Combining paging technology and personal organizer, PageMart Wireless Inc. announced agreements with Motorola Inc. and 3Com Corp. and with Texas Instruments Inc. to bring messaging capabilities to 3Com’s PalmPilot handheld computer and TI’s Advantra unit.
PageMart said it plans to integrate its messaging network with 3Com’s PalmPilot organizer in the form of a Pager Card, to be codeveloped by Motorola’s FLEX Architecture Solutions Division and PageMart. The Pager Card will replace the standard PalmPilot memory card, allowing the device to receive numeric and alphanumeric pages in all areas where the PageMart network is operational, including the networks of paging carriers in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries with which PageMart has agreements.
The Pager Card will be branded by PageMart, which also will market and distribute it jointly with the Palm Computing division of 3Com. It will function on Motorola’s FLEX technology.
Motorola also plans to release the Pager Card for the PalmPilot software development kit to allow independent software developers to create wireless PalmPilot platform applications capable of receiving text, numeric and binary messages from the Pager Card.
PageMart’s agreement with TI will bundle the paging carrier’s wireless messaging services with TI’s Advantra products. TI will distribute the Advantra unit, PC software and connectivity cable and PageMart’s activation kit through its previously established retail channels.
The Advantra, recently unveiled at PCS ’97 in Dallas, is a message and information manager that combines the features of an organizer with wireless information features. The agreement with PageMart integrates alphanumeric and numeric messaging capabilities, personal information management and PC data synchronization.
The companies tout these alliances as a way to reduce the number of devices necessary for mobile professionals to carry when out of the office.
“A large percentage of PalmPilot organizer customers have expressed strong interest in combining their organizers and pagers into one convenient device,” said Joe Sipher, product line manager for Palm Computing Inc., the division of 3Com that develops and markets the PalmPilot product.
“Advantra adds value to messaging and wireless communication and expands the user’s productivity,” said David Robin, business manager for TI. “With the addition of PageMart’s activation kit, we’re going a step further, providing our customers with a complete solution so they can quickly and easily activate their Advantra.”
The Pager Card for PalmPilot is scheduled to be available early next year for a suggested retail price of $170, to be distributed to electronic stores like Best Buy, Circuit City, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Staples and the Sharper Image, among others. The PalmPilot was created by U.S. Robotics Inc., which was acquired by 3Com.
Advantra products with PageMart activation kits are planned to be available in December with an estimated retail price of $250.
