(3 May 2006 1:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Soft drink major Pepsi has launched a mobile portal called the 'Pepsi Globe Smart Client' for the youth. Powered by Yahoo! India., this portal will show on mobile handsets as a 'Pepsi Globe' and will provide easy access to the Pepsi Zone.

With this, cell phone users can access Pepsi cricket, Bollywood and music previews, contests, television advertisements, promotions and purchase wireless content and also watch videos without actually having to log on to the net. With this initiative, Pepsi will triple its mobile user interface mediums with SMS, WAP and WAP Client, states an official release.

PepsiCo India EVP marketing Vipul Prakash says, "We believe that by tailoring technological innovations to user comfort, Pepsi has been able to communicate its brand attributes to its target audience in a much more effective manner. In the past, Yahoo! has delivered on phenomenal user interface innovations for us, and the Pepsi Globe Smart Client reiterates our 'dare for experience' and innovative edge in developing mobile content. With this service, Pepsi promises to deliver a superior and unparalleled content browsing experience to subscribers."

Users can access the portal by sending 'THIRST' as SMS to 8243, a WAP site under the URL http://in.wireless.yahoo.com/pepsi. This is for the first time in India that a Pepsi Smart Client is being offered for high-end WAP subscribers that opens a new world of excitement and entertainment at one's fingertips, states the release.

The portal supports mobile content purchase through SMS, WAP and IVR, thereby enabling service providers to brand and market their data services more effectively. Pepsi supports handsets from all leading OEMs, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, Siemens and Panasonic.

While announcing the new initiative, Yahoo! India country manager Neville Taraporewalla says, "Pepsi has always challenged us to develop something special. The Pepsi Globe Smart Client has been developed keeping the end mobile user's comfort in mind. With the help of this software a mobile user will now be able to easily access everyday information at the click of a button on his mobile."

The Pepsi Smart Wap Client is built on the following open platforms:
* Symbian Series 60 and UIQ
* J2ME MIDP 2.0 and JTWI