Press archive →

Followap / Press

Press archive, 2000–2007

Every announcement the company made, from the first mobile messenger in the world to a whole country interconnected. The first years of mobile instant messaging, in its own words.

57 releases2000 – 2007
  1. 02 May 2000Followap launches iFollow, the premier interoperable wireless instant messengerThe product launch, from Sunnyvale, California — six months before the first operator deployment. iFollow lets WAP users join customised communities and message across to internet messengers.Platform
  2. 04 Sep 2000Followap's platform completes Ericsson's GPRS Mobile Application Initiative testFollowap passes Ericsson's Mobile Application Initiative performance evaluation for GPRS, clearing its messaging platform for launch on next-generation packet networks.Standards
  3. 21 Nov 2000Followap and LocatioNet create the first location-based mobile instant messaging platformAn MOU to integrate LocatioNet's real-time location platform into iFollow — signed two days before the Eircell agreement.Platform
  4. 23 Nov 2000Followap and Eircell launch the world's first mobile Instant MessengerFollowap's iFollow, branded by Eircell as 'e-merge messenger', becomes the first instant messaging service commercially available on mobile phones — bridging WAP handsets and PCs.Launch
  5. 31 Jan 2001Carmel Ventures leads a $10 million investment in FollowapCarmel Ventures leads a $10 million round, joined by Star Ventures, Koor Corporate Venture Capital and The Israel Corporation — the last two named as the company's initial investors.Company
  6. 20 Feb 2001Siemens and Followap join forces to provide mobile instant messagingAnnounced at 3GSM in Cannes: Siemens Information and Communication Mobile will integrate iFollow into its existing and future mobile application services.Platform
  7. 05 Jun 2001Followap announces a $2 million investment by Siemens' Mustang VenturesSiemens' venture arm invests $2 million, on top of the $10 million Carmel Ventures round closed in January, alongside a commercial partnership to integrate iFollow into Siemens IC Mobile's offering.Company
  8. 16 Jul 2001Vodafone selects iFollow to deliver messaging, presence and location to 93 million subscribersFollowap's own announcement of the Vodafone Group agreement, a month before Vodafone's. Sole provider of IMPL systems across the group, creating what both companies called the largest wireless instant messaging community in the world.Operator
  9. 19 Jul 2001Vodafone introduces instant messaging to its networksVodafone Group signs a global agreement making Followap the sole provider of its instant messaging platform, beginning with Omnitel in Italy and Eircell in Ireland.Operator
  10. 13 Nov 2001Followap launches its Mobile Device Partnership Program (MDPP)A programme to embed Followap's iMMS client — combining mobile IM and MMS in one interface — directly into 2G, 2.5G and 3G handsets, so subscribers never have to install software.Platform
  11. 14 Feb 2002Followap announces support for the Wireless Village initiativeFollowap commits to the Wireless Village specification — the industry effort that became OMA IMPS — and to contributing to the standardisation work itself.Standards
  12. 19 Feb 2002Followap and Samsung Electronics announce a strategic alliance to integrate Followap's IM, Chat and Presence client into Samsung devicesSamsung agrees to embed the iFollow client directly into its handsets. “For the first time, we will be able to provide operators with mobile devices that will enable their customers to truly benefit from advanced messaging services,” said Dale Sohn of Samsung.Devices
  13. 24 Apr 2002Followap and Cellcom sign agreement to integrate IM and Presence into Cellcom's networkCellcom becomes an early operator customer, integrating Followap's instant messaging and presence platforms directly into its network.Operator
  14. 16 May 2002Followap releases the iFollow iMMS Software Development KitAPIs and customisable reference clients so device manufacturers can build and brand mobile messaging clients themselves — a messaging SDK shipped in 2002, six years before the App Store.Devices
  15. 21 May 2002Followap commercially launches Mobile Instant Messaging for Omnitel VodafoneiFollow goes live in Omnitel's network, giving more than 18 million Italian subscribers a branded mobile messenger that reaches phones, PCs and PDAs alike.Operator
  16. 17 Jul 2002Followap's mobile messaging products pass Wireless Village interoperability testingTested for Wireless Village compliance over both SMS and HTTP bearers at the first interoperability event, held in Stockholm in June 2002.Standards
  17. 20 Feb 2003Followap introduces iFollow Push-to-TalkAnnounced at Cannes: instant voice messaging and multi-party voice sessions at the press of a button, built on the presence layer.Platform
  18. 02 Apr 2003iFollow v2.2 certified for Wireless Village — OMA IMPSiFollow v2.2 passes OMA IMPS interoperability certification for Presence, Instant Messaging and Groups, giving Followap the largest Wireless Village footprint in the industry.Standards
