re: Wireless Today on the Nokia 9210 Communicator
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"Nokia is pitching its smartphone as a business tool, rather than simply as a wireless phone with PDA capabilities"
>> Nokia Aims To Avoid Past Mistakes With New Smartphone
Malcolm Spicer
Wireless Today
June 21, 2001
This time around, Nokia is pitching its smartphone as a business tool, rather than simply as a wireless phone with PDA capabilities.
The Finnish telecom technology firm is rolling out a GSM smartphone called the 9210 Communicator. Nokia also is offering enterprise applications that can work with the 9210 from vendors Celesta, Citrix Systems [CTXS], Computer Associates International, iAnywhere Solutions, Lotus, RSA Security and Tarantella.
Businesses are likely to be interested in the 9210, Brenda Sky, Cahners In-Stat wireless handset market analyst, told Wireless Today. "They are willing to pay more for it and they need it," Sky said.
However, consumer-volume sales will be needed to make the 9210 a success. "The consumer market is really the one that is eventually going to be the primary mobile market," Sky added.
And Nokia hopes to reach the consumer market with the 9210, she said. "I think it will eventually spill over from the business market to consumers. The deal is [that] wireless handsets are almost universally adapting new features and functionalities, and most of them are becoming smartphones."
Nokia this week launched a 9210 model that will work on GSM 900 and 1800 networks in African, Asian and European markets. The 9210 model for the GSM 1900 networks operated in the United States is expected later this year.
The 9210, built on the Symbian operating system, resembles a miniature laptop computer with an antenna extending from a corner like most mobile phones. It has a telephone keypad and a small display screen on the outside and operates as a phone when its case is closed. When opened, it's a PDA with a larger display screen mounted under the top piece and a keyboard on the bottom half. Nokia's first smartphone entry, the 9001 Communicator, also resembled a scale-model laptop, but generated little demand.
But interest from enterprise operations could be more intense this time around. Brian Vink, vice president and general manager of iAnywhere, the mobile and wireless data subsidiary of Sybase, said insurance companies are interested in giving agents smartphones instead of PDAs or laptops.
"They wanted to be able to look at certain documents, they wanted to be able to have the combination of the phone and the PDA to bring the office on the road with them," Vink told Wireless Today. "This particular device was able to satisfy those requirements."
Emeryville, CA-based iAnywhere developed technology that will automatically synchronize data stored in a 9210 handset with information from a corporate database when users' have wireless connectivity. Insurance companies in Europe are testing the technology, Vink said.
Insurance agents, or other mobile workers, want to show customers up-to-date information, but they won't always have wireless connectivity.
"As an insurance agent, you don't know the type of environment where you'll have to do your work," Vink said. "They want to be able to provide some visual clue to the customer. If that device is not enabled all the time, you've basically taken away one of the tools for the insurance agent to use with the customer."
iAnywhere's initial application for the 9210 allows end users to access static text and graphic materials. The company is developing capabilities to handle video and audio through the application. iAnywhere also will port the application to work on wireless PDAs built on Palm or Pocket PC operating systems, Vink said.
iAnywhere will add its technology to customers' 9210 handsets after Nokia distributes the phones. It will install an application server at customers' facilities or host the application as a service. Its fees will be based on the number of phones it provides with technology and the amount of activity supported by its server.
Lotus, an IBM subsidiary, will deliver messaging and collaboration technologies to allow 9210 users to access information management systems, including e-mail, calendars, address books and workflow charts, from their devices. Computer Associates is working with Nokia on an integrated information technology platform to provide enterprise-class manageability for mobile computing applications.
Tarantella's Enterprise 3 software will enable 9210 users to connect to any Windows, UNIX, Linux, AS/400 or mainframe application over GSM networks. Citrix made available for the 9210 its Independent Computing Architecture client, which offers access to Windows and UNIX business applications running on its MetaFrame servers over wireless connections.
Celesta developed Smart Forms for enterprises to create mobile applications for the 9210.
The Bottom Line
Two things still stand in the way of widespread consumer sales for smartphones: user friendliness and price. User interface designs for handsets still haven't made accessing applications and other features as easy making calls. Plus, the existing $300 to $500 price range for smartphones is not likely to attract too many consumers. <<
- Eric - |
