FusionOne and Zipwhip Partner to Make Text Messaging on the Web Easier

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FusionOne, the leading provider of mobile phone content portability services, today announced a partnership with Zipwhip, a text messaging utility for the web. Under this partnership, Zipwhip users will be able to use FusionOne’s Network Address Book multi-sync service to import the contacts from their mobile phones directly into Zipwhip, making all of their mobile contacts conveniently accessible on Zipwhip.

“This partnership shows that Network Address Book is more than simply storing mobile phone numbers-it’s about making your address book available to other services.”

With over 100 billion text messages sent every month in the U.S., text messaging has clearly become a full-blown communication medium. Zipwhip is a text messaging utility for the web that gives consumers the ability to send text messages to mobile phones using a web browser, regardless of the mobile service provider. While there are carrier-specific web sites that let users send text messages within the same carrier, Zipwhip is the only solution that can send text messages to anyone with a mobile phone in the U.S.

FusionOne’s multi-sync service, known as Network Address Book, centralizes contact lists across a wide range of communications services, including mobile and web applications and mobile phones. Network Address Book consolidates these contact lists into a single globally accessible location that enables users to update all their address books, driving increased customer satisfaction and usability.

“We’ve always believed that mobile content portability-the ability to move content between both devices and services-can be beneficial to both consumers and carriers,” said Mohan Sadashiva, senior vice president of marketing, FusionOne. “This partnership shows that Network Address Book is more than simply storing mobile phone numbers-it’s about making your address book available to other services.”

Zipwhip is currently live with over 100,000 beta users, with the top 20% of users spending an average of 6 hours and 28 minutes per day on the application. This level of usage on a carrier portal is truly unprecedented-Users have traditionally only used the carrier portal for a few minutes per month to pay their bill.

“One of the top requests we’ve been receiving from our beta users has been the ability to sync their contacts from their mobile phone to Zipwhip,” said John Lauer, CEO, Zipwhip. “These responses, along with the usage statistics we’ve seen, are strong signs that the Zipwhip software is becoming a serious web destination-- something very desirable to mobile carriers.”

About FusionOne

FusionOne is the established leader in mobile content portability, helping mobile subscribers transfer their content between mobile devices and sharing their content with popular internet applications—anytime, anywhere. FusionOne pioneered mobile phone content transfer and its products, including Handset Transfer Solution and Network Address Book, currently support millions of subscribers on many major carriers worldwide. FusionOne’s products have managed and protected over 1.5 billion phone contacts, providing the foundation for the world’s largest social network. Founded in 1998, FusionOne is headquartered in San Jose, California with additional offices in Tallinn, Estonia. For more information, visit www.fusionone.com.

About Zipwhip

Zipwhip is a text messaging utility on the web where users can send and receive text messages quickly and easily. Unlike other messaging applications, Zipwhip is the only application that is focused purely on SMS. Zipwhip works closely with all U.S. mobile carriers in the effort to help evolve text messaging beyond the mobile phone. Its technology introduces ground-breaking functionality while holding true to the distinct cultural aspects of texting that consumers have fully embraced. Zipwhip is headquartered in Seattle, WA. For more information, visit www.zipwhip.com

FusionOne is a registered trademark of FusionOne, Inc. All other product, service and company names are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.