Forbes.com: Motorola, Nokia Unveil Wi-Fi Smart Phones
Motorola, Nokia Unveil Wi-Fi Smart Phones
Nicola Clark, 02.24.04, 10:26 AM ET
Motorola and Nokia officially introduced a series of Wi-Fi enabled smart phones on Monday that are intended for the lucrative corporate market but which run on competing operating systems.
Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people ) said its 9500 Communicator, a GSM phone, would allow users to bypass cellphone networks and access the Internet using Wi-Fi, a wireless broadband standard. Following that announcement, Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ) said it, too, would soon be marketing a Wi-Fi-enabled device called the MPx. The phone combines the functions of a phone, a personal data assistant and e-mail messenger in a single handset.
The Nokia Communicator 9500 uses the Symbian operating system, while the MPx will use the Microsoft Windows Mobile and PocketPC platforms.
Ed Zander, the new chief executive of Motorola, said his company had chosen Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) largely because of concerns that Nokia's controlling interest in Symbian would ultimately limit the choice of mobile operators and consumers.
I'm not big on the Symbian thing, Zander said. It is a very proprietary, captive solution.
Motorola, Nokia Unveil Wi-Fi Smart Phones
Nicola Clark, 02.24.04, 10:26 AM ET
Motorola and Nokia officially introduced a series of Wi-Fi enabled smart phones on Monday that are intended for the lucrative corporate market but which run on competing operating systems.
Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people ) said its 9500 Communicator, a GSM phone, would allow users to bypass cellphone networks and access the Internet using Wi-Fi, a wireless broadband standard. Following that announcement, Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ) said it, too, would soon be marketing a Wi-Fi-enabled device called the MPx. The phone combines the functions of a phone, a personal data assistant and e-mail messenger in a single handset.
The Nokia Communicator 9500 uses the Symbian operating system, while the MPx will use the Microsoft Windows Mobile and PocketPC platforms.
Ed Zander, the new chief executive of Motorola, said his company had chosen Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) largely because of concerns that Nokia's controlling interest in Symbian would ultimately limit the choice of mobile operators and consumers.
I'm not big on the Symbian thing, Zander said. It is a very proprietary, captive solution.
<< Home