Motorola Inc. is quietly offering users of its Moto Q smart phone a free software upgrade intended to strengthen the device’s e-mail and security functions, increase its appeal to business and productivity-oriented users and bring the device up to speed with the competition.
The addition of Microsoft Corp.’s Messaging and Security Feature Pack to the Q’s Windows Mobile operating system brings the device abreast of other smart phones offered by other handset vendors running Windows Mobile, including Motorola competitors Palm Inc. and original design manufacturers such as HTC, which makes carrier-branded smart phones.
Many of the functionalities available from the software upgrade were previously available from third-party vendors at additional cost or were cumbersome to implement, according to Microsoft’s John Starkweather, group product manager for Windows Mobile and Embedded Devices. Providing the upgrade to Motorola for the Q is covered under the two companies’ original, Windows Mobile licensing agreement and is basically considered ongoing OS support.
Because all smart-phone vendors licensing the Windows Mobile operating system, including Motorola, Palm and HTC, either have begun or soon plan to begin shipping their devices with the MSFP already installed, it was a priority for Motorola and Verizon Wireless-which has been selling the Q exclusively for $200 with a two-year contract-to ensure the upgrade was available to current or prospective Q owners. Future Qs will ship with the MSFP pre-installed.
Verizon Wireless offers mobile solutions for the enterprise and small- and medium-sized businesses across numerous industries and its supporting device portfolio includes the Motorola Q and smart-phone rivals Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry, Palm’s Treo devices, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.’s SCH-i730 and Verizon Wireless-branded devices. Most of these devices, or a version of them-except the BlackBerry-run a variant of Windows Mobile.
The software upgrade has been available on most if not all devices at all carriers offering smart phones running Windows Mobile, Starkweather said. Making the software upgrade available to Q users since the device’s launch at the end of May has been “a big request,” he added.
The upgrade essentially makes push e-mail automatic and enhances and simplifies the carrier’s or the enterprise I.T. manager’s ability to wipe the device if it’s lost or stolen and provides stronger encryption options. Previously the device had to use more power to enable push e-mail, extra user steps were required to check the corporate server for e-mail, or third parties provided functionality for additional cost. Good Technology Inc., for instance, offers services that sit on top of Windows Mobile and provides analogous functionality. Providing the MSFP upgrade is a basic part of Microsoft’s value-added approach that keeps a software giant’s products relevant and competitive.
“These types of e-mail and security features are becoming the baseline experience that customers expect in a smart device,” Starkweather said. “It signals the evolution of this space. Your handheld experience is becoming more like that on your computer. And organizations expect to be able to manage that phone like they do other computing devices.”
The upgrade also will allow Verizon Wireless customers to perform dial-up networking, which provides CDMA2000 1x EV-DO download speeds for laptops linked to the Q via USB or Bluetooth, at a fee dependent on the user’s service plan.
From Motorola’s perspective, of course, keeping Q owners abreast of Microsoft’s OS enhancements is a priority as the handset maker continues to position its smart-phone entry for productivity-oriented users in both consumer and enterprise spaces.
“The consumer market, of course, is the bigger market, but we see the enterprise-as well as small and medium-sized business market-as an important aspect of the Q’s potential,” said Jason Gordon, a product manager in the company’s mobile devices division. “And anytime you offer enhanced functionality for both end users in enterprise as well as I.T. staff managing a company’s device assets, that’s a plus.”
Asked to place the Q’s positioning in the context of its competitors-clearly it is aimed at RIM’s BlackBerry, Palm’s Treo and HTC’s carrier-branded smart phones that preceded it-Gordon sketches the bigger picture in broad brush strokes.
“There are hundreds of millions of e-mail users in the world,” Gordon said. “So the opportunities are much greater than current device vendors were going after previously. Thus we included a cool form factor, a useful e-mail experience and music and video. We think the success of the Q demonstrates that that’s the right strategy for us.”
Several weeks ago, Motorola briefly made the software upgrade available, then withdrew it, leading to speculation among online observers that the software itself might be flawed. That’s not the case, Gordon said. Motorola simply offered the software temporarily on a test server, then several weeks later made it available on a production server.
Gordon also said that the Q-specifically, new members of a forthcoming Q “family”-would be available to carriers for testing in a UMTS version in the fourth quarter, so further carrier deals with product variations are expected.
“You’ll see future announcements from us on how we’re targeting the enterprise,” Gordon said.
