Mobile Marketing Magazine

emoze Powers Pelephone's Smart Mail Service

Pelephone, Israel's largest mobile operator, has launched its Smart Mail mobile email service, powered by emoze.
Smart Mail is a push email service that enables both personal and business email messages, including attachments, to be pushed in real-time to the subscriber's handheld device, even if it is not a Smartphone. Smart Mail is supported on over 13 Symbian and Java devices, including several Nokia and Sony Ericsson handsets, with dozens more to be added in the coming months.
Pelephone notes that the rapid development of cellular broadband is fast closing the gap between the number of emails sent over the Internet and the number sent via mobile phones.
“Currently, there are more than 65 million emails sent daily in Israel alone via the Internet, but only half a million emails are sent via cellular phones,” says Pelephone Senior VP, Guy Bauman. “We believe that within three years we will witness the number of emails being sent via cellular phones increasing to about 10 million messages a day. We are focused on mobile broadband and mobile-mail is definitely an area of significant value for both the mass market and the business sector. We are confident that cooperation with emoze will assist us in reaching this untapped market, and significantly expanding our broadband customer-base.”

Branding Key to Mobile Email Success says CheetahMail

A report published by Experian CheetahMail reveals that while a quarter of people now access emails via their mobile phone, poor formatting and a lack of brand recognition means that almost a third of permission-based marketing emails are being deleted unread.
The report, ‘Email marketing: the mobile conundrum’, is based on research commissioned by  Experian CheetahMail and carried out by YouGov, that looks at consumers’ attitudes towards reading emails on their mobile phone. YouGov surveyed 2,255 adults online, between 28 August  and 1 September 2009.  
The report reveals that mobile email usage is rife among 18-34 year olds, with around three out of four saying that they either currently read emails on their mobile phone, or plan to do so in the near future. A third of all respondents said that a major barrier to reading emails on their mobile was poor email layout, while a further 30% said that they would not open an email from a brand they did not recognise.  
The report also found that the growing trend of reading emails on the move challenges the traditional thinking around the best time for brands to engage with customers. While nearly half of the respondents read emails on their phone throughout the day, over half read emails on their phone over the weekend, which is traditionally seen as a bad time to send out marketing emails.  “In an era where the mobile phone is now routinely used to check and respond to emails, it is clear that email marketers cannot afford to ignore the mobile channel,” says Experian CheetahMail EMEA Managing Director, Steve Lomax. “However, our research shows that only well formatted emails from recognised brands are likely to generate marketing cut-through. Brands also need to take into account that consumers have a very different user experience on their mobile, and what looks good on a PC can be almost unreadable on a mobile device.
“For effective permission-based mobile marketing campaigns, best practice techniques such as segmenting messages according to immediacy, optimising subject lines, sending multi-part emails and linking to a mobile version of the email can lead to an uplift in campaign results.”
The report is available for free download here.

Take Our Survey and Win a £250 Bose Sound System

With more and more people using their phone to access their email, there are some important implications for brands looking to reach people via email marketing campaigns. 
Email marketing company Experian CheetahMail wants to look at some of these in more detail, and as a starting point, it is conducting a survey to find out about mobile email usage.
The survey will take less than a couple of minutes to complete, and everyone who enters will have the chance to win a Bose SoundDock digital music system worth £250. This great piece of kit turns your iPod or iPhone into a hi-fi system, and even charges the device at the same time.
To take part in the survey,click here.

Synchronica Launches Mobile Email for the Corporate Masses

Synchronica plc, which provides mobile email and synchronization solutions, has launched an affordable, industry-standard push email and synchronization middleware, enabling enterprises to connect entry-level devices to corporate networks. Synchronica Mobile Gateway Enterprise Edition is a self-care solution that works on a wide variety of mobile handsets, so employers do not need to invest in a fleet of new Smartphones in order to cascade mobile email down the organization.
Synchronica Mobile Gateway Enterprise Edition is targeted at SMEs, as well as the middle and  junior management layers in large enterprises where it can complement existing Smartphone-based solutions. It is available immediately and, the company says, can be bought, downloaded, and deployed on a mobile phone fleet within a few hours.
The solution provides carrier-grade security, reliability, and scalability and has already been selected by a major Indian bank for its middle and junior management tiers. The bank is in the process of deploying Mobile Gateway Enterprise Edition to an initial 10,000 employees to supplement the Smartphones used by executive staff. Synchronica says it expects this approach to be replicated in other businesses.
“What makes Mobile Gateway Enterprise Edition different from other enterprise mobile email offerings is that it works on almost any phone in use today,” notes Kathryn Weldon, Principal Analyst, Enterprise Mobility, at Current Analysis. “This makes it ideal for today's tough economic conditions, because businesses do not need to spend a fortune on new handsets and expensive contracts to cascade mobile email through the organization and realize productivity gains.”
Mobile Gateway Enterprise Edition includes a Microsoft Windows installer, allowing businesses to install and host it on their own servers. It supports Microsoft Exchange, Sun Java System Communications Suite, and IBM Lotus Domino corporate email servers, as well as IMAP / POP3 consumer email back-ends. It is based on the dominant open industry standards Push IMAP (IMAP IDLE) for mobile email and SyncML (OMA DS) for synchronization of contacts, calendar, tasks, and notes. Built-in, over-the-air device provisioning (OMA CP), using a self-care portal, enables end-users to configure their devices automatically, without requiring corporate IT involvement.

Synchronica Signs Dominican Deal

Mobile email and synchronisation company Synchronica has signed a contract worth an initial $250,000 (£170,000) with the subsidiary of a leading mobile operator group in the Dominican Republic.
The contract is the first deal secured by the company with the operator, which will use Synchronica’s Mobile Gateway 4.0 solution to deliver mobile email to its entire user base. The service will include Mobile Gateway’s new email-to-SMS and email-to-MMS functionality to provide mobile email to even the most basic handsets,which continue to dominate this market. Synchronica will also provide professional services, support and hosting to the operator.
With broadband and PC penetration still very restricted across Latin America, Mobile Gateway offers users access to email from their mobile phones and can provide a key pillar for a mobile Internet strategy. According to Fitch Ratings, Latin American telecoms operators remain healthily positioned in the current economic climate, thanks to strong cash flow generation, moderate-to-low leverage and generally good debt maturity profiles.
“This contract shows once again that Synchronica’s software can bring real benefits to operators looking to reduce churn, attract customers and raise ARPU in highly competitive emerging markets such as Latin America,” says Synchronica CEO, Carsten Brinkschulte. “Now that Mobile Gateway 4.0 is proving its significant capability, our pipeline has never been stronger and…we are seeing many sales opportunities such as these that we are confident of capitalising on.”

Synchronica Expands in Russia

Mobile email and synchronisation company Synchronica, has received two expansion orders with a combined value of $645,000 (£440,000) from one of the largest mobile operators in Russia and the CIS.
The orders follow the operator’s successful promotion of the Synchronica Mobile Gateway service, leading to an increase in demand for its mobile email and synchronisation solutions. Importantly, says Synchronica, take up of these services has been seen across all levels of its subscriber base, from consumers using basic handsets, to those using higher-end Smartphones.
The significant market opportunity that the region represents has been identified in a recent report from Juniper Research, which predicts that, along with Brazil, India and China, Russia will contribute to a vast rise in operator-billed mobile data service revenues over the next five years. The report suggests that, in the BRIC economies, this revenue will rise from $26 billion this year to $48 billion by 2013, along with an increase in the mobile user base from 1.209 billion to 1.644 billion.
“This order further demonstrates that there is a very real market for Mobile Gateway across Russia, the CIS and Eastern Europe,” says Synchronica CEO, Carsten Brinkschulte. “Our solution provides a key differentiator to operators in highly competitive markets, and we see our customers expanding quickly and publicising their use of mobile email in order to protect their subscriber base, while generating additional revenues.”

