SkyTel Corp. introduced the SkyTel Messenger for Windows CE, a software messaging system developed by SkyTel in conjunction with Microsoft Corp.
Jackson, Miss.-based SkyTel said the software messaging application, which is scheduled to be available late this year, will be marketed with handheld personal computers based on Microsoft Windows CE being manufactured by Casio Computer Co. Ltd., Compaq Computer and Philips Electronics.
The company announced a specific agreement to jointly market the application and SkyTel 2-Way services with the Philips Velo, a handheld computer being manufactured by Philips Mobile Computing Group.
SkyTel Messenger integrates SkyTel 2-Way paging and wireless messaging services with the inbox and contacts applications included with Windows CE, which provide universal messaging and address book functions, said the company.
Users can create, send, receive, reply to, file and forward brief text messages wirelessly to and from Internet e-mail addresses and other SkyTel 2-Way products.
“Working together, Windows CE and SkyTel Messenger truly unlock the potential of wireless messaging by integrating many of the benefits of e-mail with the convenience of paging,” said John Stupka, president and chief executive officer of Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Corp., owner of SkyTel. “With the continued evolution of new software applications and form factors, wireless messaging will soon be to the written word what cellular has been to the spoken word.”
In a related announcement, Psion Inc. and Scanco introduced a two-way palmtop paging solution called Palm Page. The companies said the product connects the new SkyTel two-way alphanumeric pager to the Psion Series 3a or Series 3c palmtop computer enabling users to send and receive short text messages via the SkyTel network.
Users can access the network from a personal computer using SkyTel Access software to a pager, from a telephone using a SkyTel operator to reach a pager, from a two-way pager to a pager and from the Internet to a pager, said the companies.
When a message is received through the SkyTel subscriber’s pager, Palm Page enables the user to download the message to a Series 3 range palmtop computer.
Psion is a U.S. subsidiary of Psion plc, an international computer group headquartered in London. Uniontown, Ohio-based Scanco is a developer of mobile communication products.
