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October 6, 2003
SMARTNER LAUNCHES EUROPE'S FIRST OPEN STANDARDS SOLUTION FOR ALWAYS-ON MOBILE EMAIL - SMARTNER DUALITY
- Providing real-time connectivity to MS Outlook and Lotus Notes for mobile professionals
- Providing new revenue streams for mobile operators and IT solution providers
- Combining Smartner and Commtag technologies for the first time post acquisition
- Announcing sale of over 40,000 licences to date, outselling RIM BlackBerry
- Targeting 12 million pan-European customers via combined channel partners
Smartner, the European leader in mobile email solutions, today announced the launch of Smartner Duality, the first mobile connectivity product in Europe to provide mobile users with always-on access to corporate email and personal information management (PIM) systems via any device.
To date, Smartner has sold over 40,000 licenses, significantly more than Research in Motion's (RIM) Blackberry in Europe. Unlike BlackBerry it is an open standards solution so there is no need for users to restrict them selves to one mobile platform or operating device. It is available as a white-labelled subscription service or as a hosted solution through mobile operators and IT solution providers across Europe. These include Vodafone Ireland, Radiolinja, Swisscom Mobile, Microsoft, IBM, Nokia, HP, and AtoBe Mobile.
Smartner Duality combines Smartner Office Extender technology with the award winning Duality, an email 'push' technology it acquired following the acquisition of UK company, Commtag last May. The combined technology enables users to view, edit, forward, file or delete emails and attachments in real-time, with all actions mirrored on their desktop. For the first time, mobile users have complete control of their email and calendar functions while away from the office. Smartner Duality is currently available in 10 languages.
Over the next year, Smartner will be targeting a potential pan-European market of 12 million users, a market estimated by IDC to be worth EUR 82 million by 2006, via the combined strength of the Smartner and pre-acquisition Commtag sales and distribution channels.
In IDC's Worldwide Mobile Middleware Competitive Analysis, July 2003, Smartner was ranked best European company on the 'leadership' quadrant, which analyses the positioning of globally recognised players among the mobile middleware providers. Smartner secured this position for the second year running.
Ari Backholm, Executive Vice President, Smartner said: "Smartner Duality is the first, and currently only, software solution in Europe to realise the vision of bringing the desktop to the mobile. It is compatible with existing access devices and platforms ensuring that the set-up costs for businesses are minimal compared to the benefits of having 24 hour access to MS Outlook and Lotus Notes."
"However, Smartner Duality is not about working 24/7 and extending the working day, it is about working more efficiently and effectively reducing the amount of time spent travelling on top of working. It makes better use of dead time, eliminates unnecessary journeys or peak time travel and increases efficiency, for example by enabling more immediate response to customers and suppliers."
The key benefits to the service host are increased revenue opportunities through the introduction of new services, an increase in GPRS data traffic and subsequent increases in voice traffic as a result. Additionally, subscriber reliance on the service will increase customer loyalty and reduce churn.
Current market trends show that operators are experiencing a 20% month-on-month increase in users, with growth driven by customers who are using the GPRS channel purely to support Smartner Duality.
For the enterprise, the hosted service is more cost efficient than an in-house solution. There are no hardware set-up costs as employees can use the device of their choice, no need to configure devices individually and no ongoing solution management implications. It also enables them to quantify and manage mobile data spend.
For the end user, synchronised access to email and PIM provides greater flexibility in terms of location, enables employees to be more time efficient and in some instances removes the need to carry or even need a laptop.
In addition, Smartner Duality has full Open Mobile Alliance accreditation to ensure that it is compatible with next generation mobile solution access devices.
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