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Mobile MessagingIn 2005, tekniche had a chance to explore in some depth, the current developments in Mobile Messaging. This is not to say accessing e-mail on a mobile phone via POP - old hat - but a secure solution to wireless connectivity on a portable device. In other words, end-to-end encryption and encryption on the remote device. In this area, the Blackberry from Research In Motion, had to be the front runner in 2005. The consultancy examined some solutions under investigation by State and Federal governments. Typically, mobile access to e-mail and calendar, so-called business grade applications, were the most wanted features, and not just synchronisation to the workstation - also old hat. Moreover, three and four letter abbreviations made it difficult to come to sensible decisions: we had GSM, GPRS/EDGE, CDMA20001x EV-DO and a spectrum of others, ostensibly helping us to move from 2G to 2.5G to 3G and beyond. The G stands for Generation, by the way, and it was not even clear whether CDMA had a future in Australia in 2005 (2006 Update: It doesn't). Microsoft was still standing on the sidelines trying to work out whether the Mobile Messaging market was worth entering, or whether it truly was "toys for the boys" - notwithstanding positive ROI findings for Blackberry deployments. It all came down to speed and the cost of that speed, and security came in third, a long way behind. The choice, to paraphrase Henry Ford, was any device, as long as it was (a) Black(berry), and even here the DSD Security Certification for Blackberry was of the Clayton's variety. The involvement in Mobile Messaging by tekniche has extended into 2006, where Microsoft has now entered the market in a serious way, and the big players like Telstra recognise that are several markets to consider, and a bunch of new abbreviations like UMTS and HSDPA, to toss around. RIM has had to face up to the fact that Blackberry users want better graphics and document viewing, and has released the Blackberry Pearl, to counter offerings that have been part of Microsoft's package since Pocket PC days. Microsoft, on the other hand, has realised it had paid the right amount of attention to security. No surprises there. However Microsoft is making headway now in the security area with the Messaging and Security Feature Pack for Windows Mobile 5.0. Good Technology realised that SmartPhone users wanted Blackberry-level security all along, and offers the Good Messaging Server to meet that need. All in all, the market is moving quickly. In 2006, Telstra will now consider three options for corporate users:
In 2001 tekniche decided Samsung was stealing a lead in mobile phone technology and has used Samsung phones ever since. Our choice could be the i320. Or, maybe it's now time to look to HTC as the company that is at the cutting edge of mobile messaging, and invest in the MTeoR. Note 2008 Update: HTC seems to be a key player in driving innovation in this sector. The iPhone is terminally trendy, but Google's Android Project is worth watching.
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