Microsoft's "Blackberry Killer"

[Guest Mark T]

After much talk about Windows Mobile 5 and it's potential to be a 'Blackberry Killer', Microsoft have finally lifted the lid on their plans for taking on the wildly popular RIM devices, with the announcement at Tech Ed by Steve Ballmer of the "Messaging & Security Feature Pack".

Full details can be found in the full press release here, and excerpt from which is posted below.

Today at Microsoft® Tech•Ed 2005, Microsoft Corp.’s largest annual technology education conference, Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft, announced the Messaging and Security Feature Pack for Windows Mobile™ 5.0, software based on wireless features coming in Exchange Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 (SP2) to address requests by business customers for a faster, more direct messaging experience, improved security management, and better cost efficiencies and scalability in their mobile messaging solutions. In addition to providing IT administrators with the ability to better manage and protect information on a device, the feature pack includes Direct Push Technology, which keeps the business user’s Outlook® Mobile up to date by delivering information quickly and directly to a Windows Mobile-based device from Exchange Server, without requiring businesses to pay for additional and costly servers or middleware.

Enhancements to Outlook Mobile

The Messaging and Security Feature Pack for Windows Mobile 5.0 will offer businesses the premier mobile messaging solution, going beyond plain text e-mail to provide a fast and familiar Outlook Mobile experience. End users will have access to a wide range of business information through the following new features:

Windows Mobile Direct Push Technology. Outlook information, including e-mail, calendar, contacts and new support for Tasks, is pushed from a direct connection between Exchange Server and a Windows Mobile-based device, providing users with immediate access to Outlook information, without the need for an additional and costly server infrastructure required by other solutions on the market.

Wireless support for contact information. Support for over-the-air lookup of global address list information stored on Exchange Server, a top request from partners, enables business users to access full contact details of co-workers on a Windows Mobile-based device. The feature is broadly integrated throughout the messaging, phone, calendar and contacts experience, providing users with a consistent, productive messaging experience.

Direct Push Technology is even more compelling when integrated with the powerful Office Mobile suite in Windows Mobile 5.0, enabling users to do more than simple e-mail, such as send Word, Excel®, PowerPoint®, music and video attachments in messages with rich e-mail formatting and no size restrictions.

“Successfully addressing the mobility demands of today’s business market requires a combination of powerful networks, breadth and choice of applications, and clear answers to business issues of security, return on investment and systems integration,” said Vish Sowani, vice president, International Business Marketing at T-Mobile. “The Messaging and Security Feature Pack for Windows Mobile 5.0 complements T-Mobile’s successful ‘Office in your Pocket’ suite of Microsoft-based solutions with a compelling messaging product that addresses these critical business needs while delivering mobile professionals much more than simple mobile e-mail. In alliance with Microsoft, we have an opportunity to strengthen our business customer portfolio and deliver another very powerful mobile business solution.”

Additional information around Enterprise Features for Windows Mobile 5 can be found in the full press release linked above.

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

Let me be the first to say 'Tasks yay' and 'Why no notes?' ;)

P

[Guest stern]

I work on a blackberry tech support desk for a carrier but I am a smartphone/pocket pc fan, I have always been dissapointed that there has never really been decent "push" e-mail solutions from Microsoft. I have just been reading through the spec and all the cool things about blackberry enterprise server are in the new solution in WM5.

Mainly the OTA stuff, Policies and wipe commands etc even application updates or installs OTA!

Not only this but unlike blackberry this sounds like it may be an Exchange component, so you won't have to shell out over £2k on the blackberry enterprise solution and then have to buy the hardware and then pay for it to be installed. which means it will probably be much cheaper,

and you're not stuck with the handsets they decide to offer you.

I for one will certainly be watching this one very closely since HTC who make the windows based devices recently released a press release about Blackberry connect being licensed to their devices, bet they're pissed now!

Edited June 6, 2005 by stern

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

From what I understand this functionality will be 'Free' in Exchange SP2 (provided you have the relevant update on the handset).

What will be interesting is as this is a post WM5 update, whether it will be from MS or from the carriers...

P

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

I think for the time being HTC are right in assuming there is a big market for plugging into corporate BES servers.

Which carrier do you work for stern? ;)

P

[Guest stern]

I think for the time being HTC are right in assuming there is a big market for plugging into corporate BES servers.

