Motorola invests in Online Anywhere: Start-up's product to deliver content to array of devices

The perceived demand for Web content constantly pushes vendors to chase after easier delivery methods for wireless devices. Motorola last week acquired a minority stake in Online Anywhere, a start-up that is developing software and a server to deliver Web content to a variety of devices. The company's motto: Author once, view anywhere.

Online Anywhere said it is developing a product that will translate HTML for delivery of Web content to several devices, including palmtop devices, Web TV and wireless phones. "We see the non-PC space as so fragmented," said Mohan Vishwanath, CEO of Online Anywhere. "The requirements of those devices are so different."

This cumulative variety of non-PC devices makes up a significant market, said Elton Sherwin, director of Motorola Ventures.

Online Anywhere's product also looks for the amount of bandwidth available to the device accessing content and can scale data delivery accordingly, Vishwanath said.

Motorola says Online Anywhere's product is complementary to the Wireless Application Protocol Forum's efforts. Online Anywhere's technology will allow delivery of Web sites that are not translated into WAP's wireless markup language, said Ronjon Nag, vice president and general manager of Motorola's Lexicus division.

Online Anywhere's content reformatting server will be the missing piece to Microsoft's announcement that it is developing a microbrowser, Vishwanath said.

Microsoft said that it was developing a way to deliver content to hand-held devices without rewriting the content, although it did not detail how.

The growing interest in delivering Web content to wireless devices indicates a clear demand for access to that information, said Fran Firth, senior analyst for mobile data information service for Cahners In-Stat Group. "Content is the killer information-it's not an application," she said.

The much sought-after killer app for wireless data isn't actually an app. The application-access-is available, but users need information to make it successful, she said. Products being developed by Unwired Planet, Online Anywhere and Microsoft may offer content to complete the killer app.

Online Anywhere said it will release its server within the next six months.

Following announcements of national directory assistance offers from the major interexchange carriers, Bell Atlantic said last week it also would provide a service that allows a user to request a listing anywhere in the country without knowing the area code. The company will roll out the service in New York in January and to the rest of its territory in the following months.

The price will be 95cents per long-distance lookup, which will mean every national directory assistance call will be profitable, said Terry Beggy, vice president of marketing for Bell Atlantic operator services.

Prices for local listings vary from 20cents in New Jersey to 45cents per request in New York. Residential customers currently get the first two to 10 requests free-the number differs by state. "At that price, we're losing money or barely breaking even when we offer that service," Beggy said. "On this product, there are no free allowances, so we can make a profit on every one of the calls."

That's how other recent entrants into the national long-distance market see it, too, said Jeff Kagan, an Atlanta-based analyst, adding that BellSouth recently rolled out a similar service. These regional Bell operating companies' offerings will compete with AT&T's year-old "00" Info and MCI WorldCom's 10-10-9000, announced earlier this month.

"As long as Bell Atlantic can't get into long-distance, they'll compete in other services. Business services like national directory assistance make a great profit center; all of the services make money," Kagan said. "It's a defensive move and an offensive move."

There will be a problem with accuracy when providing numbers outside the Bell Atlantic territory, however, because Bell Atlantic, like the long-distance companies, will buy its data from an outside source, Kagan said.