Aug 5, 2004 12:00 PM,

Battle of the hybrids

by Dan O'Shea

I was worried about this--that I would go on vacation for a week and the entire industry would change forever.

Just kidding. Actually, it seems to have changed very little, with the exception that vendors have taken another step forward in bringing integrated cellular/Wi-Fi devices to market. Motorola announced the CN620, a 802.11a/GSM device that will leverage the new integrated cellular/Wi-Fi enterprise architecture being delivered by partners Avaya and Proxim. Also, Hewlett-Packard, with carrier partner T-Mobile, announced the iPAQ 6153, which will deliver voice and data on GSM/GPRS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networks.

The obvious difference in these devices is that the first phone is based on more of a clamshell, traditional mobile phone model, while the latter-day PDA is the model for the other. Also notable is that Motorola's phone uses 802.11a in the Wi-Fi environment, meaning it isn't compliant with most existing 802.11b enterprise Wi-Fi equipment.
In addition, while Motorola, Avaya and Proxim have said they think carriers will play of secondary role in getting their gear to enterprise customers, Hewlett-Packard already is leveraging its existing carrier relationships to promote its new device. Both devices will be available this fall.

The wireless enterprise market is still at a very early stage. Carriers haven't made great in-roads, but no one else has, either. Motorola, Avaya and Proxim are banking on the probablility that most enterprises with first-generation Wi-Fi coverage are ready to move to 802.11 and integrated handsets all at once. Hewlett-Packard and T-Mobile just hope they are ready for a device upgrade.

For these reasons, the two devices, being situationally-dependent, can't really be directly compared based on their own features and functions to gauge which one has the better chance of success. If you believe you must own the enterprise to own the end user, bet on Motorola, Avaya and Proxim to make an impact first. If you believe owning the end user is the key to owning the enterprise, bet on Hewlett-Packard.

Let the games begin.

E-mail me at doshea@primediabusiness.com.