OVERLAND PARK, Calif.-The wireless e-mail space remains hot as Sprint PCS teamed with Internet giant Yahoo! Inc. and software developer Seven to offer service to mass-market mobile users.
Dubbed Yahoo! Mail for Mobile, the service is available through a downloadable client for $3 a month. The service, which is offered on five Sprint Vision handsets, is designed to mimic a PC user experience for Yahoo! e-mail subscribers. Users can download e-mail to their handsets, allowing them to access messages later without Internet connections.
The deal is a big win for Seven, which is one of a handful of developers looking to expand the market for wireless e-mail. Yahoo! is the No. 1 provider of Web e-mail services in the country, with about 60 million monthly users.
Others pursuing the space include Intellisync, Visto and JP Mobile.
Also last week, Seven announced deals with carriers in Australia, France, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia and Spain. That news came on the heels of substantial new efforts by Microsoft and Good Technology to target high-end corporate wireless e-mail users, a segment dominated by Research in Motion Ltd. and its ubiquitous BlackBerry.
“If you look at mobile e-mail users today, most analysts say there are about 20 million,” said John Starkweather, a senior product manager for Microsoft’s Mobile and Embedded Devices Division. “We think that is clearly the tip of the iceberg … The opportunity to mobilize people is tremendous.”
