Intellisync to give push e-mail capability for low-cost phones

The wireless airwaves may get a bit more crowded next year following the announcement that Intellisync's  goAnywhere technology, unveiled this week, will give users of low-cost feature phones the same push e-mail capability that is now only available on pricier smart phones.

The goAnywhere solution requires no additional software on the handset, needing only SyncML, an industry standard for data synchronization already included in millions of phones.

In addition to push e-mail, the carrier-based solution will give users PIM synchronization, device management, and secure file access.

David Hayden, principal at research company MobileWeek said goAnywhere opens up the market for more content on handsets. Smart phones represent 7 percent of the mobile market at the highest while feature phones represent the lion's share of midrange phones in the sub-$200 category."

Verizon, currently an Intellisync customer for its Mobile Suite for enterprise customers, will most likely be one of the first carriers to offer the new service, according to most industry analysts.

On the carrier side, goAnywhere will be deployed on Unix servers, said Woody Hobbs, company CEO. "Carriers understand Unix," said Hobbs.

The solution will also be capable of providing over-the-air provisioning and automatic software upgrades.

However, if sending and receiving e-mails is a major part of a user's day, a smart phone is the better choice, said Hayden. "Smart phones have a keyboard. Feature phones have a keypad and SMS technology. For mission-critical work a smart phone is a better solution," Hayden said.

At present, Intellisync has a number of European-based wireless carriers planning to deploy goAnywhere, but none so far in the United States.

Intellisync goAnywhere is shipping now.