  19. 18 Dec 2003Jabber and Followap collaborate on messaging interoperabilityServer-to-server interoperability tests between Jabber's XCP and Followap's iFollow platform clear the way for rival French operators to launch messaging services that can actually talk to each other.Interconnect
  20. 15 Jan 2004Followap releases iFollow 3.0 with a complete Presence Development EnvironmentThe third generation of the platform: IMPS device support and a development environment letting operators and third parties presence-enable their own services.Platform
  21. 10 Feb 2004Followap adds 'Instant Voice' to its iFollow Presence ServerIntegrating NMS Communications' Open Access platform lets subscribers see who is available and turn a chat into a multiparty voice conference — or schedule one that dials itself when everyone is free.Platform
  22. 23 Feb 2004Followap and Pixel Game Technologies introduce presence-aware multiplayer gamingMultiplayer mobile games that can see which of your contacts is actually free to play, built on the iFollow IM and Presence server.Platform
  23. 25 Feb 2004Followap and Motorola complete interoperability testing on IMS and Push-to-TalkThe iFollow Presence Server is tested against Motorola's IMS platform and Push-to-Talk over Cellular service, making presence an inherent component of the operator's network rather than a bolt-on.Interconnect
  24. 03 Mar 2004Industry leaders back server interoperability for instant messaging and presenceA joint endorsement of the Open Mobile Alliance Server-Server Protocol in IMPS 1.1 and 1.2, to let different operators' messaging servers talk to each other.Standards
  25. 22 Mar 2004Followap demonstrates a Presence Extension for Qualcomm's BREW at CTIA WirelessA BREW-based Presence Extension lets third-party developers build presence-aware applications — multiplayer gaming, dynamic address books, push-to-talk — on top of the operator's network.Platform
  26. 23 Mar 2004Followap names Gary Schulman President of the AmericasA former Verizon Wireless executive takes charge of Followap's operations in the Americas.Company
  27. 07 Apr 2004iFollow Presence Server completes OMA interoperability testing for IMPS CSP and SSP 1.2Certification against both the Client-Server and Server-Server protocols. SSP is the piece that lets one operator's presence and IM system connect to another's — the technical groundwork for the interconnect deals of 2006.Standards
  28. 17 Jun 2004Followap integrates its Presence solution with HP technologiesThe iFollow Presence Server becomes a key element of HP's Service Delivery Platform, running on HP Integrity servers under HP-UX or Linux, with HP Services handling integration. Reissued with minor edits on 30 June 2004.Platform
  29. 15 Jul 2004Followap opens a Hong Kong officeAn Asian base to serve growing demand for mobile messaging and presence across the region.Company
  30. 17 Nov 2004Frost & Sullivan confers its 2004 Business Development Strategy Leadership Award on FollowapThe award citation is the fullest contemporary account of the product line — OMA IMPS, BREW, Symbian, J2ME, Smartphone and SIP/SIMPLE clients, an enterprise gateway bridging Microsoft LCS and IBM SameTime, and customers including Vodafone, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Cellcom.Company
  31. 28 Feb 2005Persona introduces presence-enhanced mobile information services in TurkeyA Turkish service developer launches a Mail InfoService on the iFollow Presence Solution, pushing enterprise email content to mobile subscribers based on availability.Operator
  32. 15 Mar 2005IXI Mobile and Followap partner for presence-aware, interoperable messagingIXI's messaging devices gain connectivity to MSN, Yahoo!, AOL and ICQ as well as operator-run communities, over GPRS, CDMA and UMTS.Devices
  33. 12 Apr 2005Red Herring selects Followap for the 2005 Red Herring 100 EuropeFollowap is named among the 100 private European and Israeli companies Red Herring judged to be driving the future of technology.Company
  34. 19 Apr 2005Turkcell selects Followap's Presence and IM solutionTurkcell — then among Europe's five largest GSM operators, with over 24 million subscribers — launches TurkcellMessenger on the iFollow Presence Solution.Operator
  35. 02 Jun 2005Sequoia Capital leads Followap's Series C financingFollowap closes a Series C round led by Sequoia Capital and releases an iFollow Presence Platform built to run over IMS core networks. Carmel Ventures, Star Ventures, ICTech and Koor CVC also participate.Company
  36. 03 Nov 2005Followap research: instant messaging is useful and convenient — and blocked by IT departmentsIndependent UK research commissioned by Followap finds 60% of workers use instant messaging, while compliance fears lead IT departments to block it.Company
  37. 07 Nov 2005Success story: Turkcell launches its own mobile IM and presence serviceA long-form account of the first publicly announced Next Generation Messaging deployment — how Turkcell, with 25.6 million subscribers, specified, built and launched its own branded messenger.Operator
  38. 30 Nov 2005Followap to enable Ogo mobile messaging service launched by Swisscom MobileFollowap's Mobile Messaging Gateway sits behind IXI Mobile's Ogo, the QWERTY messaging device that gave Swisscom Mobile's 4 million customers MSN Messenger and Hotmail on the move.Devices
