Berggi to transform phones into ‘smart devices’ with wireless messaging

HOUSTON-A group of European entrepreneurs is hoping to tap the mobile e-mail market with an e-mail and instant messaging service for mobile phones.
The company, dubbed Berggi, promises to “transform regular cell phones into smart devices” that are optimized to send and receive non-voice messages. The offering is set to come online Thursday and will be available to U.S. users for $10 a month; Berggi plans to launch in Mexico and a handful of other European markets within the next several months.
Berggi intends to “white-label” the service, making it available through established brands in an effort to reach a wider audience. The company said it has completed one such campaign that netted 100,000 registered users and nearly $1 million in revenue. The offering is available to Cingular Wireless L.L.C., T-Mobile USA Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp.’s CDMA users.
Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel’s iDEN network do not support the service.
Company executives said the service supports instant messaging from all four major IM services as well as text messaging through a single user interface.
“From the outset, Berggi has had a simple mission: to bring mobile messaging to the masses,” said Chief Executive Officer Babur Ozden. “That means developing a service that can easily run over any phone, over any service, and at a price point that makes sense to the average consumer.”
Berggi competes in a crowded market; not only are heavyweights Research In Motion Ltd. and Microsoft Corp. fighting in the wireless e-mail market, pure-play wireless startups like Seven and others are also competing. Further, established wireless vendors like Nokia Corp. and Motorola Inc. have their own wireless e-mail offerings.