Johannesburg, 28 May 2010
Nokia and Microsoft have unveiled the first product to emerge from their alliance: Microsoft Communicator Mobile for Nokia devices, which has the potential to target 10.5 million mobile instant messaging (IM) users in SA.
The tech giants formed the alliance in August last year to deliver enterprise-grade solutions for mobile productivity. In addition to this initial product, the companies say there are many more mobile productivity offerings in the pipeline.
Noting the increasing popularity of the mobile platform as an enterprise tool, John Press, business development manager for Microsoft SA, says: “Utilising what enterprises currently have within their infrastructure to create experiences and functionality that can be replicated on the mobile device is what this alliance is about.”
Mark Strathmore, service providers and business-to-business manager for Nokia SA, argues that location no longer matters, and the emerging mobile workforce stands to gain from the alliance.
Strathmore says the ultimate goal of the alliance is to make the mobile device and the suite of services on it more attractive to corporates as well as the consumer within the corporate environment.
For example, if the user wants to roll out a server or device, he explains, they ultimately want to do that in a unified way within the corporate environment, using many of the same tools the corporate uses as a matter of course. This is what the alliance strives to deliver, adds Strathmore.
Microsoft acknowledges the rising mobility trend, and Press says: “We have a vision around 'three screens in the cloud'. The mobile phone really forms an integral part of that, and this alliance will enhance that and help deploy our productivity suite to a far greater base.”
Communicator Mobile is an enterprise-class, behind the firewall, IM application that enables people to see their colleagues' availability, and communicate with them using the best method, from IM to e-mail, text to phone call, explains Strathmore.
The unveiling of the Microsoft Communicator Mobile for Nokia devices locally appears well timed, given the findings of the Mobile Internet in SA 2010 study, conducted by World Wide Worx, and backed by First National Bank.
According to the survey findings, while 28% of the urban cellular market is using mobile IM, as many as 65% have the capacity on their phones, meaning only 4.5 million out of 10.5 million potential mobile IM users actually use it.
The solution allows for names and the status of colleagues to be embedded directly into the devices' contacts application, enabling people to update their own presence, start and join IM sessions, and begin calls directly from the contact card, explains Nokia.
The application, available initially for Nokia E72 and Nokia E52, adds to the work Nokia is already doing in optimising direct access to e-mail and other personal information with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync.
The companies plan to deliver Communicator Mobile for Nokia pre-installed on select Nokia smartphones in the future and plan to support additional devices, including the recently announced Nokia E5.
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