Funambol Launches on the Storm

Funambol, which provides open source mobile cloud sync and push email solutions, has announced the availability of its software for the BlackBerry Storm. The Funambol BlackBerry Storm sync client enables users to keep their contacts, calendars, tasks and notes in sync between the Storm, a Funambol server, and email systems and desktop apps. The Funambol BlackBerry Storm push email client lets users get free push email on their handset from popular email systems. Storm users can use the software for free by signing up for an account on the myFUNAMBOL Portal here.
“The BlackBerry Storm touchscreen handset, like iPhone and Android, raises the bar for Smartphone manufacturers,” says Funambol CEO, Fabrizio Capobianco. “At the same time, users increasingly expect to seamlessly access their contacts, calendars, email, and more, on their phone, the web and desktops. We are excited that Funambol now enables Storm users to access this information, anytime, anywhere.”
The Funambol BlackBerry Storm sync and push email clients enable users to sync contacts, calendars, tasks, notes and email with a Funambol server, including myFUNAMBOL. The Funambol server can sync with Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL Mail and Hotmail, and desktop apps such as Outlook and Thunderbird. The sync client is part of the latest Funambol monthly phone pack that is in Funambol's commercial Carrier Edition software and that has been deployed on myFUNAMBOL. This phone pack also includes the latest Funambol Symbian sync client that supports new Nokia phones, enabling users to keep PIM data in sync between their phones, the web and desktops.

Unified Messaging Service Launches in Africa

ForgetMeNot Africa (FMN Africa), which delivers unified messaging for telecos, has announced that it is launching its Message Optimiser service throughout Africa. The service will be publically demonstrated for the first time in Africa at East Africa Com on 1 and 2 April in Nairobi, Kenya. 
In November 2008, LonZim plc acquired a controlling interest in FMN Africa. LonZim has established a strong presence in both the communications sector and financial services technology in the region, through its investments in Celsys, and Paynet, both of which offer strong synergies with FMN Africa and further opportunities to enhance LonZim's portfolio of investments.
Message Optimiser (MO) enables carriers to immediately provide cost-effective comprehensive unified messaging services, including email, Instant Messaging (IM) and SMS, without the end user requiring any Internet access, device upgrades, or application downloads.
With an implementation cycle of a matter of weeks, the company says, carriers can quickly enjoy additional revenue streams, monetizing channels previously unavailable to them, and offering a unique differentiator point; an array of value-added messaging services to their entire customer base. Since it does not require a data contract, Message Optimiser allows operators to increase ARPU and reduce churn amongst its pre-pay customers. 
End-users benefit from the simplicity of ForgetMeNot’s Handset Initiation technology, which turns even the most basic mobile phone into a smarter, Internet-capable, multi-channel messaging device, providing two-way email and two-way IM for both pre-pay and post-pay users alike. Handset Initiation technology is becoming vital, not only for developing nations where PC and Internet access is very low, but also in allowing users globally to have access to email and IM without the need for more expensive Smartphones, a PC or Internet connection.
“In today’s maturing mobile markets, mobile operators are increasingly focused on customer retention and service differentiation,” says FMN Africa CEO, Jeremy George. “Message Optimiser meets both needs, offering a new revenue stream from their existing subscriber base, while offering customers a unique service.”

Synchronica SimpleMail Honoured

Synchronica plc, which provides mobile email and synchronization solutions, has been awarded the European Seal of e-Excellence at CeBIT for the third year in a row. The jury, comprising representatives from the European Multimedia Forum (EMF), awarded Synchronica a Silver Seal of e-Excellence for the company’s Synchronica SimpleMail mobile email solution. The European Seal of e-Excellence rewards ICT and digital media companies that have demonstrated an excellent track record in product or service innovation and marketing.
Synchronica SimpleMail pushes emails to virtually any mobile device on the market. It supports email-to-SMS and email-to-MMS gateways and push-to-WAP/XHTML browser access, making it ideal for entry-level phones.
Users of entry-level handsets send and receive emails as a standard SMS or MMS; their replies are then converted back to email. SimpleMail also includes a document transcoding gateway, which allows a variety of attachments, such as Word, PowerPoint, and PDF documents, to be displayed on mass market phones.
This gateway also optimizes images for display on a mobile phone, thereby reducing bandwidth requirements. Users can sign up for the service from their mobile phones rather than having to do so from a PC. This is a major advantage, says Synchronica, particularly in emerging markets where PC and broadband penetration is low.
“Worldwide, there are more than four billion mobile phone users and more than two billion mailboxes,” says Synchronica Chief Marketing Officer, Nicole Meissner. “Our mobile email solution works on anything from smartphones right through to feature phones and entry-level devices devices. Recognition from the EMF for the third year in a row is testimony to our leading edge products and innovative marketing strategies.”

Pelephone Selects Emoze

Israeli mobile network Pelephone has chosen Emoze to provide mobile email and social network messaging to its 2.4 million active users.
Pelephone subscribers will be able to read and reply to email and Facebook messages, check their calendar and keep their contacts intact on whichever mobile device they choose. Pelephone will make Emoze available on a wide variety of mobile devices from standard Java-enabled handsets to Smartphones.
The Emoze embedded client will enable all Pelephone users to get their emails, contacts, calendar and social messaging on their mobile device in real-time and fully synchronized with their PC or laptop. Users will be able to access business and personal email accounts via the Emoze client.
“Pelephone has joined the messaging innovators by extending Emoze to its millions of customers, ensuring that communication on-the-go is always a great user experience,” says Emoze CEO, Eitan Linker.

Synchronica Signs Indian Deal with Sify

Synchronica plc, which provides mobile email and synchronization solutions, has entered into an agreement with Sify Technologies, which specializes in consumer Internet and enterprise data telecom services in India. Sify will offer a hosted mobile email and synchronization service based on Synchronica Mobile Gateway to enterprises and consumers throughout the Indian sub-continent.
India is growing rapidly in both mobile phone penetration and Internet usage, making it an ideal market for a ‘mobile email for all’ solution, says Synchronica. India’s 12 wireless operators signed up a record 10.16 million new subscribers in March 2008, bringing the total customer base to 261 million, and making India the second largest wireless market in the world, overtaking the US, which has 258 million subscribers (Source: Unstrung, April 2008). India is also now the third largest country in Asia when measured by the number of Internet users, with 60 million users, according to Internet World Stats figures from December ’07.
Sify says it has chosen Synchronica’s Mobile Gateway because it works on the vast majority of devices in use today, and consequently has a much larger addressable market than other mobile email solutions, which require users to upgrade to high-end Smartphones. Synchronica notes that Mobile Gateway does not require additional software to be installed on the handset, making it particularly well suited for businesses, consumers and prosumers in emerging markets.
Sify operates more than 2,000 ‘ePort’ branded, franchised cyber cafes in 200 cities in across the Indian sub-continent, and provides enterprise solutions to over 2,000 enterprise customers over a tier-one backbone network reaching 500 cities.
“We’re excited about offering businesses and consumers in the Indian sub-continent a hosted mobile email and synchronization service based on Synchronica’s ground-breaking technology,” says P J Nath, Executive President of Sify Enterprise Services. “Synchronica’s solution is ideal because it works on mass-market phones, a prerequisite in India, where Smartphone penetration is very low.”
Synchronica CEO Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO of Synchronica, says the deal corroborates the company’s decision to focus on emerging markets.
“We believe we have a winning combination for service providers in these regions because our scalable, secure software works on mass-market handsets and is ideal for both business users and consumers,” says Brinkschulte. 

