The Podmo platform is part of i-Commute, a trial on Adelaide’s bus service funded by a consortium that includes Adam Internet, UniSA, MIMP, Cisco, WebShield and TransSpot.
Podmo aims to woo more people to use public transport by making travel more entertaining.
With Podmo installed in a bus or train, commuters can use their phone or PDA to browse the web, download and play games, chat using instant messaging, and participate in a whole range of internet applications.
“Having all these applications available for free on a bus will encourage people to use public transport,” says Podmo CEO Che Metcalfe, the Australia-based, Queensland born inventor of the world-first free mobile phone entertainment platform.
“We’re not just helping reduce the commuter’s carbon foot-print, we’re helping reduce traffic accidents caused by people trying to text and drive at the same time!”
In its role as the i-Commute mobile platform partner, Podmo has provided a free-to-access mobile network for Adelaide buses.
Podmo’s patent pending software turns each bus into a mini-community that becomes part of the Podmo community.
“Once connected to the network users can download all forms of content, browse pages, read the news and weather or communicate with each other via text or voice,” Che explains.
Using the solution allows connectivity via either Bluetooth or WiFi to the network, to meet the technical requirements of more than 90% of the mobile phones on the market.