Which carrier do you work for stern? ;)

P

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

good point about who provides it, the carriers are going to have to do something at some point because it's not going to really work without a bundle. For example blackberry users pay a Blackberry bundle and get a unlimited (sort of) GPRS package that works with the blackberry access point,

if people start using this on existing bundles it's gonna be expensive especially with all the PIM syncing, and is microsoft going to provide the equivilant of the RIM relay? and the problem that HTC have is blackberry connect doesn't seem to allow PIM sync just e-mails (well from what I can tell from the SK65 anyway)

You have PM Paul 8)

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

Yeah, Blackberry Connect is mail only, looks like RIM are drip-feeding functionality to not kill their own hardware business straight away ;)

P

[Guest dearsina]

Funny that MS have finally woken up to the popularity of push-emails. I remember having a chat with an MS rep at one of the first MoDaCo meets in Soho, where I asked if MS had any plans for push. He replied that "nobody really needs push, the check-every-5-mins feature should be enough for even the most email-hungry users".

I knew even back then that push is the future, not because it's particularly better than the 5-min thing, but there is just something about receiving an email right after someone's sent it to you, and much of the popularity of the blackberry is due to it's (now gone) boardroom wow-factor.

Regarding costing, it's not that bad actually, I worked for a company that had set up mobile exchange server and the bill came up to about £25 per device/month for the most frequent emailers. But I guess in a larger corporate context that's a lot of money, our company ran 4 devices, imagine if you had 500.

Finally, does this mean that WM5 devices support push, or does it just mean that it's now in the hands of that colour between red and yellow?

/€0.02

[Guest chucky.egg]

A colleague already uses OTA ActiveSync to get his emails (and contacts and calendar) "pushed" to him. With ClearVue you can read MS Office attachments, and with PTab you can edit spreadsheets.

What's actually new here?

[Guest Paul [MVP]]

OTA ActiveSync needs SMS to work properly atm, a rubbish (and unworkable) solution...

P

[Guest darnovitz]

After much talk about Windows Mobile 5 and it's potential to be a 'Blackberry Killer', Microsoft have finally lifted the lid on their plans for taking on the wildly popular RIM devices, with the announcement at Tech Ed by Steve Ballmer of the "Messaging & Security Feature Pack".

Full details can be found in the full press release here, and excerpt from which is posted below.

Additional information around Enterprise Features for Windows Mobile 5 can be found in the full press release linked above.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Okay, how can I obtain this for my Orange SPV C-500? 8)

[Guest abhayseth]

When are we likely to get the blackberry connect being made available on the smartphone?

I work on a blackberry tech support desk for a carrier but I am a smartphone/pocket pc fan, I have always been dissapointed that there has never really been decent "push" e-mail solutions from Microsoft. I have just been reading through the spec and all the cool things about blackberry enterprise server are in the new solution in WM5.

Mainly the OTA stuff, Policies and wipe commands etc even application updates or installs OTA!

Not only this but unlike blackberry this sounds like it may be an Exchange component, so you won't have to shell out over £2k on the blackberry enterprise solution and then have to buy the hardware and then pay for it to be installed. which means it will probably be much cheaper,

and you're not stuck with the handsets they decide to offer you.

I for one will certainly be watching this one very closely since HTC who make the windows based devices recently released a press release about Blackberry connect being licensed to their devices, bet they're pissed now!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Guest abhayseth]

when do u think the blackberry connect application would be readily available on our Smartphones?

Is there as beta version available already?

Yeah, Blackberry Connect is mail only, looks like RIM are drip-feeding functionality to not kill their own hardware business straight away :)

P

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Guest dearsina]

when do u think the blackberry connect application would be readily available on our Smartphones?

Is there as beta version available already?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's not gonna happen for a while, if ever. Microsoft would rather eat the dust under their feat than to licence Blackberry when their software can do the exact same thing (or so they claim, 5 years later)...

[Guest abhayseth]

When are we likely to get the blackberry connect being made available on the smartphone? Any work happening on the SP5m???

I work on a blackberry tech support desk for a carrier but I am a smartphone/pocket pc fan,

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Guest fluffcat1]

When are we likely to get the blackberry connect being made available on the smartphone? Any work happening on the SP5m???

As voda now suplly an sp5 clone (v1240_ I'm sure it must be in development, but Voda UK seem to be a little slow - Vodacom SA have taken the lead so far with an mpx220 client but no-one I know of has got it running :-(

Richard

[Guest dearsina]

Don't hold your breath. Particuarly now that they released a new OS which is "push-enabled" (emails, blackberry style).

sina

london