Symbian makes mobile email 'simple'

In an effort to switch on more consumers to the joys of mobile email, Symbian is launching a plan to guarantee that all providers are making their offerings as simple as possible.

Symbian — which powers some 85 per cent of Europe's smartphones — unveiled the scheme today, which gives the official smartphone stamp of approval to mobile email providers which meet its criteria.

In order to get Symbian's thumbs-up, email vendors will need to meet certain standards of ease of use and installation, as well as compatibility with a range of devices.

Recent research into consumers' attitudes to mobile email found that many are still baffled by configuration, with consumers spending a third of discussion around mobile email talking about configuration — and three-quarters of that time talking about it negatively.

The research found that consumers often find customer services unhelpful and may shun the application as a result.

Nevertheless, analysts are predicting that mobile email will soon take off. Research firm Datamonitor believes that revenues from mobile email will triple by 2009.