(Click here for larger view of cellphone running Soleus)Intrinsyc CTO Randy Kath describes event-driven personalization in terms of "themes." To enable event triggers, manufacturers simply decide what events to trigger a theme change for, write code to detect those events, and then call the Soleus Theme API's to change the theme.
GPS is one type of event trigger, as is location, says Kath. The theme API supports existing well-known events, such as World Cup soccer and the Olympics, as well as future event types to be defined by mobile operators and device manufacturers.
In addition to the theme changes involving colors and icons, the theme installation can link into the system folders to re-populate them, exposing new applications to the end user, according to Kath. The application may be pre-installed, or can be included with the theme. The system folder also manages other items, such as browser settings, for example enabling a theme change to alter the home page, favorites, and other common browser settings.
To illustrate the potential of event-driven functionality, Kath cites an example of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing: "Your phone knows where you are, because it's equipped with GPS. As you walk into the venue, all of the features, icons and graphics on your phone change to match the Olympics branding. Your handset begins receiving event results, athlete bios and other relevant information, even appropriate weather, news or traffic updates, all specific to your location. Its all seamless and effortless and your event experience is greatly enhanced."
Intrinsyc is promoting event-driven personalization as a way for mobile operators to increase the what it calls the "holy grail" of ARPU (average revenue per user), a key benefit to mobile service operators. The company suggests that Soleus's new event-driven functionality can result in the user being "constantly served" with event-specific data, and that once the event-based trigger occurs, the user's device becomes a "continuation of the experience." Additionally, event-driven functionality can alleviate the user's confusion" about where to find relevant content. Rather than having to browse for content, it will simply be "pushed" to them based on location.
For further details on Soleus, refer to our coverage of its
rollout at CES 2006, and to the "related stories" below.
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