By Mike Dano
Motorola scrapped its instant-messaging server business earlier this year and plans to focus solely on providing instant-messaging software in its handsets, a move that comes amid drastic cost-reduction efforts at the company that include cutting one-third of its workforce.
“It was a strategic decision that was made,” said Motorola spokesman David Rudd. “Right now we’re more focused on the client side.”
Rudd said the resources for the server business were reallocated to other parts of the company. He said it was unclear whether any job cuts were a direct result of the move, but that Motorola during the year has worked to streamline its operations and has cut jobs in a variety of areas.
Motorola’s exit from the instant-messaging server business also coincides with the struggles of its main partner in the endeavor, Personity. Openwave Systems acquired Personity last month for an undisclosed amount.
Motorola began its partnership with Personity in March 2001, and made an equity investment in the company in October 2001. This February, the two companies launched the “Motorola Messenger system powered by Personity,” which supported instant messaging and presence capabilities along with mobile chat rooms with short message service (SMS). At the time, the companies said the system would be available to wireless carriers by March.
But trouble at Personity was rapidly brewing. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Personity laid off most of its 30-person staff this spring.
When Openwave acquired Personity last month, the company gained three engineers and Personity’s instant-messaging and presence technology. An Openwave spokeswoman said the company would use Personity’s technology to add presence information to its location services. Presence technology allows users to determine whether friends or family are available for communication.
Openwave spokeswoman Candace Locklear said Openwave will license Personity’s technology to interested companies.
The acquisition is the latest in a long line for Openwave. The company in May of last year acquired another instant-messaging company, Avogadro, but that company’s technology did not include presence services. In June Openwave bought location-services company SignalSoft and Java company Ellipsus Systems.
Activity on the wireless instant-messaging front has come in fits and starts. Several carriers offer wireless access to Internet-based instant-messaging systems, including America Online’s service and MSN’s Messenger. But smaller startups also offer a range of instant-messaging products and services.
Indeed, just last week instant-messaging company FastMobile announced it scored US$4 million in first-round funding, enough to pay for the launch of its IM service in the United Kingdom and South Korea. Leo Capital Holdings, BlueStar Ventures and Red Barn Investments led the financing.
FastMobile’s fastxt instant-messaging service supports multiple, simultaneous group conversations as well as global interoperability, buddy lists with presence information and message storage, the company said. FastMobile will offer unlimited fastxt messaging with integrated text-messaging capability in a variety of subscription-based packages.
The company said it will also use the funding to finance the final development and testing of its push-to-talk service, fastchat. GW
