MapQuest Prepares For More Wireless Services

Sagent Technology Inc.'s geocoding software, which MapQuest.com Inc. already uses to translate addresses into latitude and longitude coordinates, will play an increasingly important role at MapQuest. The online mapmaker is expanding its wireless-application services. MapQuest has renewed its license agreement to use Sagent's Centrus GeoStan software. Terms of the new agreement weren't disclosed.

MapQuest is using GeoStan to help create more services for people buying location-aware cell phones, PDAs, and other mobile devices, says Dave Schafer, MapQuest's general manager. The company, for example, has location-specific event and entertainment information available for wireless-device users. MapQuest also builds Sagent software into its commercial mapping and routing apps.