Nokia has become the latest company to introduce "push"
e-mail for smartphones, to allow users to receive corporate e-mail
on their handheld devices.
The company has fleshed out its collaboration with IP telephony
supplier Avaya with a range of smartphones offering voice over IP
and push e-mail.
Popularised by Research in Motion's Blackberry device, push
e-mail enables users to send and receive e-mail over the GPRS
network from their phones. Microsoft is offering a similar service
based on its Exchange 2003 e-mail server and devices that use the
Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system.
Nokia's E60, E61 and E70 smartphones are the first from the
company to feature push e-mail. Companies that deploy the phones
also need to buy Nokia's recently launched Business Centre
server.
Business Centre performs the same function for Nokia that
Blackberry's server does for Research in Motion's devices and that
Microsoft Exchange will perform for devices equipped with Windows
Mobile.
The Nokia phones will feature VoIP for mobiles, push to talk and
mobile device management.
Corporate users with Avaya or Cisco IP private branch exchanges
will be able to connect the devices directly to their networks.
The phones are the first devices to use the Open Mobile
Alliance's standard.