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Spring 2005 Newsletter	Homepage			E-mail a friend

Editorial		News Content
European innovation and European Competitiveness was the main theme of the seminar "Entrepreneurship in Europe", organized two weeks ago in Bercy by Thierry Breton, French Minister of Economy, Industry and Finances and former CEO of France Télécom. The French Minister described Appear Networks as an example of high-tech company that was successfully started in Europe and has now gained global visibility in its industry. It is not a surprise that Appear Networks is formally opening its US office this month, setting up presence in the North American market. The move follows a series of successful deployments in Europe such as the projects conducted with RATP (Paris Subway and Buses), who recently received the Wireless Broadband Awards 2005 in London. Picture: Xavier Aubry (left), VP EMEA Operations Appear Networks, invited in Bercy by Thierry Breton (right), French Minister of Economy, Industry and Finances to discuss European innovation. >> More			Appear Networks and RATP Receive two Wireless Broadband Awards for their subway and bus deployments >> read more
			Leading European Transportation Operators Gather in Stockholm to Explore Future of Wireless Broadband Technologies >> read more
			Appear Networks Continues Rapid Growth in Wireless Enterprise Space with US Market Entry >> read more
			Wireless Airport Communication Platform Powered by Appear Receives EUREKA Label and Secures Funding >> read more

Customer Highlights
Air Transportation	The Wireless Context Aware Services (WICAS) project is a wireless communication platform developed jointly by Appear Networks (Sweden) and Neotilus (France) for European airport operators. WICAS was recently awarded the EUREKA label under EUREKA reference number E! 3342. WICAS integrates several high-end technologies including pinpoint Wi-Fi positioning, new video streaming techniques, advanced VoIP functions and context-aware push of mobile applications in order to optimizes processes such as maintenance, security, customer information and aircraft turnaround.
Ground Transportation	Connex Transport AB, one of Europe's leading private passenger transportation companies with 1,555 million euro in annual turnover in 2004, is deploying the Appear IQ Solution in its Nordic Headquarters. Connex will use the central platform to deploy context-aware mobile services across its different business units. Connex Transport AB operates public transportation services on a contractual basis in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Slovenia. In these highly demanding mobile environments, Connex wishes to make traffic information, security and maintenance applications available to its 25,000 employees, using standard wireless broadband networks and handheld devices, in order to maximize operational efficiency and customer service. The platform, that has been deployed since 2003 in Stockholm, understands who the user is, where he is in the network, and what device he is using, in order to automatically provide him with the right services. For example, when the employee clicks on the “bus interconnection” icon, he will immediately get the application displaying buses leaving from that particular station, with additional details on the platform and the time of departure. When an employee press the “silent alert” icon, a message is sent to the control room together with his exact position in the station.
Technology and Partner Update
Appear Networks hosts first WiFi@Transportation Summit in Stockholm, Sweden The WiFi@Transportation Hubs Summit that took place on April 13th and 14th in Stockholm gathered more than 70 attendees from 11 countries: the Summit was the single largest event dedicated to wireless broadband technologies in Public Transportation. The Wi-Fi@Transportation Hubs Summit enabled delegates to learn, share and experience but most importantly, it brought together colleagues from all over Europe who face similar challenges when deploying wireless broadband technologies. Following the delegates' extremely positive comments on the quality of the event, the organizing committee is now planning to create and drive an informal transportation industry forum focused on wireless broadband technologies. If you are interested in the complete proceedings of the event (CD-ROM), or if you would like to join this industry forum, please contact mia.falgard@appearnetworks.com. More information on the event can be found here.
Appear Networks signs two new partners in Spain and plans roll-out to Spanish Gas Stations Appear Networks recently signed a partnership agreement with TCP Systemas e Ingenieria. TCP SI sent a team to Stockholm in April to undergo Appear Networks certification process. As a result, TCP SI is the first Spanish system integrator to be certified on the Appear IQ 4.x platform. TCP SI is currently working on several projects in the transportation industry. Appear Networks simultaneously signed a partnership agreement with the Wireless ISP Accesso Wireless Alternativos. AWA plans to deploy the Appear IQ platform in over 750 gas stations across Spain this year. The Appear Context Engine will transform the gas stations into digital refuelling stations for the public in order to make their stop more effective. Travellers will be able to download games, videos, local maps and location-based tourist information on their mobile devices and in the future, in their Wi-Fi enabled car. The Appear Context Engine will also deliver enterprise applications and turn the environment into an intelligent workspace: the Workspot.
Appear Networks demonstrates context-aware VoIP functionalities Appear Networks demonstrates the first context-aware implementation of VoIP on the week of the VON Conference in Stockholm: upon entering a Wi-Fi zone, the security officer on call is registered on the Appear call controller in real-time and can be viewed as a new resource on other employees' screens. A mobile frontliner can immediately see that a security officer is available in his zone when the icon appears on his screen. Pressing the icon will automatically start the VoIP client and route the call to the adjacent security officer. Appear IQ, knowing the location and role of all deployed frontline workers, connects a voice call to the closest, appropriate team-member. By eliminating the need to interact with a central dispatch service, Appear IQ inevitably speeds response times in any situation. If a passenger disembarking from an airplane requires a wheel chair, a customer service representative using Appear IQ is quickly connected with the closest colleague with an available chair. This scenario could be extended to follow-up any role-resource relationship, for example finding the closest maintenance engineer on call, or for public users, accessing location-based buddy-lists, etc.
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