Information at your fingertips: Companies wage alliances for wireless data

Wireless data enjoyed a heyday last week. Not only did Ericsson and Aether Technologies align to develop wireless data solutions for the financial industry, but Nokia Ventures, 3Com Ventures Inc. and El Dorado Ventures invested $7.4 million in FusionOne, a developer of next generation software that synchronizes computing devices so that personal, up-to-date information can be accessed any time, anywhere.

Ericsson recently formed a wireless Internet solutions unit to encourage the development of global mobility solutions. On top of expanding the wireless data market, the group aims to be a leader, said Hans Davidsson, vice president and general manager of the unit. "We believe that when it comes to wireless [activity], 50% of it is data. This is a huge reason to work on this area and drive [wireless] in that direction."

In line with its mission, the unit has partnered with Aether to co-market and develop wireless data services for the online investment community. Ericsson will focus on marketing; Aether will connect enterprises to wireless networks.

Since its inception, 3-year-old Aether has planned to take advantage of the mobile computing and wireless data market. Teaming up with a large wireless presence was a natural move, said George Davis, Aether's chief operating officer.

FusionOne plans to use its new resources to fuel growth and bring to market its Internet Sync service, which gives users a way to update and synchronize their personal digital content across multiple devices.

"We think this is the next killer service because [consumers] will be able to get at all of their personal information on any device. What is done on one device can be accessed on another," said Rick Onyon, president and co-founder of FusionOne.

Currently, customers can access the service for free by going to the company's Web site and downloading the agent onto their PC or other computing device. Although the wireless phone technology is managed on FusionOne's end, the company is working with Nokia to build the technology into phones in the future, Onyon said.

With Nokia and 3Com on board, Onyon hopes to put the service on a variety of devices. To achieve this, Onyon implied that Nokia and 3Com are just the beginning, and additional announcements should be expected.

Onyon also dubbed the company, the "United Nations of engineering" because it has a horizontal solution that can be used in a lot of different places. However, he maintains that cellular is just the start and FusionOne plans to attack other market segments.