Kizoom WAP site promises ‘joined-up travel’

The launch today of a personalised travel information service from UK-based Kizoom threatens to bring something that is actually useful to your WAP handset. Even more unusual is that it is up and running now and has been tested for all makes of phone and browser. Aimed at the traveller out and about, the service lets you interrogate rail timetables over the phone. And an incident alert service will be added in a month's time so that you'll be sent an SMS message telling you that the 14:15 to Bristol Temple Meads you just looked up is running an hour late. The service is currently limited to UK train information, but by the end of the year nationwide coach and local London bus services will have been added. Kizoom's ultimate goal is to bring you what it calls a "joined-up travel" international service whereby feeds from different modes of travel will be integrated and you will be able to buy tickets over the phone. The company plans to partner with an existing traffic information service for road information. Kizoom is aware of your location by virtue of the fact that you've bothered to enter it into the calendar along with personal place-markers such as 'home' or 'pub'. It will eventually take account of travel preferences (such as price). Automatic location detection will be added as mobile services mature. All of which means that you won't be using bad public transport as an excuse for being late again. ®