  39. 14 Dec 2005Followap powers True's Thailand mobile Messenger serviceTrue Corporation, Thailand's only fully integrated communications provider, launches a branded mobile messenger on Followap's platform.Operator
  40. 31 Jan 2006Bouygues Telecom introduces Bouygues Messenger, a presence-based serviceBouygues Telecom's subscribers get a dynamic contact list that shows who is ready to talk — the iFollow Presence platform's first French commercial deployment.Operator
  41. 13 Feb 2006Orange and Vodafone to link mobile instant messaging communitiesAt 3GSM Barcelona, Orange and Vodafone announce the first multi-national agreement to interconnect mobile IM communities under the GSMA's open-standard principles — the 'calling party pays' model applied to instant messaging.Interconnect
  42. 13 Feb 2006Followap powers Vodafone's Interconnect Instant Messaging GatewayThe technology behind the announcement: Followap's Interconnect Platform brings email-style federation to consumer mobile messaging, identifying every Vodafone Messenger customer by their phone number.Interconnect
  43. 15 Mar 2006Followap completes interoperability testing at OMA TestFestAt the OMA's 12th TestFest in Montreal, the iFollow Presence Platform passes interoperability testing against the OMA Presence 1.0 and XDM 1.0 enablers over leading IMS platforms — with Followap deployed in 17 operator networks.Standards
  44. 20 Mar 2006Followap appoints Simon Brown Vice President of Global Sales and Customer OperationsSimon Brown, formerly Vice President Sales and Marketing EMEA at Nokia, joins to lead Followap's sales and customer operations, reporting to CEO Dotan Volach.Company
  45. 09 May 2006Followap to power 3's instant messaging service3 picks Followap's Mobile Messaging Gateway and 3G clients to bring MSN Messenger to its 3.5 million UK customers.Operator
  46. 04 Jul 2006Followap selected for 3 Scandinavia's Instant Messaging serviceFollowap's iFollow Mobile Messaging Gateway and 3G clients bring MSN Messenger to 3's Scandinavian network, letting subscribers see and message their PC contacts from a handset.Operator
  47. 12 Jul 2006Followap wins the Frost & Sullivan 2006 awardA second Frost & Sullivan Business Development Strategy Leadership award ranks Followap first in mobile IM and presence technology, as its operator base reaches 20 networks and more than 200 million users.Company
  48. 08 Aug 2006Followap completes OMA IMPS 1.3 interoperability testingAt the OMA Test Fest in Belfast, Followap's IM Service Centre proves interoperable with the leading handset makers' IMPS 1.3 clients — the groundwork for operator-branded IM, by then powering 25 operator services and over 200 million users.Standards
  49. 01 Sep 2006LG introduces Followap's IM client to its mobile phonesThe LG U300 ships with a dedicated instant messaging key — one press opens the user's messenger community. Followap was the first third-party IM application integrated into a manufacturer's handset.Devices
  50. 07 Sep 2006Nortel and Followap enhance IMS services for real-time communications across wireless and wireline networksNortel picks Followap's iFollow Presence Platform, with its presence and XDMS/GLMS group-list servers, to bring presence to its IP Multimedia Subsystem portfolio across wireless, wireline and cable networks.Platform
  51. 27 Sep 2006Followap completes OMA interoperability testing for the iFollow Presence PlatformAt the OMA Test Fest in Düsseldorf, iFollow PSP 5.0 passes interoperability testing for both the Presence and XDM enablers against leading clients and IMS vendors.Standards
  52. 16 Oct 2006Followap's Interconnect Hub creates the world's largest operator-owned IM communityLinking the Vodafone Group operators, France's national networks and ISP communities, the iFollow Interconnect Hub backs the GSMA's Personal IM drive, and Followap's IMSC now powers more than 15 operator-owned communities.Interconnect
  53. 17 Oct 2006Mobinil selects Followap for Mobile Instant MessagingMobinil launches an operator-branded IM service on Followap's IMSC, turning the handset address book into a live view of who is available, busy, driving or in a meeting.Operator
  54. 17 Oct 2006Wind selects Followap for mobile instant messagingWind launches its own-branded IM service on Followap's IMSC and clients, built around a dynamic address book that shows which contacts are free to chat.Operator
  55. 27 Nov 2006NeuStar acquires Followap for approximately $139 millionNeuStar (NYSE: NSR) buys Followap in cash, citing a customer base of 17 mobile network operators covering over 160 million subscribers. Followap becomes the core of NeuStar's Next Generation Messaging group.Company
  56. 14 Feb 2007NeuStar selected by 3 Italia for mobile instant messagingAnnounced at 3GSM, three months after the acquisition: 3 Italia takes the IMSC and the Mobile Messaging Gateway to give its subscribers both its own IM community and Windows Live Messenger.Operator
  57. 10 May 2007VimpelCom and NeuStar bring mobile IM to RussiaUnder VimpelCom's Beeline brand, the former Followap IMSC and clients deliver presence-enabled messaging to 48 million Russian subscribers, supporting the GSMA's Personal IM initiative.Operator