Mobile Net access: may the browser battle commence

Ericsson's decision to join Microsoft to develop Net-enabled mobile phones had some fund managers rushing to sell stock in Psion. Psion co-owns OS venture, Symbian, along with Ericsson, Matsushita, Motorola and Nokia, but as Tony Hallett explains, Microsoft playing its mobile Net card is far from game over for Symbian

Ericsson and Microsoft have been trumpeting their as yet unnamed Stockholm-based joint venture. The tie-up will see them working to incorporate into future phones standards such as WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), XML, and Bluetooth (for wireless, close-range device connectivity). The Swedish equipment manufacturer will also be on the fast track to providing mobile products that integrate with corporate networks using the Microsoft Windows NT Server and Exchange platforms. The two companies were known to be discussing a tie-up of some kind for at least six months. At its consummation, they spoke about a "shared vision" and making "the pieces come together" to allow a world five years from now where there will be 400 million mobile Internet users. The question is - who will take users to this world? Significantly, there was no specific mention of CE when the deal was announced, although the slimmed-down version of Windows may put in an appearance in time. Ericsson will undoubtedly use the Mobile Explorer Web browser. Symbian, developer and promoter of the EPOC OS, has been playing down developments. A spokesman said: "Our licensing strategy allows licensees to go out and create solutions that sit on our operating system." He likened the deal to one recently struck between EPOC licensee Nokia and the Palm Computing arm of 3Com, responsible for the market-leading PalmPilot PDA and the PalmOS. He said: "There we see the Palm UI (user interface) and applications running on top of the Symbian platform, and that's not a problem for us." But Andrew Parker, senior analyst at Forrester Research, said: "The fact that leading members of the [Symbian] consortium are backing two different horses does raise some questions in my mind." However, the good news for Symbian, Parker claimed, is that apart from expertise with applications and interfaces, Microsoft doesn't bring a whole lot else to the table. And he is not impressed by the promise of integration with NT and Exchange. "The corporate environment won't become a homogenous NT environment any time soon," he said. Others believe that despite Microsoft being the minority partner, it will provide cash, and its considerable industry influence. Other partners - aping the Symbian model - are a possibility, the companies say, but unlikely. "We're committed to making this work, and that's hard to do with lots of other people," Ballmer said at the launch. Palm Computing is also quick to point out the difference between current market strength and grabbing mindshare. Gabriel Acosta-Lopez, Palm's director of platform development services, concluded: "It will rest on who has the best solution in the market. We're there now. Purchasing decisions are never just based on a PR announcement."