10Best launches LBS content on AT&T's mMode

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- 10Best, an online and wireless travel content provider, is launching its 10Best Explorer on AT&T Wireless' mMode service beginning this week. AT&T's Wireless' mMode subscribers will receive a free 30-day trial to preview 10Best's recommendations for 309 cities worldwide.

10Best powers the 10Best Explorer, marking the first time that location-based services (LBS) for dining, entertainment, or lodging will be available to wireless customers through a North American carrier. After the trial, AT&T mMode customers can subscribe to the service for $1.99 a month.

"AT&T Wireless' mMode customers can now access true location-based destination recommendations with their mobile phone to find the best places to eat, sleep and play in relation to their current location," said Brice Bay, president and CEO of 10Best. "This has the ability to further transform their mobile phone into a can't-leave-home-without-it mobile device."

Content provider

10Best is a technology content and application provider of destination information that provides desktop and wireless users around the world with targeted, localized, unbiased and independently researched recommendations of the "10Best" places to eat, sleep and play in more than 300 cities around the world.

The 10Best Explorer leverages AT&T Wireless's high-speed GSM/GPRS network to calculate the cell-site nearest to the caller's location and deliver the best nearby restaurants, activities or amusements all through a few simple selections. Customers who opt not to disclose their actual location can also browse 10Best recommendations by utilizing more traditional search options like selecting a city name, zip code or area code.

"10Best's innovation in location-based information now gives our customers tremendous convenience in using their wireless phone as a virtual concierge," said Gerry Zagorkski, director of business development for AT&T. "Now, subscribers can easily seek out 10Best's dining, entertainment or lodging options all relative to their current location. It's a wonderful time-saver.

Currently being certified as unbiased by the accounting firm KPMG, the 10Best selection process involves research, anonymous staff visits, and local recommendations.

Wired or wireless

When a customer accesses 10Best from any wired or wireless device, the lists of businesses that are seen are the result of "a long and painstakingly thorough process that we undergo in order to bring to you the best a city has to offer on where to eat, sleep and play," according to 10Best marketing materials.

The company's announced goal is to provide an unbiased city guide "to the most amazing attractions, the most interesting museums, the finest restaurants, the most comfortable hotels and the hippest nightclubs, without a single mediocre entry in the bunch. Every city has businesses and sights to be proud of, and our staff of researchers, writers, mystery travelers, local contacts and editors are dedicated to finding them."

10Best offers wireless carriers worldwide a suite of destination and leisure applications, customized for wireless devices. "10Best Explorer" which leverages the new GPRS networks to pinpoint a users physical location. This allows wireless carriers to offer their subscribers personalized city guides. The service directs users to the nearest and best restaurants, nightclubs, shops, museums, and other businesses.

Mobile users have access to location-based descriptions, reviews, mapping, and directions to each recommended business in 309 cities worldwide. 10Best provides the data and powers the application, enabling wireless carriers to offer a premium "location-relevant" service to their customers. "Virtual Concierge" is protocol agnostic and customizable, ensuring that the 10Best applications fit with a wireless carrier's product offering. 10Best manages all aspects of Virtual Concierge, including data hosting, visual customization and user preference information.

Mobile Olympic Guide

Earlier this year, 10Best teamed with Official Olympic Sponsor AT&T Wireless to create the Mobile Olympic Guide, a guide for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. AT&T Wireless PocketNet service users have access to the “10Best” businesses and application services, including sports venues and event schedules in Salt Lake City and the surrounding resort areas, as well as comprehensive destination and transportation information, driving directions, weather forecasts, and currency converters.

Along with these tools, the Mobile Olympic Guide, also provided users with unbiased information about the “10Best” places to eat, sleet, and play in a variety of dining, nightlife, and leisure categories in Salt Lake City, Park City, Heber City, Provo, and Ogden. Each 10Best listing included a suite of tools, including single-click calling, driving directions, refined descriptions and reviews, Save to My Favorites, and the ability to perform close by searches for other 10Best businesses. 

In addition, AT&T Wireless provided Visitor Information Services of Salt Lake City volunteers with Internet-ready wireless phones and AT&T Wireless PocketNet services.

Along with such services as the Virtual Concierge, Explorer, Guide and Naviguide, 10best has created a variety of products for the wireless industry leveraging the power of location and user personalization.