CommonTime Announces mSuite Support for N97

Mobile enterprise solutions company CommonTime has revealed that its mSuite package will be fully compatible with Nokia's new N97 handset when it is released in the first half of 2009.
The N97 runs on Symbian S60 5th Edition. It features 32GB of internal memory, plus a microSD slot for up to 16GB of expansion. Its 3.5 inch slide and tilt touch-screen sits above a full QWERTY keyboard and D-pad, and it also has a 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss camera, built in GPS and a range of connectivity options. Combined with the functionality of mSuite, says CommonTime, these features make the N97 perfect for a wide variety of mobile working requirements.
CommonTime says its mSuite solution provides a platform to create and integrate bespoke line of business applications into the functionality of mobile devices, making it the ideal solution for modern mobile working.
With mSuite, lengthy processes can be streamlined, greatly reducing required resources, time and costs. mSuite also grants users fast, convenient and reliable access to advanced multiple e-mail and PIM accounts on the move. 256bit end-to-end encryption ensures data security, while a centralised control panel means deployment, upgrades and remote device management are hassle free processes. Referred to by its manufacturers as the most advanced mobile computer, the N97 runs on Symbian S60 5th Edition.
CommonTime's mSuite is currently compatible with Nokia handsets running on Symbian's S60 3rd edition operating system, including the E63, N91 and 5320 XpressMusic. mSuite will be fully compatible with the Symbian S60 5th Edition platform by the time of the release of the N97.

CommonTime Extends mNotes Reach

CommonTime has announced the launch of its mNotes Lotus Notes mobile email solution for Nokia E and N-Series phones, as well as the Samsung INNOV8 and Samsung i7110 Symbian Series 60 3rd Edition phones.
CommonTime describes mNotes Wireless as “the most cost-effective, reliable wireless mobility solution on the market today”, and says it is the ideal solution for anyone who needs to constantly stay on top of communication or receive real-time updates to appointments or sales calls.
mNotes offers Lotus Notes push email, plus real-time access to Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Journal and Sametime chat facilities. Real-time push ensures mobile workers can always keep up to date wherever they are, the company says.   
To mark the launch of mNotes for Symbian, CommonTime is offering a free 30-day evaluation of the solution. For more information, or to sign up for the trial, click here.

Synchronica Launches SimpleMail Push Email Solution

Synchronica Plc, which provides mobile email and synchronization solutions, has unveiled Synchronica SimpleMail, a consumer push email solution that it says brings mobile email to almost 100% of handsets in use today. Based on technology from the recent acquisition of former competitor AxisMobile and available immediately, Synchronica SimpleMail extends the addressable market for push email to even the most basic handsets, making it an ideal service for mobile operators in emerging markets.
Synchronica has already signed license agreements for the new technology with two mobile operators in emerging markets and has received an expansion order from a mobile operator in Russia/CIS for additional licences.
Forecasts point to emerging markets as a breakthrough area for mass market mobile email. Informa predicts that there will be 4.81 billion mobile phone subscribers by 2012, with the next billion subscribers coming predominantly from emerging markets, where PC and fixed-line penetration is low.
Synchronica SimpleMail includes email-to-SMS and email-to-MMS gateways and a clientless solution for WAP/XHTML browser access. It also features the patented Optimizer transcoding gateway which reduces the size of pictures and allows a large variety of attachments, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents to be displayed on feature phones that would otherwise be unable to support this functionality. Users can register for the service from their mobile handset, rather than having to register via a PC. Synchronica says this is a key benefit in emerging markets, where broadband connectivity is rare.
Synchronica SimpleMail offers support for DOC, ZIP, PDF, MPEG, MP3, and HTML attachments, and supports Gmail, Yahoo Mail, MSN Hotmail Plus, and any POP3 or IMAP4 mailbox. Other features include real-time device auto-detection; multi-lingual support (English, Cyrillic, Chinese, Arabic and Kanji); and support for multiple email accounts on one device.
“There are more than 3.5 billion mobile users and more than 2 billion mailboxes in use worldwide,” says Synchronica CEO, Carsten Brinkschulte. “Our mission is to bring mobile email to the mass market on the widest range of devices. Synchronica SimpleMail…extends our reach from Smartphones and feature phones right down to even the most basic of handsets. This is a key proposition for emerging markets.”
For a free trial of Sunchronica SimpleMail, click here.

Globo Unveils CitronGO!

e-business solutions provider Globo Plc has announced the proposed launch of CitronGO! which can be accessed via an individual’s existing mobile phone, PC or PDA, enabling a professional or personal user to interact with email, calendars and contacts applications. The solution is currently in beta testing and will be launched in early 2009.
CitronGO! will be available on a ‘Software as a Service’ basis, enabling telecoms providers, operators, mobile phone manufacturers ISPs, and OEMs to offer CitronGO! to their customers as part of a bundled service. Globo says that businesses will be able to incorporate CitronGO! into their corporate infrastructure as a fully licensed model to offer these same benefits to their employees for use on their corporate mobile phones. Software companies and resellers will be able to provide the service as a third party. Globo will also enable CitronGO! to be downloadable directly via the Globo website.
CitronGO! for the mobile will be downloadable with minimal configuration requirements, says Globo, while the PC version will be available via a web user Interface. Potential users can experience CitronGO! via a walkthrough on the Globo website. A Positioning Paper is also available. Both are available here.

Synchonrica Secures First Indian License

Mobile email and synchronisation company Synchronica has signed a license agreement for its Mobile Gateway solution with an Indian reseller who has contracted with a major mobile operator to provide a mass-market mobile email solution by the end of the year. According to Synchronica, the operator is one of the top 10 operators worldwide with more than 50 million subscribers in India, the second largest mobile market in the world. This is Synchronica's first contract win in India.
Under the terms of the agreement, the Indian systems integrator will initially purchase a 50,000 user license for Synchronica Mobile Gateway at a list price of $2.43 (£1.40) per user. Phase two is scheduled for the end of the year and will include an expansion order for an additional 250,000 licenses. A third phase scheduled for 2009 will be for a further 500,000 licenses.
Synchronica will also provide professional services for customisation and integration based on a daily person-rate of $1,000. Support service is based on 18% of the annual license fees for phase one, and 12% for phase two, where the reseller will handle second level support.
Synchronica says the Indian mobile market represents a large opportunity for its products, which provide mass-market mobile email services for inexpensive mobile devices. Recent research from Informa suggetsed that the Indian mobile market has expanded by over 50 million new mobile subscriptions in the last six months alone. India is now the second largest mobile market in the world, with a total of 225.6 million mobile subscribers at the end of August 2008. The Indian government has a set target of 500 million telephone users by 2010.
“This agreement represents an important step in the growth of Synchronica as it again demonstrates our ability to succeed in emerging markets, where the growth in mobile subscribers is at its highest and our product has a unique appeal,” says Synchronica CEO, Carsten Brinkschulte. “It highlights the strength of our mobile email solution and the benefit it can bring to operators who are looking to differentiate their mobile offering in a highly competitive market, generating additional revenues and protecting their subscriber base.”

