better understanding.........of web-base communication services
Monday March 1, 6:07 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Millennium Year Will Be Big For
Wireless Data, Projects Andrew
Seybold's Outlook
Vendor Cooperation Critical
BOULDER CREEK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 1, 1999--All signs point toward Y2K
as the year that the wireless data communications and mobile computing industries have been waiting
for, with the needs and strategies of enterprises finally in conjunction with the hopes of wireless data
device and software vendors and wireless carriers, according to Andrew Seybold's Outlook, the
authoritative newsletter that covers the field.
Coming away from the Wireless 1999 event held recently by the Cellular Telecommunications
Industry Association in New Orleans, Editor-In-Chief Andrew Seybold and Contributing Editor
Barney Dewey base their optimism on the unprecedented cooperation among different types of
wireless data vendors seeking to effect wireless access to corporate data.
The trend has produced Microsoft/Qualcomm's joint venture, WirelessKnowledge, the first practical
end-to-end solution for end users, as well as less formalized variations, Seybold noted. He cited
Research In Motion's Blackberry.net, which works with Microsoft Exchange Server using BellSouth
or Cantel Wireless Data networks; and a yet-unnamed offering from British Telecom which uses
Microsoft's Back Office and Exchange technology.
IBM is testing an end-to-end solution, Mobile Connect, which employs Palm OS or Windows
CE-based devices; and Nextel has announced a Web-based approach with elements from several
vendors.
The Outlook identifies new products which support end-to-end wireless data solutions, among them
Innovative Global Solutions' NeoPoint ''smart phone,'' which incorporates a personal inbox, address
book, an Internet browser, personal schedule/calendar, and task list written by Unwired Planet; and
the new Motorola/Starfish StarTAC Mobile Organizer.
Now a Motorola subsidiary, Starfish has developed a clip-on unit for StarTAC phones similar to its
REX organizer which permits view and write access to contact, calendar and to-do information. It
enables one-touch dialing from the organizer, synchronizes with Web calendars, organizers and
PIMS, and is easily detached so information can be read while the phone is in use.
''A year ago, most wireless network providers did not realize that they would have to provide
end-to-end connections for their data users,'' Seybold wrote.
''Today, they not only realize this fact, they also realize that they are not in a position to develop or
deploy these connections themselves. It is encouraging to see (the carriers') new understanding of
what is needed, what is available and whom they will need to work with to provide end-to-end
solutions. We believe that (this) will be a key to success in offering wireless data services over the
next few years,'' added Seybold.
Contributing Editor Dewey cited five near-term factors that he believes will make wireless data
successful: devices, with a variety of form factors and operating systems; wireless networks now
being built out with greater coverage indoors and data speed ranges; back-end solution servers that
provide secure access to corporate and personal data; back-end services that include hooks into
e-mail servers and optimized presentation of data for wireless access; and IT professional trust,
based on the presence of brand-name players in the wireless data field.
Dewey also analyzed the newly announced Web-based wireless data solution from Nextel, which
includes its own network, Motorola's i1000 plus handset, Unwired Planet's handset microbrowser
and UPLink server, and Netscape Netcenter and e-commerce technology.
''I like Nextel's wireless data capabilities but not its Web-based approach,'' Dewey observed.
''When I am in my office, I certainly do not want to connect to the Internet every time I want to
check an appointment or look up a telephone number.''
Contributing Editor Victor Wortman explores how Dallas-based Internet America implemented
homegrown software with BellSouth's RIM Inter@ctive Pager and network to improve ISP
customer response -- only to see the two-way pagers go horizontal as the staff's preferred
communications resource.
Andrew Seybold's Outlook is a Monthly Perspective of Issues Affecting the Mobile Computing and
Communications Industries. For a free copy or for information about The Outlook, Wireless Data
University and allied activities, contact Ruth Johnson at Andrew Seybold's Outlook, P.O. Box 2460,
Boulder Creek, Calif. 95006-2460; Tel: 831/338-7701; Fax: 831/338-7807; e-mail:
rjohnson@outlook.com; or visit the Web site: www.outlook.com.
Contact:
Andrew Seybold's Outlook, Boulder Creek
Ruth Johnson, 831/338-7701
or
Victor Wortman Co.
Victor Wortman, 310/393-6281
Related News Categories: computers, telecom
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