Cutting edge technology in mobile phones and PDAs fuel wars between mobile platform providers

The launch of I-mate, the smart new mobile pocket PC, phone edition, is a perfect example of how mobile wireless technology is enhancing the power and functionality of mobile devices. Among the many features i-mate offers are MMS, a built-in camera and Arabic language functionality, as well as a combination of the GSM and GPRS (General Packet Radio Services) technologies.

The launch of i-mate certainly marks a new phase in the mobile technology frontier, but this will only serve to intensify competition. Globally, as mobile phones and PDAs acquire more dynamic features, the war between rival mobile platform providers over operating systems is hotting up.

The fight for the consumer's attention mainly involves two players: Microsoft on one hand, and Symbian, a company that is backed by phone manufacturers like Nokia, Sony-Ericsson and Siemens, on the other. Both are locked in a fierce battle over opposed operating systems.

'The confrontation between Symbian and Microsoft has major significance for the Middle East because mobile phone users in the region are getting increasingly demanding when it comes to technology in mobile phones,' says Bashar Dahabra, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Info2cell.com. 'The intense rivalry is bound to result in improved products for the end-user at lower costs. We are going to see more cutting-edge technology going into mobile phones and consequently more innovative features available to the user.'

With the launch of i-mate, more ammunition has been added to Microsoft as the new mobile pocket PC is powered by Microsoft Pocket PC software.

'The new mobile PC and Symbian offer several common features, such as Calendar, Contact and email synchronization with PC through either remote access to web-sites or direct connection to the PC using infrared connection or advanced USB connections. Both platforms have a number of add-on software tools that enable users to access the Internet and browse the web using different browsers,' said Dahabra.

According to Dahabra, i-mate will appeal mainly to a niche market in the professional user segment, but will not have any major impact on the mass market represented by the average user segments or casual mobile user segments.

'The average user and casual user segments represent over 80 per cent of mobile users. This gives Symbian a strong competitive edge, because mobile phone users over the past five years have got accustomed to the mobile interfaces of Nokia, Siemens and Sony Ericsson,' Dahabra added.

Symbian is using the financial muscle and distribution network of its partner handset makers to lead the charge, while Microsoft has announced a strategy to have its software on 100 million phones in a time frame of three to five years, representing around 25 per cent of the market share. While Symbian's strategy is aimed at putting its software on every phone, Microsoft has hit back by introducing devices that compete directly with Symbian, including the Smartphone which brings Windows advantages to top-end mobile phones.

'To Symbian's advantage, the new mobile pocket PC lags behind in the support of Java Midlets that enable Symbian users to download Java applications written for Symbian phones, delivering enhanced offerings such as GPRS games, access GPRS to company hot servers or simple functions such as gaming,' says Dahabra.

On the other hand, Dahabra believes that by leveraging seamless integration with Microsoft PC products and the PC-to-mobile synchronisation, the new mobile pocket PC has come very close to matching Symbian's innovative offerings on such devices as P900 and Nokia 6600.

Info2cell.com is gearing up to support all mobile phone users in the region with innovative solutions, irrespective of the operating systems they use. It recently launched a new WASP (Wireless Application Service Provider) platform that provides potential access to 7 million mobile phone users. The region's biggest mobile operator is now offering advanced mobile messaging technology to enable media companies to transmit information and entertainment to mobile phones, with new enhancements and more advanced features that permit multi-delivery channels such as SMS, WAP and MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service).

'At Info2cell.com, we are watching the scene very intently, as our WASP supports both Microsoft and Symbian operating systems,' added Dahabra. 'We are therefore favourably placed to lead the mobile messaging revolution in the region. Several content providers are negotiating with us for the use of our WASP system to deliver content to mobile phone users using the most advanced and cost-effective systems.'

Mobile phones and PDAs are projected to be the rage in the coming years because of the mobility and ease of use they provide. The market for these devices is multiplying across the world, especially in the Middle East, where the number of mobile phone users marginally outnumbers fixed landline subscribers. According to Dubai-based Madar Research Group, by the end of 2002, there were more than 24 million mobile phone subscribers in the Arab World. The growth rate for the whole year was 52 per cent.

'As the war between the two mobile platform providers heats up, the consumers have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the changing face of mobile phones,' said Dahabra. 'The mobile phone is no more a simple instrument for making or receiving calls. It has transformed itself into a sophisticated gadget that is increasingly doing all the things a PC does. The current stand-off provides the ideal opportunity to study the many facets of mobile phones, especially messaging facilities.'

The mobile pocket PC that uses the Microsoft software is a highly useful product for professional users who use Microsoft extensively for all their routine functions, agrees Dahabra, but he wonders whether people who use Microsoft on their PCs would have the inclination and preference to have Microsoft on their mobiles as well.

'This question will be best answered by mobile phone users in the near future. That psychological decision could tilt the scale in the favour of a particular mobile platform provider,' says Dahabra.