Topics:

Hey BlackBerry, Move Over! The Carriers Are Coming In

Posted by Elena Malykhina, Apr 21, 2005 01:31 PM

People on the go now have another alternative to the BlackBerry: A new push E-mail service from Vodafone. Visto Corp. said today that it has extended its push E-mail platform to Vodafone, and this could mean that mobile E-mail is shifting from a BlackBerry-dominated niche market made up of enterprise users to a more mass-market adoption.

Vodafone will now offer its own branded push E-mail and personal-information-manager service to customers with support for different mobile devices, as an alternative to the Blackberry, the company says. Vodafone is marketing its service to large enterprises, small and midsize businesses, and individual users, stressing the point that the Visto-powered push E-mail service will be widely available to all types of customers.

The Vodafone service is powered by Visto’s ConstantSync technology, which gives users two-way access to E-mail, calendar, and contacts. The technology works with a broad set of mobile devices like the Vodafone v1620, Motorola MPx220, Nokia 6630, and Sony Ericsson P910i. It also spans across various operating systems including Symbian, Palm, Microsoft Windows Mobile, J2ME MIDP 2.0, IMAP4, and SyncML.

But before you make the switch, note that Vodafone’s push E-mail service is currently available only to customers in Germany, Greece, Italy, France, Finland, Spain, and the U.K. Vodafone says it will be offering services in additional markets over the course of this year.

Visto has made footprint in the United States as well by teaming up with major carriers like AT&T/Cingular and Nextel.

Canada’s largest phone carrier Rogers Communications Inc. is also launching its own branded wireless email service that will be supported by Visto, which shows that more carriers are taking on Research in Motion’s BlackBerry.

« AMD's Dual-Core Innovates; Intel Makes Money | Main | The Flatness of Thomas L. Friedman »

This is a public forum. United Business Media and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. United Business Media makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers.

Community standards in this comment area do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this comment area becomes the property of United Business Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in United Business Media's Terms of Service.

Important Note: This comment area is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business.