for increasing their customers’ loyalty. Maporama’s detailed maps and itineraries increase a website’s added value by guiding visitors directly to a specific address in the real world and providing them with relevant location-based information.

Maporama offers the best geographic coverage of all providers: its cartographic database contains over 635,000 cities in all countries in the world, as well detailed street maps of more than 50,000 cities on four continents (Europe, the Americas, Australia, and Asia).

Thanks to Maporama, high-quality maps of the entire world are available to all companies and to all Internet users via any device connected to the Net: Maporama’s solutions are perfectly compatible with all desktop and mobile hardware, including regular PCs, Mac, Pocket PC, Windows CE, Psion, Palm Pilot, WAP phones, set-top-boxes…

Over 400 customers, including Yahoo!, Shell Gas, Europcar, Packard-Bell, Ryanair, and Thomson Multimedia, have chosen Maporama’s personalised solutions to increase their customer’s satisfaction and loyalty.

Maporama is headquartered in Paris and maintains its European presence through a network of subsidiaries (London, Hamburg, Madrid, Amsterdam).
www.maporama.com
wap.maporama.com

Contact partners for press:
Dan Chappell, Andrew Lloyd & Associates
+44 (0)1273 675100
dan@ala.com
Libor Cerny, Maporama
+33 (0)1 44 84 10 22
lcerny@maporama.com