Nokia buys Oz

Nokia is purchasing consumer e-mail and instant-messaging platform company Oz Communications for an unspecified sum, giving the leading phone manufacturer a consumer e-mail to replace the Intellisync enterprise-class mobile e-mail platform on which it has ceased development work.

Nokia is shifting its service focus away from the enterprise toward the consumer, who buys the lion’s share of its cell phones and handsets. That shift is further evidenced by Nokia’s plans to sell its security appliance unit to an unnamed buyer, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Nokia also revealed that the company’s chief technology officer, Bob Iannucci, has resigned for “personal reasons.” Iannucci started at Nokia in 2004, heading up the Nokia Research Center’s computing architectures lab.

While Nokia will continue to support enterprise platforms, it will do so through established enterprise mobility platforms, Nokia officials said. “We have very strong relationships with industry leading enterprise technology partners such as Cisco and Microsoft, as well as a broad range of operator and retail channel partners,” said Niklas Savander, executive vice president of services and software for Nokia, in a statement. “Together with them, we will use our expertise in devices, as well as the combined channel footprint and customer base, to deliver a range of unbeatable end-to-end offerings for business.”

Savander said that the initial success of the Nokia E71, which uses Microsoft’s ActiveSync rather than Intellisync platform, is a perfect example of the new approach. By leaving enterprise product development to partners such as Cisco, IBM and Microsoft, Savander said, Nokia is free to develop applications and platforms in the consumer sector, where its primary expertise lies. “We will also continue with our investment strategy to develop key consumer internet services in areas such as music, games, media, messaging and context-based services,” he added in the statement.