WirelessKnowledge L.L.C., a joint venture between Microsoft Corp. and Qualcomm Inc., introduced
Revolv, its first service offering since forming in November.
The service will allow users remote access to e-mail,
calendars, contact lists and information content via the Internet, as well as access to Microsoft Exchange-based
corporate networks from a variety of wireless devices-such as Windows CE units, palmtop computers, browser-
equipped phones, pagers and Web access terminals.
Laptop computers running any of the Windows line of
operating systems also would have access with the appropriate modem.
WirelessKnowledge said Revolv is the first
in a series of services the company intends to offer.
WirelessKnowledge formed to try to provide an airlink-
independent architecture carriers can use to offer secure wireless access to data and applications on any wireless device,
network and enterprise system. As such, long-term plans call for Revolv to be able to operate on such digital networks
as Code Division Multiple Access, Global System for Mobile communications, Time Division Multiple Access,
Cellular Digital Packet Data and Mobitex.
Initially, Revolv will connect users to back-office servers based on
Microsoft Exchange. Over time, WirelessKnowledge hopes to provide solutions for any type of back-office
server.
“We think it’s really important for us to do one thing really well at first,” said Tom Clarkson III,
WirelessKnowledge vice president of sales and marketing.
The service was built using the Microsoft BackOffice
family of technologies and the Microsoft Commercial Internet System.
In detail, Revolv allows customers to access
existing e-mail accounts and Microsoft Exchange calendar and contact lists from various devices via various networks.
Information content is provided using both generic Internet access to all supported device configurations as well as
pages tailored specifically for a particular mobile device.
Users can access these services by dialing in to the carrier
offering the service from their particular device.
The carrier’s network then is connected to WirelessKnowledge’s
Network Operating Center, which either hosts Exchange servers for clients or provides the network connection to a
corporate Exchange server via a virtual private network.
The NOC determines which type of device is requesting
the information and delivers the information back to the device in a format best suited to it. So if calendar information
is requested by a laptop computer and a pager, the information will be sent back in whichever format and functionality
the respective devices can read.
Revolv is available to carriers as an original equipment manufacturer
product.
WirelessKnowledge estimates carriers buying the service will make it available to their end users in the
second quarter, following a testing period.