Free Business Email from 3

3 Business, the new small business division of mobile operator 3, has launched a free unlimited email package for small businesses. The new Email on 3 for Business offering allows small businesses to send and receive work email, as well as web-based email from sites such as Gmail, Yahoo! and Hotmail, by adding unlimited email use to the existing £4.26 Internet Max package at no extra cost.   
To access the new email service, users just need to download the application to their phone, select their preferred email providers and provide login details. Up to 10 separate email accounts can be used on each phone. Email on 3 for Business also allows users to receive and view unlimited email attachments regardless of size, for no extra cost. 
“Simplicity and value have been at the core of our small business offers since launch,” says Renato Bottini, Head of 3 Business. “This new offer is another example of how high-speed mobile Internet services can be used to provide real benefits to small businesses throughout the UK.”
There’s more information here.

Synchronica Acquires AxisMobile

Synchronica, which provides mobile email and synchronization solutions, is acquiring consumer mobile email specialist AxisMobile for $4.9 million (£2.6 million) in new Synchronica shares. Synchronica has also raised additional funds of $10million, from new and existing institutional investors, which brings the total funding secured in 2008 to $18 million. The company says the additional funds will be used to accelerate product integration and fuel the growth of the combined business in emerging markets such as China, Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
The AxisMobile acquisition aims to make Synchronica the leading player in mass market mobile email and synchronization middleware for mobile operators and service providers. The addition of AxisMobile’s complementary technology, customer base and routes to market, combined with the injection of $10 million of additional funds, will enable Synchronica to provide mass-market mobile email solutions that work on more than three billion mobile phones in the market today.
AxisMobile’s consumer mobile email platform complements Synchronica’s award-winning Mobile Gateway software by adding ‘email to SMS’ and ‘email to MMS’ gateways, as well as a client-less solution for WAP/xHTML browser access. AxisMobile’s patented Optimizer email transcoding gateway also adds the ability to display a large variety of attachments such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint presentations on standard feature phone handsets that would otherwise be unable to support such functionality.
Synchronica says that the AxisMobile acquisition will also enlarge its footprint in emerging markets, by adding a strong sales force and key customer contracts in the relatively untapped areas of Eastern Europe, CIS and Russia, to Synchronica’s existing sales presence in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Currently AxisMobile has eight live customer installations with major mobile operators, predominantly in Central and Eastern Europe and China. Customers include  MTS, the largest mobile operator in Russia and CIS with 84 million customers; Megafon, a Russian mobile network operator with 34 million customers across 88 regions of the Russian federation, including its Moscow subsidiary Sonic Duo; T-Mobile; and E-Plus, Germany´s third largest mobile network operator with 13.6 million customers. AxisMobile has also secured contract wins with a leading Ukrainian mobile network operator, a further leading Tier 1 Russian mobile network operator, and a leading Swiss mobile network operator.
Forecasts point to emerging markets as a breakthrough area for mass-market mobile email. Informa predicts that there will be 4.81 billion mobile phone subscribers by 2012, with the next billion subscribers coming from emerging markets, where PC and fixed-line penetration is low.
“The fundraising and the acquisition of AxisMobile is a dramatic acceleration for Synchronica and I believe that it will build value for our shareholders,” says Synchronica CEO, Carsten Brinkschulte. “We aim to build a world leader in the market of consumer mobile email and synchronization solutions, and this acquisition is a key milestone that will improve our competitive positioning and accelerate our commercial growth. It will increase our ability to sell to customers, particularly to those in emerging economies, where we see the largest potential growth for mobile email and synchronization. With the fundraising and the acquisition of AxisMobile, Synchronica now has sufficient mass and funding to take advantage of the outstanding opportunity to exploit the commercial potential of mass-market mobile email.”
Synchronica’s Mobile Gateway delivers push email and mobile synchronization of calendar and contact data targeting consumer and business users with connectors to mass-market mailboxes such as Yahoo or Gmail as well as business mailboxes such as Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Domino. Mobile Gateway does not require users to install additional software on the handset or behind the firewall and instead uses the dominant open industry standards push IMAP and SyncML to synchronize the built-in email and PIM applications pre-installed on more than 1.5 billion handsets in the market. With the injection of AxisMobile technology, even the most basic phones will be able to send and receive email, further expanding the addressable market for Mobile Gateway in the consumer sector and in particular in emerging markets where low-end devices are dominating the market.

Tech Award for Synchronica Mobile Gateway

Synchronica's Mobile Gateway solution has won the 2008 Reader Trust Award for Best in Mobile Solution from Network Products Guide, a Silicon Valley Communications publication focused on technologies and solutions. The annual award honours products and services that represent the rapidly-changing needs and interests of the end-users of technology worldwide. As part of the tech industry's leading global awards program, this year's Best Products and Services were nominated from all over the world.
Synchronica Mobile Gateway provides carrier-grade push email and synchronization services for virtually all mass-market feature phones and Smartphones on the market today. Based on the dominant open industry standards, Push IMAP for mobile email, and SyncML (OMA DS) for contact, calendar, notes, and task synchronization, it works with the built-in email and synchronization clients found in more than 1.5 billion phones worldwide.
Mobile Gateway was also the first solution to deliver Microsoft Exchange connectivity to the iPhone and continues to deliver push email and synchronization services to devices from all major handset manufacturers, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Palm, Samsung, and Motorola.
Mobile Gateway does not require any additional software installation on the user’s PC, on the mobile phone, or firewall modification in the corporate network. Instead, Mobile Gateway is operated in the data centre of the service provider and connects to the user's mail server through a secure connection. The combination of this zero-footprint architecture with the built-in over-the-air provisioning module, eases service activation and improves adoption rates.
“Increased end-user awareness and ongoing advances in mobile technology are helping shape better products and services”, says Network Products Guide Chief Editor, Rake Narang. “As workforces become increasingly mobile, consumers are demanding access to email, calendar, and contact information, no matter their location or type of phone. Synchronica Mobile Gateway solves this problem by delivering a superior mobile email solution to the global mass market, that is both cost-effective and offers a high-quality user experience.”

