Mobile phone Companies are active this week launching new products among the big movers and shakers are Microsoft, Nokia and HP.
First it was Apple’s iPod. Now Microsoft’s taste in fruit has run to BlackBerries. The software giant will today announce several devices that link to mobile-phone services for messages on the go. Microsoft will build on upgrades announced in June to access new e-mail messages. The trick is to imitate Research In Motion’s push e-mail system.
Mobile phones running Microsoft’s software currently use a cumbersome and costly method to update e-mail inboxes. The first four devices with in-built push e-mail will come from phone and computer makers. The star is Hewlett-Packard’s new handheld iPaq hw6900. It’s been released as H-P moves to separate its handheld business from its notebook computers.
Other players include Vodafone and US carrier Cingular Wireless. Canada-based RIM has more than 4.3 million subscribers, the vast majority business users. There are probably about six to 10 million mobile e-mail users, a few hundred thousand using Microsoft software. But with more than a billion mobile users in the world, Microsoft is betting there’s a much bigger e-mail market to open up.
Nokia, which yesterday announced a new handset (See story on next page) has signalled its intentions by buying RIM rival Intellisync for $430 million.
Microsoft hopes to compete on price. For corporations that already have Microsoft’s Exchange Server 2003 software for managing e-mail accounts and its Windows Mobile 5.0 software for phones, the push e-mail upgrade is available at no additional cost. Other corporates need to pay several thousand dollars to purchase a mobile e-mail server and may have to pay an additional licence fee of up to $100.
Australia gets new BlackBerry
It might be in dire strife in the US. But in Australia, Research In Motion is now offering the BlackBerry 7130e for Telstra’s 1xEV-DO mobile broadband network.
The 7130e delivers e-mail and data using the well-known BlackBerry platform, but in a mobile phone design. It can also become a modem for notebook computers. The BlackBerry 7130e claims a bigger and high-resolution LCD screen, Bluetooth support for wireless headsets or hands-free car kits, 64MB of flash memory, dedicated “send” and “end” phone keys, an intuitive user interface and enhanced battery life. A Qwerty keyboard fits within a traditional wireless phone form.
Nokia who last week did not want to know technology writers were this week back sucking up to them to announce availability of the Nokia 9300 smartphone on Telstra’s mobile network using BlackBerry’s “push” e-mail technology. This connects to a corporate or private email service using the BlackBerry server, which is the same email platform deployed by a number of Australian companies.