kgb Widens Availability of 'kgb Answers' App to Blackberry Devices

NEW YORK, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- kgb, the global information company behind America's most successful text answer service, kgbkgb (542542), today announced that 'kgb Answers,' its premium answer application for smartphones, is now available on Blackberry devices including the Curve 8300 series(TM), Curve 8900(TM), World Phone 8800 series(TM), Bold 9000(TM), 9600 Tour(TM), and the Storm 9500 series(TM). kgb Answers, already available for free download in the iPhone App Store and the Google Android Marketplace since October, will now also be available in Blackberry App World and from the kgb website at www.kgb.com.

kgb also announced today that its new application, "knowtopia," a game that features a rich compilation of some of the best and most interesting questions and answers from kgb's vast answer database is now available for free download on iTunes. "knowtopia" is kgb's first game application that lets consumers enjoy the fascinating questions people have asked the service and the answers crafted by kgb's Special Agents - and also lets consumers participate in polls about the questions too. Consumers can download "knowtopia" and browse all its contents at no charge.

"knowtopia" is an interactive, constantly updated, trivia game experience for a highly mobile culture. The application is easily played by groups where players can compete against the applications or each other. In addition, consumers who want to ask a question of their own can easily text a question to kgb's 542542 text answering service with one click.

"kgb pioneered the ability to deliver precise, accurate answers to any text question in a matter of minutes. Extending our kgb Answers mobile application to Blackberry users means more of kgb's millions of customers who already use smartphones now have access to an even more sophisticated information tool. Consumers who install kgb Answers and send us questions find that our kgb Special Agents respond with the same level of precision as with our text service, but with this application we can deliver even more information with each answer due to the enhanced capabilities of a smartphone," said kgb CEO of Mobile and Digital, Bruce Stewart.

"The launch of knowtopia represents another key milestone for kgb," added Stewart. "When we launched a year ago, we announced that part of our mission was to create a kgb knowledge community - a relationship with our users based on our ability to be a precise and accurate information resource for them, no matter what they needed to know. Their questions have been fascinating and now knowtopia allows anyone to see the interesting, fun, and quirky questions we've received over the past year, along with the answers our Special Agents have delivered. This application is quite entertaining because it gives consumers a peek at the broad range of questions we get, and the ingenuity of our Special Agents. Interactivity is also built into knowtopia in the form of surveys and polls, which will then be fed back into the application's content. Users can also easily share knowtopia content via email and Facebook."

kgb Answers delivers quick and accurate answers to any question. As with kgb's 542542 text answer service, consumers can ask any question, but with kgb Answers, the answers they receive can be linked to maps, addresses and phone numbers, which can then be easily shared with friends via email, SMS or Facebook. Users can create favorites from among all their answers and see what other people are asking, they can browse questions and answers related to the topic of their own question, and they can even link straight to the answer source. Like the original text answer service, kgb 542542, kgb Answers is also powered by live kgb Agents who deliver quick, accurate answers to any question in minutes. The application is free to download and the first three answers are free. Subsequent answers cost ninety-nine cents each.

kgb Answers users can post their kgb Answers to their Facebook profile page newsfeed to show their friends the questions they're asking and kgb's answers: The application also allows users to retain a complete searchable history of all their previously asked questions and answers for future reference. And kgb Answers enables users to have fun browsing the questions kgb has been asked by other people at no charge.

Sample Knowtopia Questions

1. Everyone knows The Buggles had the first ever video on MTV, who did MTV play for the second video?
2. How high can an elevator fall from without killing the people inside?
3. What two records does former President George W. Bush hold?
4. How fast does an airbag deploy?
5. What does the YKK on zippers stand for?
6. Would an astronaut survive if exposed in space?
7. How does mosquito repellent work?
8. Who was the first president born in a hospital?

Knowtopia Answers

1. MTV's playlist for August 1, 1981 shows their second video was Pat Benatar's "You Better Run." The third was Rod Stewart's "She Won't Dance."
2. In 1945 a WWII bomber plane, lost in the fog, hit the Empire State Building. An elevator operator named Betty Lou Oliver fell over 1,000 feet from the 75th floor when the elevator cable snapped. She was injured, but survived.
3. Mr. Bush received the highest approval ratings on record, 90%, after the September 11 attacks. He also holds the honor of the exiting president with the lowest approval ratings, only 22% when he stepped down in January 2009.
4. Frontal airbag deployment takes approximately 30-55 milliseconds. In comparison, it takes 100 milliseconds, or 1/10 of a second, to blink an eye. Side impact airbags typically deploy even faster.
5. YKK was founded in Japan as a zipper manufacturing company in 1934. Today they are the largest manufacturer of zippers. YKK stands for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha.
6. An astronaut can survive at least 15 seconds in a near vacuum (less than 1 psi). A NASA subject was accidentally exposed by a leaking space suit in a vacuum chamber. He later reported his last conscious memory was the water on his tongue beginning to boil.
7. Mosquito repellents don't repel. They simply hide you by masking the chemicals that mosquitoes aim for. Mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide from breathing and the skin, body heat, humidity, and some chemicals in sweat.
8. The 39th U.S. President (1977-1981), James "Jimmy" Earl Carter, Jr. was born October 1, 1924 in Plains, Georgia, the first American president to be born in a hospital.

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About kgb

kgb (www.kgb.com) is a privately held, New York-based company and the world's largest independent provider of directory assistance and enhanced information services. During its fifteen year history, kgb has built some of the most successful and recognizable retail brands in the telecommunications and enhanced information services sector. kgb's European retail brands include The Number 118 118 in the United Kingdom and Le Numero 118 218 in France, both of which have the largest market share in their respective markets. kgb is also the largest and fastest-growing independent wholesale directory assistance service provider in the U.S.

kgb has pioneered the provision of a broad range of wholesale and retail information services beyond traditional directory assistance services, including call completion, movie listings, train schedules, price comparisons and "Ask Us Anything" service across multiple platforms, including mobile and landline phones, SMS and the Internet. In January 2009 kgb launched its U.S. flagship text answer service, kgb 542542 (kgbkgb) following the success of kgb's similar "Ask Us Anything" premium text answer service in the United Kingdom. Last year kgb served more than a hundred million consumers globally and answered nearly a billion questions.

SOURCE kgb