ROK in Push Email Joint Venture

ROK Entertainment Group has announced a Joint Venture with media group YuuZoo Corporation to market ROK's recently-announced mobile push email solution, which will now be known as YuuROK.
In soft-launch for the past six weeks and available for free online or from mobile phones at www.yuurok.com, YuuROK, has already generated over 100,000 users. Half of these are located in China and Asia, with the remainder coming from India and the US.
“Our user base has really taken YuuROK to its heart with this phenomenal uptake and we are now moving quickly towards our immediate goal of 1 million users worldwide,” says YuuZoo President, Ron Creevey. 
YuuROK push email provides a unique email account and also lets users add their existing email addresses into one place on their mobile. Users receive notifications from any of their email accounts that an email has been received, which they can read and reply to, seamlessly, from their mobile phone.
The YuuROK mobile push email service is compatible with all WAP-enabled handsets and, being advertising-supported, is entirely free to use providing the user has a data package included in their mobile tariff.

emoze Launches Push Email for Java Handsets

Emoze has launched what it claims is the first push mobile email solution for Java handsets. As a result, the company says, push-email is now available to a whole new category of mobile users, with more than 800 handsets added to the mobile email mix. Standard-grade handsets previously considered ‘dumber’ than Blackberrs handsets, Smartphones or Windows Mobile devices, can get very smart with emoze, the company says.
Owners of Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola and Samsung handsets will now be able to get emoze push e-mail on their handsets, the company says. The deployment will be in stages, Nokia Series40 handsets will be the first to be added, followed shortly after by the other brands.
“This technology has been a long time in the making,” says emoze CEO, Eitan Linker. “We are committed to providing the most robust solution to the broadest number of handsets, which fits into the emoze mass market strategy and serves millions of Java mobile phone users worldwide…This experience is available to users with even the most basic of handsets.”
Emoze says its application is built with cost efficiency and security in mind, and employs encryption features to ensure the safety of all data. The emoze Java client supports a range of personal and corporate data sources including Microsoft Exchange (Outlook), POP3/IMAP servers, as well as Web mail servers such as Gmail.

Synchronica in African Push

Synchronica, which provides mobile email and synchronization solutions, is offering its mass-market push email infrastructure software, Mobile Gateway, to mobile operators in Africa who are looking to provide affordable BlackBerry-like services.
The software which has already been licensed to two major African operators, uses industry standards for push email and synchronization and works with more than 1.5 billion phones in use around the world today. Synchronica says that this makes it ideal for consumers, “prosumers”, and small businesses in Africa, where basic handsets are the norm and where mobile email solves the inherent problems caused by low fixed-line and PC penetration. Synchronica is currently in trials with a further three operators following the take-up of licenses by two mobile operators.
“Africa is at a metaphorical crossroads,” says Synchronica CEO, Carsten Brinkschulte. “Mobile operators in the region now have the unique opportunity to establish the mobile phone as the primary device for accessing the Internet, but many are unsure about which applications to focus on. Forward-looking operators have identified mobile email as a key differentiator and, more importantly, as a way to reduce churn while also increasing ARPU.”
Forecasts point to emerging markets as a breakthrough area for mass market mobile email. Nigeria, for example, saw a 38% year-on-year growth in new mobile subscribers during 2006, to 30 million, while Informa predicts that there will be 4.81 billion mobile phone subscribers by 2012, with the next billion subscribers coming from emerging regions, such as Africa, where PC and fixed-line penetration is low,  and consumers rely on their mobile phones for communication.
Mobile Gateway delivers push email and synchronization services for calendar and contact data, targeting consumer and business users with built-in connectors to mass market mailboxes such as Gmail or Yahoo, as well as Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Domino accounts for business users. With Mobile Gateway 3.5, says Synchronica, even the most basic phones can receive email via an email-to-SMS gateway.
Lindsey McDonald, ICT Analyst at Frost & Sullivan Africa, says:
“There's definitely a lot of interest in mobile email from companies and prosumers, and a service like Synchronica's that does not require people to go out and buy expensive mobile phones makes a lot of sense.”
Synchronica says a second product, Mobile Backup, is also ideally suited for emerging markets where the mobile phone is increasingly becoming the primary repository of choice for social and business contact information. Mobile Backup 1.2 features two fast and simple ways for consumers to sign up easily to the service directly from their phone, which is important for emerging markets. Customers can register via a straightforward WAP interface or through a simple SMS signup procedure. A built-in client provisioning module automatically configures the phone.

Study Highlights the Mobile Lifestyle

Vodafone has published details of a research study into mobile Internet, email and social network access. The research found that 62% of mobile phone users check their email on the move; more than 45% of UK mobile phone users access Internet through their mobile; and 24% of mobile phone users in the UK connect to social networks on the move.
The study, which was conducted by ICM Research and the London School of Economics, questioned 1,000 mobile phone users in the UK during the month of June. Vodafone accredits the  upsurge in mobile Internet use to several factors, including easier access via a 3G network; mobile operators signing contracts with more free and social network providers; and a new pricing structure that includes data in the voice and text tariffs, empowering consumers to surf the mobile Internet with greater confidence.
The number of mobile email and social network users is substantially higher in the 18-24 age group. This, says Vodafone, suggests that with technology-savvy youngsters leading the way and given the enormous room for growth in the mobile social network market, usage is likely to increase significantly in the future. Although the 18-24 age group leads the way, however, the research reveals significant interest in accessing the mobile Internet across all age groups, including the over-65s.
Those questioned said the main barrier to using mobile devices for social networking and email is the perceived threat of high bills, with 41% saying they would be “very likely” to use the mobile Internet more often if cost was not a factor.
“Mobile internet has come a long way since we launched it last summer,” says Vodafone UK Head of Content, Al Russell. “Vodafone has been constantly improving the service, making it more simple and easier for customers to set up and use. Ever since we bundled the mobile Internet into our consumer price plans we’ve seen usage double, and a lot of this is driven by social networks and email."
The study also looked at how integrated social networking sites and email are in consumers’ everyday lives by asking users what impact losing access to email and social networks would have on respondents’ work and social life. In response to this question, 25% said losing email would ruin their day, while 12% said not being able to access social networks would ruin their day
The results were interpreted by Professor Leslie Haddon of the Media and Communication Department at the London School of Economics, who argues that the lower figure for the impact of losing access to social networking sites can be accredited to the long established presence of email in the market;
“This is a strong indicator of how email has been integrated into the lives of those who use it,” says Professor Haddon. “But despite the lower figure for social networking sites, it suggests that a significant minority have already become somewhat dependent on using them as well.”
While mobile devices offer the opportunity to access websites at any time, the study looked into the time of day that people log on to email and social networks to establish how the role of mobile Internet can change web access patterns.
39% of Internet users said that they access email anytime of the day, with 26% saying they access it predominantly in the evenings, and 20% saying they only check email on their phone during the day. The corresponding figures for social networking sites on the mobile are 16%, 18% and 5%, respectively.

ROK Launches Push Inbox Mobile Email

ROK Entertainment Group has announced the launch of its mass-market Mobile Email service, ‘Push Inbox’, in seven countries initially, with more to follow. Available now in the UK, the US, China, South Africa, India, Pakistan, and Australia, Push Inbox is compatible with all WAP-enabled handsets. Push InBox automatically notifies users by SMS Push Message when an email arrives, but can be switched off instantly when not required.
The solution enables users to manage their address book directly from their handset, and to read, write and reply to emails. Push InBox manages email attachments and users can add existing POP and IMAP accounts to their service and seamlessly pick up and reply to third party email. There’s also a White List facility to enable users to receive emails only from pre-approved email addresses.
“Mobile email is already a huge and competitive business aimed at mainly at the corporate market” said ROK Group CEO, Laurence Alexander. “That’s why we’ve developed Push Inbox for anyone with a WAP-enabled handset and mobile data in their tariff."
Alexander adds that ROK aims to make the service free of charge through advertising support in the future. 
Push Inbox works on any WAP-enabled mobile handset with a data service included. It can be trialled for free in the seven countries in which it is available. To sign up for the free trial, click here.

