Xiam includes location-based and web discovery on mobile platform

Mobile discovery service Xiam has announced the inclusion of location-based and mobile web recommendations on the MPOS platform. The Qualcomm-owned company can now send targeted recommendations to subscribers for nearby products and services.

Up until now the MPOS engine has pushed targeted music, video, games and downloadable content to subscribers based on user profiling. With these two new services, location-based offers, mobile sites and widgets have been added to the list of things that can be recommended.

From the release:

“Xiam technology continues to be in the vanguard of a rapidly evolving mobile landscape.  With increased penetration of location-aware devices and networks, our service will allow subscribers to tap into a compelling discovery tool based on their mobile location,” said Colm Healy, vice president and general manager of Xiam.  “We are delighted to bring these future facing applications of our technology to market and believe they will significantly improve how subscribers interact with and use the vast range of services and applications which are now becoming available over 3G networks.”

What we think?

Ok, so location-based services being added to another mobile web service isn’t exactly big news. This seems to be one of those that everyone is doing these days if they want to stay competitive. However, I was interested in Xiams decision to recommend specific mobile widgets and sites. That kind of service could be very desirable to your average smartphone owner. It’s not clear whether “widgets” covers apps as well, but choosing not to cover one of the biggest growth areas of the mobile web would seem an awful like shooting yourself in the foot.