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Technology Stocks : Openwave Systems (formerly Phone.com & Software.com) (OPWV) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rusty Johnson who wrote (18)	1/26/2001 12:10:29 PM
From: Rusty Johnson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 184

Messaging: Mobile e-mail: Mobile multimedia messaging: Unlocking e-mail's potential Mobile network operators now have a unique opportunity to take command of a gigantic mobile messaging market, argues Bob Emmerson. We are seeing an accelerating use of e-mail. For many enterprises and individuals this medium has become a mission-critical communications tool. In fact, e-mail has become so important for enterprises, SMEs and many individuals that it is now more than an application: messaging has become a network resource. In parallel we have witnessed a dramatic increase in mobility - it's the raison d'etre for this publication, and wireless communications has already created a gigantic market that continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. In fact, it is probably the only high-tech sector where reality constantly outperforms optimistic forecasts. Put these two developments together and the conclusion is obvious: the demand for mobile e-mail is already huge and it's going to get much bigger. It will get bigger because the market will demand unified messaging - access to one mailbox from any client device, anywhere, at any time, and over any network. And after that it will probably start asking for multimedia messaging. At this time it is too early to tell if people will start sending digital postcards over the airwaves and the market for wireless video is way off. But Nokia is backing this one to the hilt and the Finns have a habit of being right when it comes to wireless futures. ... UNIFIED MESSAGING There's nothing new about the idea of being able to see all message types - e-mail, voice mail and faxes - via the same client interface, such as Exchange or Notes. But behind the unified, client view of messaging there is a serious integration issue: voice and facsimile belong to one world and e-mail to another. The old world way didn't work, and unified messaging (UM) became one of those developments that began to look like a good idea at the time. However, times change and the new world environment of IP and e-mail has turned mobile UM into a 'must have' application. But the market needs more functionality than mere unification. Individuals must be able to personalise their e-mail service, for example, in order to prioritise particular messages. And enterprises need delivery mechanisms that detect and block viruses and spam before they reach the desktops. In addition, access to unified mailboxes must be enabled from a wide range of mobile devices - smart phones and PDAs as well as notebook PCs. That's today's benchmark, and it indicates that these mailboxes must be accessible using an 'anywhere, anytime, any device, any network' model. The quickest way of matching this messaging model is to use e-mail as a de facto bearer, and to transport voice mail and faxes as attachments. In addition, location-based messaging and location-based applications can be incorporated. And via WAP the location can be made available to the application using cell ID. These useful features indicate that UM can easily evolve from e-mail, and they underline the importance of getting this media type up and running as soon as possible. ... ONE OBVIOUS CONCLUSION It's wake up time on the mobile e-mail front. This isn't one of those windows of opportunity - it's a wall-to-wall sliding door. Systems vendors have seen it coming; now it's time for operators to get services up and running. Release the genie and the flow of much-needed data revenues will start totaltele.com Thanks to xtrarich on the Yahoo OPWV thread.