Mobile Email the Answer, says emoze

Business professionals have only 30 minutes to respond to business emails if they're not to disappoint, according to a survey from Vodafone the details of which were released last week. Vodafone commissioned research firm Opinion Matters to conduct the survey among a nationally representative sample of 2025 adults aged 16 and over between 25 April and 14 May. The findings revealed that:

One in 10 businesses expects a 30 minute turnaround on business email, and one in three businesses expect a response to email within two hours.

Data from the Office of National Statistics show that slow response to email is generating losses up to £7,345 billion per year.

Three in 10 workers suffer stress when encountering a very full inbox upon returning from meetings.

42% of all workers now say they need to be able to access and respond to emails when away from office during work hours.

Mobile email company emoze has latched on to these findings. It notes that every one of these business challenges can be addressed by the emoze Enterprise Edition.
Never before has there been a more cost-effective mobile office option for those small to medium sized enterprises that seek the 'edge' over their competitors, says emoze. It works with any Internet Service Provider or mobile operator and can be deployed on employees' existing mobile handsets.  All that's required is a low-cost Internet package from the mobile provider.
emoze Enterprise Edition offers access to emails, calendar contacts and attachments, in real-time.  Security is integrated, automatically connecting through the corporate server, pushing the data without compromising security. It sits safely behind the host PC's own encryption and maintains the utmost data protection by not storing data at any third party site.
The solution can be downloaded here.

Voda Goes Bundle Crazy

Vodafone UK has launched a variety of all-inclusive bundles for new and upgrading customers on 18- and 24-month contracts. The bundles combine voice, Internet, email, music and TV services and are available now on selected handsets, including the new Sony Ericsson C902, which is exclusive to Vodafone in red. 
There are two bundles available. A £40-per-month bundle offers unlimited calls to other Vodafone phones; 600 minutes of any time, cross-network calls; unlimited cross-network texts; plus unlimited mobile Internet and email access, as well as unlimited music downloads on Vodafone’s exclusive music service MusicStation. MusicStation gives customers access to over 1.8 million full tracks to download. The Internet/email/music service is subject to a 500MB-per-month fair usage policy. A £45-per-month bundle offers customers the same deal, but with 900 minutes of any time, cross-network calls.
For an additional £5 per month, customers can also get these bundles with Sky Mobile TV, which offers access to more than 30 channels, including includes live sports. 

Push Email For All - Eventually

Blue Whale Systems has announced the launch of BlueWhaleMail, a free, ad-supported push email and push-Facebook service for what the company describes as: “the 2.7 billion people with ordinary mobile phones”. Initially, however, the solution is available just for Nokia Series 60 and SonyEricsson feature phones.
Blue Whale Systems Founder Michael Maguire previously worked in the BlackBerry Applications team at Research In Motion. He says:
“My team and I think there are some great dedicated mobile email devices out there…“Unfortunately, the rest of the world’s 1.1 billion email users have phones with unusable, hard to configure in-built email that few people can be bothered to set-up. With BlueWhaleMail, we’ve gone back to the drawing board so that people can keep the phone they like and still stay in touch on the go.”
BlueWhaleMail supports the majority of email platforms, but the company points out that users cannot directly access Hotmail. This, it says, is down to the fact that “Microsoft does not yet freely support the required industry standards of either IMAP4 or POP3.”
In addition to its email capabilities, BlueWhaleMail also notifies users of their friends’ status updates and news items on Facebook, and allows them to send a message or write on their wall in response. Messages and notifications are displayed as soon as they are received, without requiring users to manually connect to their inbox. Revenues come from banner ads at the top of the BlueWhaleMail message viewer.
“We’re trying to make social networking - messaging, news feeds and status updates - as much a part of mobile life as text messaging,” says Blue Whale Systems CEO, Richard Seward. “People who are unwilling to pay for or use a dedicated mobile email device still deserve a great mobile email service and that’s exactly what BlueWhaleMail offers. Our service is the simplest choice for those wishing to stay on top of their social life while they’re away from their computer.”
BlueWhaleMail can be test-driven and pre-configured for download here. The company says that most people will only need to know their email address and password. Alternatively, you can browse to m.bluewhale.net on your mobile.

CommonTime Releases Mobility Whitepaper

CommonTime, the global Lotus Notes mobility specialist, has released a Whitepaper addressing the challenge companies have in formulating and delivering the right mobility strategy. Businesses looking to achieve successful mobility solutions need to provide not only mobile messaging, but also tailored mobile Line of Business (LOB) applications, the company says, while always addressing issues of security, manageability, reliability and scalability.
Microsoft’s System Center Mobile Device Manager (MDM) provides the core infrastructure needed for a successful mobility solution, the company says.  CommonTime has partnered with Microsoft to combine key elements of its industry leading Lotus Notes/Domino mobility solution, mSuite, for Windows Mobile devices with MDM.
CommonTime’s mSuite Domino Connector for MDM utilizes the rich infrastructure provided by MDM and provides Lotus Notes Messaging and Application support for Windows Mobile devices. According to CommonTime, the result fully integrates components of its mSuite product with MDM and provides a simple, easy to manage solution for companies to deploy Windows Mobile devices without having to upgrade their existing IBM infrastructure. Businesses can provide a mobility solution for Lotus Notes users quickly and cost-effectively whilst at the same time giving employees the rich functionality they want and keeping company data secure.
You can obtain a copy of the Whitepaper by emailing [email protected]

CTIA: emoze Goes HTML

Mobile email company emoze has upgraded its push-email solution to handle HTML emails. Using the new HTML interface, emoze users will see a more familiar, web-like view of their emails, including pictures, logos, layout designs, signatures and other visuals.
Building on its recently-released ISP solution, emoze says the HTML upgrade takes mobile email one step closer to supporting online social communities such as Facebook in the near future.
“emoze’s commitment to bringing its users fresh, easy, fast and efficient push email is unparalleled,” says emoze CEO, Eitan Linker. “Making use of HTML as a viewing platform ensures a heightened user experience. Push email, contacts and calendar information are now complete with superior attachments, logos, pictures and signatures, as a user would view from their PC.”
emoze’s range of business and personal solutions are available for download online at www.emoze.com emoze is available for mobile users with Yahoo!, Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes email accounts and can be accessed from a wide range of applicable mobile devices, Smartphones and PDAs.
emoze has also used the show to announce to the US market its first corporate solution, the Enterprise Edition and an extension of its mass market offering, the ISP solution.

