LAS VEGAS-The computer industry is ready to stake its claim in the wireless market, evidenced by a range of announcements at this year’s Fall Comdex show.
Various PDA manufacturers and service providers made significant announcements at Comdex. And while wireless was but a footnote for some, others held wireless connectivity like a badge of pride. Many executives feel wireless connectivity will help legitimize and flourish the up-to-now slow-growing handheld device market on both consumer and business fronts.
But for all the major announcements and posturing of the last week, it was made clear the true impact of wireless on the computing industry remains around the corner. Despite its muscle, the computing world is not immune to issues like speed, standards and security.
“Wireless will have a huge effect on the future of our industry,” said keynote speaker Michael Dell, chairman of Dell Computer Corp.
Preparing for this future are Microsoft Corp. and Palm Inc., with their device fight dubbed the “battle of the century.” Microsoft used the event to make its greatest push yet to promote its Pocket PC platform over the more entrenched Palm OS-based devices. Both sides stressed their devices’ wireless capabilities as a differentiator.
“Our focus at Comdex this year is all about wireless solutions for the Pocket PC,” said Ben Waldman, vice president of Microsoft’s Mobile Devices Division. The company had more than 50 devices available for demos in its hands-on pavilion. “We’re committed to providing Pocket PC customers with more wireless options, faster connections and more complete information access than on any other handheld out there.”
While the show floor and surrounding venues were littered with banners promoting the respective devices, Palm and Microsoft took their brawl outside with dueling Hummers, Palm with the traditional-style Humvee knockoff and Microsoft upping the ante with a Hummer limo.
On the more substantial side, Microsoft introduced a beta version of.NET Mobile Web SDK, a software development kit to provide developers with tools needed to create mobile Web applications that can be viewed on a variety of wireless devices. It includes a set of mobile server controls that can generate WML and HTML and intelligently format content for different devices, all from a single Web page.
The company also introduced the Entertainment PocketPak for its Pocket PC devices, adding several games to the device with the goal of adding wireless multi-player games in the future.
Backing up Microsoft was longtime partner Compaq Computer Corp., which launched two wireless iPAQ solutions powered by Infowave Software Inc.’s Wireless Business Engine as part of its Mobility Solutions initiative-the iPAQ Mobile Email and iPAQ Mobile Internet.
The e-mail solution delivers wireless access to Microsoft Exchange e-mail from wirelessly enabled iPAQ devices, while the mobile Internet solution delivers wireless access to corporate intranets and other Web-based applications. Both are client/server systems, beginning at $150 a seat, including wireless modem and flat-rate airtime.
Compaq also introduced the iPAQnet Mobile Internet solution with GoAmerica Corp., the first wireless service provider supporting the new solution on both iPAQ-branded BlackBerry devices and Pocket PCs.
Firing back, Palm introduced its Mobile Internet Kit and MyPalm wireless portal. The mobile Internet kit, shipping today for $40, connects various Palm models to the Internet wirelessly using a data-enabled phone. Connection is made either via an Infrared port, cable or Palm-compatible modem.
Devices connected with the kit will be able to access applications written specifically in Web Clipping technology, Palm’s proprietary system included in the kit.
The kit also includes e-mail and short messaging services access. For those wishing more than the 450 Web Clipping applications, the kit includes an optional WAP browser from Neomar Inc.
Palm then announced a public beta version of its new portal for the Palm VII wireless device, expected to go live Dec. 25. The new portal reflects Palm’s recent acquisition of AnyDay.com, a Web-based calendaring and event service, enhancing the devices calendaring capabilities and contact information with Web-based synchronization support.
“By sharing calendars and using the MyPalm portal, a meeting can be proposed and scheduled within minutes,” said Barry Cottle, chief operating officer for content and access at Palm. Those agreeing to share calendars can schedule a meeting time by letting their respective calendar applications find a mutually agreeable time automatically.
Palm also incorporated Google Inc.’s search engine and Yodlee’s account aggregation services.
Sierra Wireless Inc. and OmniSky Corp. also made announcements targeting the wireless PDA space. Sierra Wireless announced plans to further its presence in the handheld market and introduced the AirCard 400, supporting the Ricochet network for iPAQ users. Compaq selected Sierra Wireless as the exclusive supplier for one-year for the AirCard 300, a Type II PC card used to power the iPAQnet Mobile Internet Solution. The solution uses GoAmerica’s Go.Web browser.
Sierra Wireless also announced development of the AirCard 555 for Verizon, a dual-band 800 MHz modem supporting CDMA2000.
OmniSky expanded its wireless Internet service to the Pocket PC platform, supporting both the Compaq iPAQ and the HP Jornada 540. The company also expanded its network support to the Ricochet network from Metricom. Until now, OmniSky only transmitted on CDPD networks. It plans to begin a trial of the new network on the iPAQ device in January. This is the first trial of the Ricochet network for handheld devices. OmniSky also announced expanded retail availability of the service, to more than 600 Staples locations nationwide. This brings to 1,500 the number of locations-retail, online or otherwise-where the OmniSky service may be obtained.
In other announcements, Socket Communications Inc. introduced a Bluetooth application for Pocket PC-based devices from Casio, Compaq and Hewlett Packard. The Bluetooth Personal Network Card plugs into the CompactFlash slots of these devices, then uses Bluetooth technology to exchange data wirelessly at a range of up to 30 feet.
Meanwhile, PacketVideo Corp. demonstrated a wireless video messaging solution with Visualize Video Corp. They showed how a PC Webcam can create a video message from a Visualize e-mail account and send it to a mobile device through PacketVideo’s wireless video server. Users with Outlook, Lotus Notes or Eudora on mobile devices will be able to access the image.
PacketVideo also conducted demonstrations with the MP4Net division of Philips Digital Networks for additional MPEG-4 wireless multimedia streaming services.
