Synchronica Shakes Up Mobile Email Sector with Solution for Virtually Any Handset

February 13, 2009 (PRLEAP.COM) Technology News
GSMA Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Hall 2, Stand 2J25, - Synchronica plc today announced the launch of Synchronica Mobile Gateway 4.0, a multi-protocol gateway that extends mobile email and data synchronization to virtually any mobile phone on the market. The solution is based entirely on industry standards, does not require any additional software to be installed on the handset, and now enables mobile email on even the most basic of handsets.

Mobile Gateway 4.0 introduces email-to-SMS and email-to-MMS gateways and push-to-WAP / xHTML browser access - ideal for emerging markets where PC-based access is limited and entry-level devices dominate. Users of entry-level handsets send and receive emails as a standard SMS or MMS; their replies are then converted back to email. Mobile Gateway 4.0 includes a document transcoding gateway which allows a variety of attachments, such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, to be displayed on mass market phones. This gateway also optimizes images for display on a mobile phone, thereby reducing bandwidth requirements.

Additional functionality in Mobile Gateway 4.0 includes: Up to five email accounts can be managed using a single Mobile Gateway account. Gmail users can now synchronize their Google contacts and calendar with any SyncML-enabled device, providing mobile synchronization for an estimated two billion SyncML handsets worldwide. Mobile Gateway 4.0 includes a new connector for Windows Live / Hotmail, allowing users to access their Hotmail email and synchronize contacts with any SyncML handset.

Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO of Synchronica, comments: "New mobile email solutions seem to be announced almost every week, but Mobile Gateway 4.0 represents a real breakthrough. Our vision is to enable mobile email and synchronization on virtually any handset and for any user, business or consumer, high-end N95 or entry-level Nokia 1100. This product truly delivers on the promise of a 'CrackBerry' for the mass market."

Forecasts point to emerging markets as a breakthrough area for mass market mobile email. Informa predicts that there will be 4.81 billion mobile phone subscribers by 2012, with the next billion subscribers coming from emerging markets where PC and fixed-line penetration is low.

Unlike other solutions, Mobile Gateway does not require users to install additional software on the handset or behind the firewall. The combination of this zero footprint architecture with an additional over-the-air provisioning module for service activation increases adoption rates and improves the overall user experience.

Mobile Gateway 4.0 uses open industry standards, such as Push IMAP and SyncML, to integrate with the native email and synchronization clients built into more than two billion devices from all major handset manufacturers including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola, and others. It includes connectors for mayor consumer mail services, such as Gogle Mail, Yahoo or MSN / Windows Live, as well as for business servers, such as Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino.

About Synchronica

Synchronica plc develops and markets mobile email and synchronization solutions for mobile operators and device manufacturers. Products include the award-winning push email and synchronization solution Mobile Gateway and the device backup solution Mobile Backup. Based on industry standards, Synchronica can reach the built-in email and synchronization clients of more than two billion mobile devices on the market today. Service providers in emerging and developed markets use Synchronica products to offer mobile email, PIM synchronization, and backup and restore services to consumer and business subscribers. Synchronica plc is a public company traded on the AIM list of the London Stock Exchange (SYNC.LN). More information is available at http://www.synchronica.com