Toronto software shop bringing BlackBerry experience to non-smartphone users

Mobile phone users in India will soon be offered a rich, BlackBerry-like experience without having to purchase the high-end device or subscribe to expensive wireless data packages, thanks to a new Canadian technology that is targeting the two billion people in emerging markets who continue to use lower-end devices. Iseemedia Inc., Toronto, says it will reveal its new customer in India by the end of the month or early November. The company’s CFO, David Berman, says the deal represents a big first step for the Iseemail solution. “It’s very significant for us in that we’ll start gaining market traction in a hurry, primarily overseas,” he tells Tech Media Reports. The Iseemail solution is a service that carriers will sell to their subscribers who don’t have smartphones. It gives users the same experience as a BlackBerry for example, but without the added cost of having to buy the expensive smartphone or subscribe to a wireless data package. In addition, the service can work with consumer and enterprise email accounts offering support for virtually any type of content on nearly all kinds of wireless devices. “You could have a regular flip phone and a Hotmail account,” says Berman, “and every email you receive on Hotmail, the system will automatically transcode and send to your phone.” Iseemedia is coming to market with a mobile email solution at the right time. According to predictions form various market research companies, the majority of mobile phone subscriber growth over the next four years is going to be in emerging markets where the per-capita income is at the low end. As well, mobile email is a money maker for wireless carriers. Visiongain Intelligence says consumer mobile email could top US$4.4 billion in revenue by 2011. Wireless operators in emerging markets are trying to get on the mobile email train because they see it as a key differentiator in being able to secure pre-paid subscribers. And the carriers will be able to boost average revenue per user (ARPU) through a mobile email offering such as the one offered by Iseemedia. Iseemedia says the total market potential could be upwards of two billion subscribers in emerging markets where the penetration of smartphones is virtually non-existant. Berman says one Middle Eastern carrier the company is talking to is adding one million subscribers per month on top of the 55-60 million subscribers it already has. This is why Iseemedia remains focused for the time being on the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America – markets where the mobile handset is rapidly becoming the dominant communications surpassing the PC. Asked whether there is an opportunity in North America despite there being a higher penetration of smartphones, Berman believes so, but perhaps not for the iseemail service. The company’s iseedocs solution – a content delivery platform that extends the reach of the desktop to mobile phones for attachment viewing – is working on a select number of handsets on the T-Mobile network in the US. Iseemedia receives interactive imaging patent In other news, Iseemedia announced earlier this month that it has been awarded a U.S. patent for interactive imaging for cellular phones. “Whether it's finding directions or viewing selections in a catalogue, interactive imaging is now found on most mobile devices because it simplifies and accelerates the user experience,” Iseemedia’s president/CEO Anthony DeCristofaro said in a release. “With this patent and others soon to come, Iseemedia’s is now in a formidable position to monetize its years of significant R&D investment. We're particularly thrilled to have received licensing inquiries since the patent's issue.” Digital images are being used on cell phones in a growing variety of applications today. With Iseemedia’s new technology, a cell phone may run software or hardware that enables a user to interactively view virtual tours of various sites, and jump from one tour to another by means of "hot spots". For example, a user can jump from a city map to virtual tours of sites of interest by activating hot spots for the sites that are located in the city map. These hot spots can also be used to automatically activate functions of the cell phone, such as a dial function. Perry Hoffman is an Ottawa-based freelance writer. He can be reached at perry@messagingmechanics.com.

Toronto software shop bringing BlackBerry experience to non-smartphone users

News | 10/21/2009 2:14 pm EDT

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