SBC to offer e-mail device that needs no PC
By Ilaina Jonas
NEW YORK, Aug 19 (Reuters) - U.S. telephone giant SBC Communications Inc. <SBC.N> on Thursday said it would offer customers a new device to receive and send electronic mail without a computer in a bid to expand e-mail use beyond traditional computer audiences.
The Internet appliance offer marks the first time a U.S. telephone company has offered such a dedicated e-mail device.
"eMessage will help bridge the information technology gap for the 50 percent of U.S. households that do not have a home computer," Steve Dimmitt, marketing vice president for San Antonio, Texas-based SBC, said in a statement.
For under $180, consumers will be able to order from SBC a 10-inch by 7-inch machine that resembles a hand-held computer with a flip-up display screen. It attaches to a standard phone in a similar manner that a telephone answering machine does.
The e-mail-only Internet service will cost less than $10 a month. If the customer prepays the cost will fall, SBC said.
Once plugged in, the machine, which SBC will market under the name eMessage, will be able to receive or send e-mail messages. E-mail can be created and read offline. Then the user simply connects to the Internet over the phone line to transmit. Delivery ties up a phone line for under a minute.
"The simplicity and affordability of eMessage will deliver information technology to customers who have been traditionally on the low end of the technology curve," Dimmitt said.
eMessage was developed by communications equipment maker CIDCO Inc. <CDCO.O>, the largest maker of caller identification devices.
The Morgan Hill, Calif.-based company manufactures the e-mail machine under the name MailStation and has offered it direct to customers since July 13 via its Web site at www.cidco.com, or through a toll-free number since July.
CIDCO charges $99.95 for the device it sells with a $99 one-year prepaid service subscription. MailStation is also available for $149.95 with $9.95 month-to-month CIDCO service.
Financial terms of SBC's deal to resell CIDCO's e-mail readers were not disclosed.
"This could compliment the PC," said International Data Corp. analyst Kevin Hause. "A PC user doesn't have to go upstairs and boot up his PC to read his e-mail."
Hause said the deal promises to give CIDCO a huge market and distribution pipeline. In return, SBC gains entry to the computer-based appliance market, which the IDC analyst sees as a hot market ready to happen.
"We're definitely a big believer in appliances," he said. "There's a potential of a good-sized market if they get the design, price and service right."
Hause expects the prices for such devices to drop. He also expects San Jose, Calif.-based Landel Telecom -- which makes a similar device, the MailBug -- to strike a comparable deal with another major telephone company.
Landel was founded in 1997 by former CIDCO employees. The MailBug is priced at $169.95 with a monthly $9.95 service. The company also offers prepaid discounts.
Shares of CIDCO Thursday closed up 7/16 at $11-11/16, near its year high.
The e-mail machine also is able to deliver caller identification services. The battery-operated device allows users to read or write e-mail from any location, without being connected to a phone jack or electrical outlet.
SBC, the parent company of Southwestern Bell Telephone and Pacific Bell Telephone, said it would first offer eMessage in test cities in Texas and California in September. It would then expand the offer to the rest of its customers, including those in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas by November.
The company declined to identify the test areas.
19:15 08-19-99
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