At CTIA, Verisign, iLoop partner to deliver mobile services

When it comes to mobile, there are a lot of moving parts. Multiple carriers, operating systems, device manufacturers, technologies and even regulations from one country to the next can make it tough for companies to launch mobile elements of their business, whatever it may be. These days, though, there seems to be a startup or a partnership out there to solve every business need.

At the CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment show in San Diego, Verisign and iLoop Mobile are among those that are teaming up to offer new mobile services. They're working in the business of mobile marketing - a broad description for services that range from retailers utilizing mobile phones for customer loyalty programs to HP's Snapfish enabling photo sharing via mobile messaging.

Even for HP, this is about more than just a Snapfish app or a mobile web version of its albums page. This is about sharing pictures to a mobile phone, notifying recipients via a link in an SMS message and optimizing the picture for the mobile device. For a product like Snapfish, though, a rollout of a mobile offering like this is no easy task - the site has more than 80 million members in more than 20 countries.

In an interview, ILoop Mobile VP Tilak Kasturi said that its services keep companies from having to bother with the complexities of launching mobile services. He said:

To see everything that's happening across the globe and manage it in one comprehensive way is not an easy task for an enterprise to invest in. Yes, they can do it but would want iLoop and Verisign to deal with it so it can focus on Snapfish business.

The companies are showcasing their technologies at CTIA this week.