11th Feb 2008 07:01
Synchronica PLC11 February 2008 11 February Synchronica Mobile Gateway 3.5 brings mobile email to any phone New Email-to-SMS support meets demand for mass market mobile email in emerging markets Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Hall 2, Stand 2J25, 11 February 2008 -Synchronica plc, an international provider of mobile email and synchronizationsolutions, has announced that the latest version of its ground-breaking mobileemail middleware, Mobile Gateway 3.5, now incorporates an Email-to-SMS Gatewayexpanding support for push email to more than 3 billion phones including themost basic handsets on the market. The new Email-to-SMS Gateway adds to the mobile email and synchronizationstandards already supported (OMA DS/SyncML, OMA EMN and IMAP Idle), and enablesMobile Gateway 3.5 to deliver push email to virtually every handset on themarket today. Mobile Gateway combines the Email-to-SMS Gateway for basic phonessuch as the Nokia 1110 with an IMAP Gateway delivering push email to thebuilt-in email clients on feature phones such as the SonyEricsson W880 and aSyncML Gateway for synchronization of calendar and contact data with more than1.5 billion SyncML enabled handsets such as the Nokia NSeries. As a key advantage, unmatched by other products, Mobile Gateway 3.5 features"zero footprint" architecture that supports all the major back-end systems usedfor consumer and business mailbox services, without requiring additionalsoftware to be installed on the device or behind the firewall. According to mobile industry analyst Strategy Analytics, the open industrystandards Push IMAP/ LEMONADE and OMA DS/SyncML are crucial for the growth ofmobile email in the mass market, because consumers prefer the low cost featurephones that support these. Owners of even the most basic handsets will now beable to use Mobile Gateway 3.5 to receive and send email messages, with thesubject header and body of the mobile email message contained in SMS format. Informa projections predict 4.81 billion mobile phone subscribers by 2012, withthe next billion subscribers coming from India, Africa, the Middle East, CentralAsia and Eastern Europe. Mobile Gateway 3.5 is well suited for these emergingmarkets because it supports mobile email and PIM synchronization on mass marketand low cost devices, which represent the vast majority of all handsets shipped. To facilitate service activation and boost consumer adoption rates, Synchronicahas also added WAP signup to Mobile Gateway 3.5, enabling users to subscribe tothe service directly from their device. This will greatly benefit operators inemerging markets where PC and fixed-line penetration is very low, but mobilephones are increasingly ubiquitous. "Consumers are not going to buy an expensive phone to get mobile email. Insteadwe have to find ways to enable email on the more than 3 billion handsets thatare already in use," comments Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO of Synchronica. "Bysupporting all of the standard message delivery systems, we have now made mobileemail accessible on virtually every mobile phone on the planet." Synchronica Mobile Gateway 3.5 provides carrier-grade scalability and supportsGmail, AOL, Yahoo and any ISP mailbox using IMAP or POP3 for consumers andMicrosoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, and the Sun Java Communications Suite forbusiness PIM and email synchronization. An OMA CP provisioning module enablesautomatic over the air configuration of all mobile phones. "Once consumers realize that they can easily set up email on their existingphone, we will see a significant increase in the take up of mobile emailservices, particularly in emerging markets. This heralds an attractive source ofdata revenue for operators around the world as millions of consumers swap theinternet cafe for their trusty mobile." concludes Brinkschulte. -ends- About Mobile Gateway Synchronica's Mobile Gateway provides carrier-grade push email andsynchronization services for virtually all mass market feature phones andsmartphones being used by subscribers today. Based on the dominant open industrystandards Push IMAP (LEMONADE) for mobile email and SyncML (OMA DS) for contactand calendar synchronization, it works with the built-in email andsynchronization clients found in more than 1.5 billion phones. The new Email toSMS functionality expands its reach to virtually every phone in use today.Serving consumers and prosumers, Mobile Gateway includes back-end support forPOP3 and IMAP mailboxes, connecting to popular services such as AOL or GoogleMail. For business users, it provides a unique zero footprint architecture whereusers simply register their devices and instantly start to receive corporateemail on their phone without requiring additional connectors behind thefirewall. Business mailboxes supported include Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Dominoand Sun Communications Suite. About Synchronica Synchronica plc develops and markets industry standard mobile email andsynchronization solutions for the vast majority of devices in the market today.Mobile operators, device manufacturers and service providers in emerging anddeveloped markets use Synchronica products to offer mobile email, PIMsynchronization and backup & restore services to their consumer and corporatecustomer base. Products include the push email and synchronization solutionMobile Gateway and the mass-market device backup solution Mobile Backup.Headquartered in the UK with a development centre in Germany and a presence inHong Kong, Dubai and U.S. Synchronica plc is a public company traded on the AIMlist of the London Stock Exchange (SYNC.LN). More information is available atwww.synchronica.com. For more information, please contact: Nicole Meissner, CMOSynchronica plcTel.: +44 1892 552 780Mobile: +44 7977 256 412 Fax: +44 1892 552 721 [email protected] This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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