Verizon Wireless, The American Sailing Association and ekkosoft.us Promote Safe Sailing with the Availability of Get It Now MarineWeather Featuring Marine 411

BEDMINSTER, NJ — Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless service provider, ekkosoft.us and the American Sailing Association, announced today the availability of MarineWeather in the Get It Now® virtual store. A national service providing wireless access to marine weather forecasts and buoy data for sailors, boaters, fisherman and those with coastal lifestyles, MarineWeather lets Verizon Wireless customers with select Get It Now-enabled phones obtain seven-day forecasts, current sea conditions and access to Marine411^TM to access local safety, towing and retail phone numbers. The American Sailing Association endorses the MarineWeather application as a tool that promotes safe sailing.

"By providing boaters better access to current sea conditions and up-to-the-minute marine weather forecasts, ekkosoft.us is enabling boaters to make better, safer decisions," said Charlie Nobles executive director of the American Sailing Association. "The availability of MarineWeather marks a major advance in promoting safe sailing."

MarineWeather data is sourced from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and powered by ekkosoft.us. MarineWeather accesses data from NOAA to offer customers easy reading text forecasts for coastal, offshore, synopsis and advisories for the U.S. contiguous states. In addition, MarineWeather accesses Buoy Stations to provide an easy-to-view graphic that includes forecasted wind speed and direction, wave size, direction and period, sky cover, visibility, humidity, rain percentage and inches, barometer, dew point and air and sea temperature, all subject to geographical availability. Within seconds of picking up a Verizon Wireless Get It Now-enabled phone with the MarineWeather application, customers can also access Marine411 to access local safety, towing and retail phone numbers specific to the customer's location and U.S. Coast Guard station information.

"The wireless phone will become the next piece of essential marine information equipment because of access to Salt Water Tides and MarineWeather — with data sourced from NOAA — plus the Marine411 feature," said Chris Frosk, president of ekkosoft.us. "Ekkosoft.us' mission is to enhance the wireless phone so that it becomes an indispensable piece of marine equipment to make sailing, boating, sea kayaking and fishing safer and more enjoyable and is furthered by making our applications accessible to Verizon Wireless' Get It Now customers."

Boaters can download MarineWeather on the LG VX4400, LG VX6000, Samsung SCH-a530 and the Samsung SCH-a610, a trustworthy phone with a unique rotating flip design. With the Samsung SCH-a610, customers can take photos of friends and family with the built-in camera, then use the flip design to show the photo to everyone on board. Through October 11, 2004, the Samsung SCH-a610 is available for $49.99 with a two-year customer agreement.

MarineWeather is in the getGOING shopping aisle in the Weather category of the Get It Now virtual store. Boaters, fisherman and those with coastal lifestyles interested in sampling MarineWeather can access a free one-day demo or subscribe for $4.99 monthly access. Download charges for Get It Now applications vary and airtime charges apply when browsing, downloading and using certain applications. Customers need a Get It Now-enabled handset and Verizon Wireless digital service to access the Get It Now virtual store.

Verizon Wireless products and services are available in more than 1,200 Verizon Wireless Communications Stores, at participating Best Buy, Circuit City and RadioShack locations and on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com.  

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless is the nation's leading provider of wireless communications. The company has the largest nationwide wireless voice and data network and 40.4 million customers. Headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com. To receive broadcast-quality video footage of Verizon Wireless operations, log onto www.thenewsmarket.com/verizonwireless.  

About Get It Now
Get It Now from Verizon Wireless puts a virtual software store inside a wireless phone and lets customers download applications over the air and purchase them directly from their phones. Virtual shopping aisles, including getGAMES, getTONES, getGOING, getPIX, getFUN and getMESSAGING, are organized to help customers find what they want, when they want it.

About American Sailing Association
The American Sailing Association (ASA) is dedicated to promoting safe recreational sailing in the United States by administering an internationally recognized education system. The ASA is an association of sailors, professional sailing instructors, sailing schools and charter companies. The ASA's education system consists of Certification Standards for students and instructors. These Standards are minimum requirements of knowledge and ability in safety and seamanship. ASA Certification provides documentation of an individual's acquirement and is recognized by many national authorities, charter and insurance companies. Sailors may join the ASA and take advantage of many valuable member benefits. Contact the ASA for more information at www.asa.com.  

About ekkosoft.us
ekkosoft.us, publishers of Salt Water Tides and MarineWeather with Marine411, is the leading publisher of marine content for cellular devices. The company takes a vertical market approach to deliver premium content for boaters and fisherman. As a content aggregator, ekkosoft.us ensures the successful delivery and iteration of wireless data products. ekkosoft.us is headquartered in Newburyport, Massachusetts and on the web at www.ekkosoft.us.  

Get It Now is a registered trademark of Verizon Wireless.

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