Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications has signed separate
deals with Research in Motion (RIM) and Sonim
Technologies.
Announced at the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, the agreement
with RIM will allow Sony Ericsson's P900 smart phones, using the OS
version 7.0 developed by Symbian, to connect with the BlackBerry
Enterprise Server and BlackBerry Web Client services for
enterprises and individual users.
Sony Ericsson expects to provide BlackBerry connectivity on the
P900 later this year.
A key feature of RIM's e-mail technology is its "always-on"
connectivity, providing automatic e-mail delivery.
The integration of RIM client software on the P900 smart phone
will increase the attractiveness of the handset to enterprise
customers who have already deployed BlackBerry technology,
according to Michael Ransom, senior analyst with Current
Analysis.
At the same time, by offering a Symbian OS client, RIM can
easily incorporate its technology into the growing number of
Symbian OS-based smart phones from other manufacturers, he
added.
The P900 smart phone offers functions ranging from voice and
e-mail to text and picture messaging and full PDA capabilities. The
phone also includes an integrated camera and a colour
touch-screen.
To accelerate the deployment of push-to-talk phones to the mass
market, Sony Ericsson has agreed to collaborate with Sonim
Technologies in the development of a new generation of handsets
offering the walkie-talkie service.
Both companies are contributing members to the worldwide
consortium that submitted a push-to-talk specification to the Open
Mobile Alliance (OMA) standards body.
Under their agreement, Sony Ericsson will use Sonim's
push-to-talk client software in its phones.
The venture, which is owned jointly by Sony and Ericsson, sees
an advantage in using this software to launch phones conforming to
OMA standards, it said.
Meanwhile, Nokia also announced a push-to-talk licensing
agreement with Samsung.
John Blau writes for IDG News Service
Nokia and Samsung agree push-to-talk licence >>