Tamino has an elegant query language that enables short but powerful queries that would twist SQL into pretzels. Allen, Texas-based Wireless Dimensions Corp. is one user of the Tamino native XML database. It is developing an application called Mobile-Venue Suite that will let sports fans use mobile phones and other wireless devices to access a variety of services when they're in or near ballparks or other sports venues. Users will be able to check scores and statistics, order merchandise and food and have it delivered to their seats and test their expertise with trivia quizzes. Rollout is expected by the end of this year.
Services differ for box seats and other seats in a venue, for example.
The trivia quizzes also have stepped levels of skill. Since the application must work in real time over wireless channels, performance and reliability are additional concerns. Not everything maps to a relational table. You can force it, but you only have to denormalize it again for performance. Plus, we're dealing with text, not objects, so an object-oriented database didn't make sense either.