There are many ways to skin a cat. <<IBM, Motorola team up for wireless business access
By Nicole Volpe
NEW YORK, March 13 (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp (NYSE: IBM) and telecommunications equipment maker Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) said on Monday they are creating software to enable mobile workers to access corporate databases and e-mail via wireless devices, such as cell phones and wireless laptops.
"This is about making mobile workers' lives better," said Janiece Webb, senior vice president and general manager of Motorola's Personal Networks Group. "They will be able to get access to data and e-mail behind firewalls."
The joint software development alliance, to be unveiled in Paris, is the first major push by IBM into the hot wireless arena.
"IBM has not yet declared itself a player in wireless, so it is really their wireless coming out party," said Webb in an interview.
The software combines IBM's technology, which allows different communications systems to interact, with Motorola's voice and data abilities, which enable voice commands to access data.
AVAILABLE IN THIRD QUARTER
The software, which will be sold to telecommunications carriers and other businesses by both IBM and Motorola, is expected to be available in the third quarter of this year.
"Working with Motorola we will get to market faster with a product that operators need to give their business subscribers what they crave - access to information and services, virtually anytime, anywhere," said Mike Bregman, general manager of IBM's pervasive computing division, in a statement.
IBM is already in talks to provide the services to telecommunications companies in the U.S. and globally. IBM and Motorola will bid together on major accounts and determine a revenue split. Pricing has not yet been worked out, but it is seen as a high margin business, Webb said.
"This is one of the high-end pieces," she said. "When you are getting people critical information out of their businesses, you are raising their productivity and saving the corporation money, my suspicion is that you will be able to charge them more for the software."
The companies will jointly establish a centre to create the framework for the new offering, combining Motorola's Internet Exchange, VoxML and WAP (wireless application protocol) technologies with IBM's software, such as EveryPlace Suite, systems and services.
Docomo has a toy compared to what the USA is cooking up!
Greg |
