Content is king. That’s the mantra repeated by many looking to make it big in the wireless Internet space these days. But for content to be valuable, it must be personal, and that is the driving force behind the growing interest in synchronization technologies among wireless players.
In the past year, several synchronization firms have been acquired, emphasizing the key role synchronization plays in the content management picture. Wireless Internet software infrastructure provider Phone.com Inc. bought Paragon Software Inc. as one of its first acquisitions, Motorola Inc. picked up Starfish Software Inc. and Aether Systems Inc. added Riverbed Technologies Inc. to its portfolio.
Synchronization company Puma Technologies Inc. pursued its own acquisitions, adding NetMind Technologies Inc. and ProxiNet to the fold.
The point behind the purchases is the same-to piece together a system to manage data, of which synchronization plays a significant role.
“Synchronization technology makes sure the right information is going to be seen on the appropriate device,” said Darryl Sterling, wireless Internet analyst at Mainspring Communications Inc. “There’s going to be a store of data on the Internet and it doesn’t matter what device you’ll use to access it. Synchronization technology is needed to manage all that data between devices.”
Today, common forms of synchronization revolve around updating information between a desktop computer and a mobile device, such as a mobile phone or a handheld PC. The PC and the mobile device share common personal information management applications. After making changes to an application in one device, the user connects the two devices via a docking cradle and hits the synchronization command, which updates all information so both have the same data.
In this model, the PC is the center of the synchronization process. A future goal is to make this occur behind the scenes using the network as the center of the process.
“The growing wireless market and small device space means you need to be able to sync over the air,” said Tom Hunt, vice president of marketing at Puma. “Broad and ubiquitous and applied synchronization happens behind the scenes.”
The PC, phone, pager and personal digital assistant all will share common PIM applications, he said, but when changes are made to the application of one, they will be recorded in the network and sent to the other devices once they are activated.
“You won’t have to load or install any software on any device,” predicted Phillipe Kahn, chief executive officer of Starfish Software. “They’ll just synchronize, so that your address book on your cell phone will always be current and up-to-date, even if you just bought this new cell phone.”
Also, the user may be able to configure the process so only certain types of information are sent to each device. So while the PC may be updated with a new contact list containing address, phone number and e-mail address, the pager may receive only the new e-mail address.
“The Wireless Application Protocol makes content readable on wireless networks,” Sterling said. “Synchronization is the intelligence behind where and why the content gets sent over the wireless network. It makes it easier for somebody to interact with content from a number of different devices.”
But as integral as that role is, it is not enough to remain as a stand-alone technology. It must be integrated with other, related technologies to thrive.
“The next step is how to make all these technologies useful with one another, acting on your behalf, on your expressed interest,” said Puma’s Hunt. Puma bought ProxiNet to add access to Web data and picked up NetMind to add notification technology.
All the pieces are there, but it looks like a jigsaw puzzle-you can make out the picture, but you can still see the lines of each piece. The next step is to eliminate those lines.
For instance, the calendar function knows it’s your wife’s birthday, your notification service sends you an alert of that fact and the Web browser allows you to make dinner reservations from the phone. The future is for all these functions to integrate to the point where the notification of your wife’s birthday automatically offers you a one-click connection to your wife’s favorite restaurant. One step instead of three.
Integrating these functions is expected to apply to enterprise databases and applications as well. Larry Roshfeld, senior vice president of Aether Software, formerly Riverbed Technologies, said the company is concerned with adding device and user management technology to synchronization to include permissions that dictate which user may interact and change data in certain applications. For personal use, this is not as difficult because the user is changing personal data. But enterprise applications and databases are accessed and used by several people, and only certain authorities should be allowed to make changes.
Perhaps the greatest indication that synchronization technology is coming into its own is the formation of the SyncML initiative, a body established to create an industrywide standard for synchronization protocols. It was founded by IBM Corp., Motorola, Nokia Corp., Palm Inc., Psion plc and Starfish. Since its formation, most all synchronization firms have joined, as have several other manufacturers.
Among other things, the SyncML is working to create a common synchronization language, allowing application developers to add sync capabilities in their software so it will work with all synchronization technologies.
“Currently, data synchronization is based on multiple sets of different protocols, each one functioning with a limited number of data types, devices or systems,” according to the group’s statement. “The SyncML initiative will deliver an open industry specification, which will enable a new generation of universal interoperability between systems and devices.”
But some debate the need for synchronization standards, claiming a standard may do more to slow the industry than accelerate it.
“A natural evolution of any industry is that you want standards. But there’s a balance between how quickly the market moves and how fast the standards move,” said Aether’s Roshfeld, noting his company has not joined the SyncML group. “We support them as long as they move quickly. We want to make sure this is one that’s successful, not a political morass … Our concern with standards is that we don’t want it to become a lowest-common-denominator solution.”
Although some disagreement may exist over standards, there is only unified acknowledgement that synchronization and its related technologies have been handed an important task-to bring order to the impending chaos as wireless companies introduce more devices capable of accessing Internet data and the Internet industry continues to create content directed at wireless users.
“There’s a lot more diversity of hardware and software vendors in the wireless space, and more concern that they can talk to each other,” Roshfeld said. “Synchronization is part of a bigger story. The race now is about who understands that and who can deliver it.”
