Two Motorola Inc. wireless communicators, Marco and Envoy, will be offered from now until Dec. 29 at a reduced cost through a holiday-season marketing promotion by Motorola’s Wireless Data Group and the Ardis wireless data network.
Motorola said it is working with resellers to offer price incentives to lower the cost of the devices to end users.
General Magic Inc. also is getting into the holiday spirit with a plan to distribute free copies of its Magic Cap for Windows communications program via AT&T Corp.’s PersonaLink and other on-line services.
Currently Magic Cap is only available on Motorola’s Envoy and Sony Electronics Inc.’s Magic Link personal communicators.
By rapidly increasing the installed base of Magic Cap users with the free offer, General Magic reportedly hopes to encourage on-line services to support the communications program by installing its Telescript communications language on their networks. The giveaway might also seed a market for future Magic Cap upgrades and applications.
To date, PDAs have been slow to be accepted by the either the business or mass consumer markets. One critique often heard is that the devices are still too expensive.
Ardis is offering a $200 rebate directly to Motorola Envoy and Marco customers who sign up for 12-month Gold or Platinum airtime package programs. The rebate is distributed in the sixth month of wireless service.
“Our goal is to make it less expensive for people to begin experiencing the freedom created by wireless communications in their day-to-day work and personal lives,” said Dan Croft, senior vice president of marketing for Ardis. The network serves the top 410 metropolitan areas in all 50 states.
Michael Merrill, president of reseller Totally Wireless, said affordable computing solutions can grow the wireless marketplace. “By enabling us to offer pricing below $1,000, Motorola has now provided us with an additional sales tool to encourage the adoption of wireless computing,” Merrill said.
Gary Weber, president of reseller PageCom, said the offer gives resellers the chance to offer competitive pricing. “With the limited-time-only incentives, PageCom is selling Envoy and Marco devices for $900. When you add the $200 rebate from Ardis, our customers can `go wireless’ for only $700,” Weber said.
