Launch of Android IM client app for Mobile Gateway

RNS Number : 8972L

Synchronica PLC

08 August 2011

 



Synchronica plc

Synchronica Launches Android Instant Messenger Client App for Mobile Gateway

Royal Tunbridge Wells: August 8, 2011: - Synchronica plc, the international provider of next-generation mobile messaging solutions, has launched a Synchronica Mobile Gateway Instant Messaging (IM) client app for the Android mobile operating system, which enables operator-branded IM services on Android Smartphones.

América Móvil will be the first to launch the new client app, which is powered by Synchronica's IMPS platform through all their subsidiaries.   

The IM client app for Android can be downloaded from Synchronica Mobile Gateway or pre-installed by the device manufacturer. The client app supports popular services such as Facebook, Windows Live, Yahoo!, Google Talk, AOL, ICQ, Jabber XMPP and the Synchronica Messenger IM service. The Synchronica IM client app allows users to start multiple IM chats (one-to-one or group) simultaneously, receive push notifications of new messages, switch between multiple IM chats and search for new contacts by their mobile number or IM user name. Operators are also able to provide carrier-owned and branded IM communities to improve customer loyalty and reduce churn.

With a total of 236 million mobile subscribers as of June 2011, América Móvil is the leading wireless services provider in Latin America. As part of a group- wide framework agreement, Synchronica has already deployed a carrier-branded IM service based on and powered by Synchronica's hosted IMPS platform across all of the group's 17 subsidiaries. The launch of the new IM client app for Android will enable América Móvil subsidiaries to extend their carrier-branded IM service to Android users.

Google Inc., Android's parent company, recently announced that its platform has now surpassed Apple's iPhone iOS, and that approximately 500,000 new Android Smartphones worldwide are activated each day. Android already powers a number of devices produced by leading manufacturers such as Samsung, HTC and Motorola Mobility; according to a report from Canalys, almost half of all Smartphones shipped during the second quarter of 2011 were Android-based, up from a third during the opening quarter.

"Making the Claro brand an appealing, long-term proposition for our subscriber base is incredibly important to us," said Enrique A. Viau Najarro, the Regional Sales Specialist of Claro, a subsidiary of América Móvil. "Claro Messenger is a very attractive way of providing subscribers with a low-cost, highly desirable instant messaging service that ties them to the Claro brand. With this client app we can now provide an even better Claro Messenger experience to our Android customers."

Synchronica CEO Carsten Brinkschulte adds: "We are seeing significant growth in Android, particularly in the prepaid and midrange smartphone markets. Service providers like América Móvil see the value in deploying consumer IM solutions alongside operator-owned IM communities as a highly effective means to increase customer stickiness and reduce churn. Now, with the new Synchronica IM client app for Android, operators will be able to offer branded IM services on the fastest growing Smartphone platform."

About Synchronica

Synchronica plc is a leading developer of next-generation mobile messaging solutions. Mobile Gateway, Synchronica's flagship product, provides push email, synchronization, instant messaging (IM), and social networking services to any mobile phone currently in use. Synchronica's patented transcoding engine uses advanced streaming to download email attachments and can dramatically reduce the consumption of network bandwidth by as much as 90 percent.

Mobile operators and device manufacturers from emerging and developed markets rely on Synchronica's white-labelled product for providing mass market messaging services across the entire customer base, diversifying revenues and reducing churn.

Headquartered in England, Synchronica also maintains a development center in Germany and the Philippines in addition to a regional presence in Canada, the USA, Hong Kong, Spain, and Dubai. Synchronica plc is a public company traded on the AIM list of the London Stock Exchange (SYNC) and the Venture Exchange of the Toronto Stock Exchange (SYN). For further information, please visit www.synchronica.com 

For more information, please contact:

Synchronica plc	Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO	[phone]
www.synchronica.com	Angus Dent, CFO Nicole Meissner, COO	[phone] [phone]
Northland Capital Partners
(Nominated Adviser)	Shane Gallwey/Rod Venables	[phone]
(Corporate Broker)	Katie Shelton	[phone]
Walbrook PR Limited		[phone]
(media enquiries)	Paul McManus	[e-mail]
(investor enquiries)	Paul Cornelius	[e-mail]

 

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