Synchronica Secures Funds for Emerging Markets Push

Mobile email and synchronization solutions provider Synchronica plc has raised an additional $3.9 million (£1.97 million) to further fund its push into emerging markets with its mobile email and backup solutions. Synchronica’s Mobile Gateway solution enables operators to offer push email on mass market handsets for both consumer and business users, while Mobile Backup offers a backup and restore service for the personal information stored on devices.
This latest placing of new shares to institutional and private investors is in addition to funding secured in January and brings the 2008 investment in the company to $7.5 million. The funds will be used primarily to expand Synchronica's sales and support functions in emerging markets, including the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The investment comes as Synchronica makes significant inroads into emerging markets. One mobile operator has already launched Mobile Gateway, and another 15 are currently trialling the software.
According to Synchronica, Mobile Gateway 3.5 works with more than 3 billion of the phones in use around the world today, including Smartphones and mass-market devices, making it ideal for emerging markets where low-cost handsets represent the vast majority of devices. With Mobile Gateway 3.5, the company says, even the most basic phones can receive email via an email-to-SMS gateway which shows header and body text in a text message.
Another benefit for subscribers in emerging markets, where PC penetration is low, is that they can now sign up for the service from their handset via WAP, removing the need to register using a PC.
Mobile Backup is also ideally suited to these regions, the company says, since the mobile phone is increasingly becoming the primary repository of choice for social and business contact information. Customers can sign up for Mobile Backup via a straightforward WAP interface or through a simple SMS signup procedure. A built-in client provisioning module automatically configures the phone.
Informa predicts that there will be 4.81 billion mobile phone subscribers by 2012, with the majority of the next billion subscribers coming from emerging markets where PC and fixed-line penetration is low, and consumers rely on their mobile phones for communication.
“This new round of funding is important because it allows us to continue to strengthen our efforts in emerging markets,” says Synchronica CEO, Carsten Brinkschulte. “We have a robust pipeline of prospects in these regions and a first-rate solution that truly offers mobile email for everyone, regardless of which phone they use. With these funds, and our recent announcement of the strategic partnership with Brightstar to distribute Mobile Gateway in over 50 countries across six continents, we are well positioned to offer mobile operators a ‘BlackBerry for the rest of us.’”

Momail Launches in Polish

Mobile email provider Momail has revealed that its mobile email service is now available in the local language in Poland. In less than two minutes, the company says, customers can set up a Momail account via their mobile or PC to have a mobile email solution on their handsets which is as easy as SMS to use. 
Mobile penetration in Poland is three times that of PCs. Additionally, the company notes, there are now more than 1 million Polish people who can now use Momail's mobile email offering as their main communication tool, in their native language.
“After Sweden and the UK, we are excited to offer a localized version of Momail to users in Poland,” says Momail CEO, Roger Grönberg. “Our technology optimizes every message and attachment, without destroying the original, while minimising the amount of data and thus the cost of mobile data by up to 99.9%."
Momail does not require special clients or software in the mobile, thus minimising download and installation problems. Momail currently works on more than 1,000 different handset models. Momail is free of charge and works on all mobiles with built-in email support. The service is available in the UK, in all Nordic countries and in Poland. The company says that many more countries will be added this year, beginning with Germany.

SEVEN Expands Latvian Offering

Push email software company SEVEN has partnered with Latvijas Mobilais Telefons (LMT), Latvia’s biggest mobile network operator, to provide LMT customers with access to their consumer email accounts on their mobile phone with Tiešpasts, powered by SEVEN’s Consumer Edition solution.
LMT customers currently have access to SEVEN’s enterprise mobile email solution, making it easy for users to monitor their work email accounts away from the office. Now, SEVEN is providing its Consumer Edition solution to LMT customers, allowing them the same instant access to consumer email accounts from popular Internet email providers such as Google, inbox.lv, delfi.lv, and apollo.lv.
“By extending our mobile email solution to include our Consumer Edition solution with LMT we are furthering our mission to provide mobile email to everyone,” says SEVEN CEO, Ross Bott. “We understand the need for an easy solution to access consumer email accounts on a vast array of devices. We are excited to offer our own consumer email solution to LMT customers, giving them the access they want on their existing mobile phones.”
SEVEN says its consumer mobile email solution is easy to access and use. To access email accounts, customers choose the personal mobile email icon, and enter their username and password once for continued access. SEVEN has simplified the mobile email user interface to encourage usability and adoption of its solution. Customers will also have access to both their personal and work email accounts on their mobile phone, as well as access to their contacts and calendar appointments.
“Mobile email has been steadily gaining popularity among both businesses and consumers for some time,” says LMT Press Secretary, Elīna Lidere. “We are happy to extend our own services to include mobile email access to consumer email accounts, in addition to SEVEN’s enterprise email services they are already offering our customers.”
SEVEN’s Consumer Edition is available for € 4.26 (£3.20) per month, and the Enterprise Edition for
€ 7.11 per month.

emoze Comes to the Nseries

Mobile push-email provider emoze has revealed that Nokia Nseries handsets to be released in 2008 will be ‘emoze ready’, with emoze push-email software available to download from the ‘Download!’ folder .
Emoze points out that its application is not limited to Nokia Nseries users. moze mobile email is available to tens of millions of mobile users with a compatible phone and a data package. The application can be downloaded from the emoze website.
emoze notes that all messages are stored behind the firewall in a home or corporate network, and are accessed only when they reach the right mobile device or PC. This not only saves the user connectivity-related costs but also delivers increased battery efficiency, memory use and CPU.
“With the Nokia offering, emoze is upping its game,” says emoze CEO, Eitan Linker. “In 2008, anyone with a capable device and data package can capitalise on emoze, and extend their email experience from desktop to device. As ever, emoze will continue to offer the push-experience anytime, anywhere.”

Blackberry Debuts in Russia

Russian network operators MTS and Vimpelcom have announced that two-year negotiations with Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM) and with the FSB (the former KGB) have been successfully completed.
The bottleneck was e-mail encryption and the FSB. The FSB was requesting access to the Blackberry e-mail encryption code, while RIM was unwilling to provide code for decryption. But a compromise solution has been reached. For Russian users, a Blackberry server will be installed not on the client side, as anywhere in the rest of the world, but on the mobile carrier side. And Russian enforcement agencies will be able to monitor the traffic. All Russian telecom companies are required by law to have a so-called SORM (System of Operative Investigative Activities) system to provide enforcement bodies with access to monitoring voice and data traffic.
MTS and Vimpelcom have each been granted permission to import into Russia 300 Blackberry 8800s, 300 Blackberry 7290s, 480 Blackberry 8700Gs, as well as the Blackberry Enterprise Server v4.1.
The third largest Russian mobile operator, MegaFon, has announced a competing service called MegaSync. This also allows users to receive e-mail on their mobile with online data encryption, but does not require the user to use a specific device. The service is based on Nokia Intellisync technology. It is currently available on seven Nokia business mobile and soon will be available on over 100 mobile phones and PDAs from various manufacturers.

1,000 Device Milestone for Momail

Mobile email provider Momail reports that it has become the first vendor to support more than 1,000 different mobile devices. Momail says the figures is four times more than its closest competitor. 
Examples of the latest and upcoming models compatible with Momail are the Apple iPhone, the LG KU990 Viewty, the Motorola MOTORAZR V9, and the SonyEricsson  K660i, W380i and W890i.
"In UK the GPS and the digital photo frame has been selected as this year's ‘must-have’ Christmas gifts, but if we count the number of units sold during the holiday season, the mobile phone will win again this year,” says Momail CEO, Roger Grönberg. “We estimate that more than 300 million mobile phones will be sold worldwide this quarter. In the UK alone, approximately 6 million handsets will be sold, and Momail functions on almost all of them.” 
Of the more than 1.1 billion mobile phones that will be sold this year, more than 80%  include  built-in email support, and Momail says it intends to be first choice in markets where it is available. Today, Momail is available in the five Nordic countries and the UK, and will launch in Germany and Poland “very soon”. The company says it will continue to expand its offering across more countries throughout 2008.
“Momail makes it very easy to get started, and its patented technology optimizes every email for each mobile's specific requirements, thus saving an average of 82% of the data traffic to the mobile,” says Grönberg. “Momail is the fastest and most cost effective mobile communication solution available today."
Momail is free of charge and works on all mobiles with built-in email support. Users can register free of charge here.

