At least one company hopes to pull its weight during the 2004 Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, this month.
The contest involving more than 1,700 participants in swimming, running and biking is the subject of a new subscription-based service that delivers news updates to mobile phones via SMS.
WiggleWireless wormed its way into delivering the service. Spearheaded by longtime wireless executive Jeffrey Pokonosky and electrical engineer/patent attorney Bill Kolegraff, the company worked three years to make its first service happen, according to Pokonosky. The company is named after a baseball trading card term, in part because it initially considered developing wireless trading card apps.
Switching gears to go after fanatical followers of niche sporting events, the company developed the new service in partnership with World Triathlon Corporation and Ironmanlive.com.
True to the entrepreneurial style, Pokonosky says he could track when the sun rose and set in places such as New Zealand and Germany from which international fans sought the latest information. Ironman Wireless includes up to five channels, or categories, such as post-event wrap-up activities Oct. 16 and 17. Subscribers pay a 1-time charge of $9.95.
If WiggleWireless' first event is deemed a success, it hopes to do more. With 28 Ironman competitions around the world, it could be in for some heavy lifting.