Microsoft Exchange Push Email for the iPhone

Synchronica, the mobile synchronisation and device management company, says that UK iPhone owners can turn their new handset into a business phone by adding a secure corporate email service free of charge, with just a few clicks.
Synchronica says it is the only vendor offering a live solution allowing iPhones owners to receive push email from Microsoft Exchange accounts, without requiring additional software to be installed on the iPhone, or behind the corporate firewall. Synchronica is offering a free 60-day trial if its Mobile Gateway solution for UK iPhone users, following a successful trial which has been running in the US since August. More than 10,000 US iPhone users have already signed up for the Mobile Gateway trial and, says Synchronica, have seamlessly incorporated their new handsets into their business life, using mobile email.
Synchronica says that Mobile Gateway, which provides a link between the iPhone’s built-in email client and Microsoft Exchange, is the perfect complement to iTunes for ensuring fast, secure synchronisation of all business data. While iTunes synchronises calendar and contacts with Microsoft Outlook, Mobile Gateway keeps iPhone connected to corporate email when the user has left the office. It provides tight integration between the iPhone and Microsoft Exchange, and automatically delivers emails to the built-in email client of the iPhone, including support for folders and attachments. Emails sent from the iPhone via Mobile Gateway automatically appear in the ‘Sent Items’ folder of the user’s Exchange account as if they had been sent from the user’s PC.
To take up the trial, iPhone users need should head for the Synchronica website and register their iPhone with Synchronica’s Mobile Gateway. At the end of the 60-day trial period, users will be migrated to a commercially-supported service.
“I know that those who have finally got their hands on the iPhone in the UK are going to love their new handset just as much I love mine,” says Synchronica CEO, Carsten Brinkschulte. “The iPhone is an iconic device with an exceptional user experience, and probably the first to deliver the complete web experience on a mobile device. Mobile Gateway closes the main gap in its functionality by connecting the iPhone to corporate Exchange mailboxes. Another reason to leave that Blackberry in the drawer.”

Talking Mobile Email with Emoze

The gremlins seem to be playing havoc with our plans to report from the Symbian Smartphone Show today. The first post from the show which went up just after lunchtime, seems to have disappeared, so here it is again, hopefully not looking too different to the original...
First, to the Emoze stand, where we find the company in bullish mood, with a raft of new announcements. First is the upgrading of its free software that provides secure push email to mobile phones all over the world, to support Google Apps, the packaged collection of Google applications including e-mail, instant messaging, calendar, word processing, spreadsheet and web authoring applications. Google Apps enables consumers and businesses to use their own custom domain names with several Google products, including Gmail. Families, business and educational institutions can create their own domain name for emails with professional addresses like johnsmith@mycompany. Emoze already supports push emails from the Gmail domain.  Now, with the updated emoze version, emails can be pushed to the consumer’s mobile device even from private domains on the Google server.
Second, Emoze Marketing Director Caron Tal tells us, the Enterprise edition of Emoze will launch globally next week. This, as regular readers will recall, is Emoze’s corporate email solution that will be sold in batches of 50 licences at a cost of €500 (£250) for each 50 users per year, a price that significantly undercuts the cost to a corporation of running a fleet of Blackberrys, which Emoze says is around £30 - £50 per month for each device. With such dramatic savings to be had, we suggested, some may find the figures hard to believe. But Tal insists:
“We have no problems in selling it. Once people see it’s better and costs less they are very happy to try it out. It’s secure, and there’s no need to worry about data storage. We have a couple of companies trying it in Israel, and they are over the moon.
Finally, says Tal, Emoze will launch a Java-based email solution before the end of the year. The current Emoze solution runs off the native client of each handset. Tal insists that email attachments on a mobile look much better when seen via the handset’s native client, but says:
“There is a huge mass market out there who will only download a Java application because it’s so simple; one click and it’s all configured for you. We said to ourselves that we were limiting ourselves to a couple of million users when we could probably have a billion. That’s why we’re doing it.”

CommonTime Revamps Partner Programe

CommonTime, the wireless push Lotus Notes email and enterprise mobility solutions provider, has strengthened its Partner Program to provide partners with enhanced opportunities to identify and win new business. The program offers access to market-leading wireless mobility solutions, high gross profit margins, technical training and joint marketing programs.
The improved and streamlined program features emphasis on CommonTime's ongoing commitment to its partners selling and supporting its complete line of mobility solutions worldwide.
The CommonTime Partner Program includes several new offerings, including extra margin for sales opportunity registration and the availability of Marketing Development Funds (MDF) to support events, sponsorships, advertising and marketing activities.
All partners also have access to a Partner Portal, a site devoted to the provisioning of partner material, including sales tools, marketing materials, training information, and technical documentation. The program is segmented into two tiers, each carrying a differentiated level of sales commitment and technical training requirements.
“As the mobile data and applications market evolves, CommonTime wishes to create an environment for its partners where they have the best chance to create revenue and provide the best customer experience" says CommonTime Head of Marketing, Ollie Omotosho. “Partners play a vital role in CommonTime's ability to reach and support a broad spectrum of enterprise customers. Our combined strengths enable our customers to implement solutions that will meet their evolving mobility needs."
There’s more information on the Partner Program on the CommonTime website.

Emoze Targets Corporates with Low-cost Push Email Solution

Mobile push email company Emoze plans to launch a corporate version of its push email service before the end of the year, and claims the cost to corporations will be a fraction of what it costs to run a fleet of Blackberrys.
In a private briefing in London yesterday, Emoze CEO Benny Ballin told Mobile Marketing that the solution would be sold in batches of 50 licences at a cost of €1 (£0.67) per user per year. In comparison, said Ballin, the price to run a Blackberry is around £30 - £50 per month for each device. The huge difference, Ballin explained, comes from the fact that the Blackberry system relies on storing the message on Blackberry’s servers, something that is not required in the Emoze system.
“All the leading mobile email providers like Blackberry and Intellisinc all use the same store and forward mechanism” said Ballin. “70% of RIM’s revenue comes from hardware, the servers and the storage capacity.” 
The high cost of most mobile email services, Balin believes, has held the market back, forcing many large corporations to restrict Blackberry deployment to key employees.
“There are 3 billion mobile subscribers and 2.5 billion email accounts, but only around 12 million mobile email users” Ballin pointed out.
Ballin also claimed that a significant amount of Emoze users are former Blackberry users who are using the Emoze solution on their Blackberry handset.
“We used to say we are not competing with Blackberry, but this is no longer true, because many Blackberry users are replacing their solution with Emoze, so we are cannibalising their population” said Ballin.
Ballin also told Mobile Marketing that Emoze is in contact with a leading handset manufacturer to pre-load the Emoze push email service within a matter of months.
“I can’t reveal who, but we are talking about the biggest guys, and I told you we like Symbian” said Balin. (Go figure – Ed)
Emoze is also planning a number of ISP offerings with key ISPs around the world. The first is for Gmail, and will launch within the next couple of weeks, with more offerings for major ISPs and email providers to follow.
Emoze’s existing personal edition mobile email solution is network-agnostic and can be downloaded on to any phone with an email client from the Emoze WAP download site at: mobile.emoze.com