Kyocera inks deal with Wireless Knowledge

Wireless data applications are gaining traction in the enterprise market. Most companies simply want remote access to corporate data for its mobile employees. Not so simple until very recently.

With field force automation and sales force automation applications leading the way, software developers and systems integrators have been perfecting their solutions over the past few years. And the folks at Wireless Knowledge (www.wirelessknowledge.com) and Kyocera (www.kyocera.com) last month announced they have jointly crafted a deal that would allow users of the Kyocera QCP 6035 smart phone to access corporate information via Wireless Knowledge-based enterprise data solutions, including that company’s Anystyle, Echo and Workstyle mobile business applications.

Both companies have one thing in common already – deep connections to Qualcomm (www.qualcomm.com). Wireless Knowledge is a joint venture of Microsoft and Qualcomm. Kyocera Wireless is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kyocera International, which established a North American handset subsidiary last February after it bought Qualcomm’s CDMA consumer handset division.

The QCP 6035 is a Palm OS-based device (www.palm.com) that combines aspects of a regular cellular phone with a Palm PDA. Using Palm v3.5, the tri-mode CDMA device has a built-in speakerphone, voice-activated dialing, 8 MB of memory and support for HTML browsing with SSL encryption. The device also supports Palm web clipping apps and Palm-based WAP browsers. Users also can access business or personal e-mail using Eudora.

“The term smart phone is used loosely, but (the QCP6035) is truly a converged device, where you have a true digital wireless phone integrated with a true handheld computing platform,” said Rick Goetter, Kyocera Wireless senior product marketing manager.

“That in itself really shrinks the smart phone category down to a half-dozen devices currently extant in the world. Given that Palm has 70% global market share and the largest suite of applications, it represents a strategic advantage for us to base our phone on Palm OS,” said Rick Goetter, Kyocera Wireless spokesman.

Users of Kyocera’s new smart phone will be able to access Wireless Knowledge mobile business applications. Wireless Knowledge also will work with corporate clients to customize specific applications for QCP 6035.

David Bilotti, senior marketing director, said Wireless Knowledge works with many mobile platforms.

“Wireless Knowledge has tremendous respect for the Palm OS,” Bilotti said. “At the same time, the Pocket PC platform is gaining ground. That’s compelling because it ties directly into the Windows desktop, which is nearly an enterprise standard. So we work with both platforms.”

On the Palm-based Kyocera, one option for companies is Wireless Knowledge’s Echo, a solution that mobilizes web-based applications. “Echo mobilizes any web-based application on the fly,” Bilotti said. “It doesn’t matter what device is hitting the applications, because Echo identifies the device and renders the information for that particular device.”

What sets Echo apart from other similar solutions, he said, is that coding can be done in any programming language, such as Perl, Java or C++.

“Using Echo, developers can continue to build applications for the desktop, and also get it out to mobile workers on any device,” Bilotti said.

Beyond Kyocera’s partnership with Wireless Knowledge, the handset maker has signed deals with Computer Associates (www.computerassociates.com), Oracle (www.oracle.com), Siebel (www.siebel.com) and Sybase (www.sybase.com).

“Computer Associates has system management products that allow IT managers to treat the smart phone as a node on the enterprise network,” Goetter said. “In that way, they can deliver applications and control content on the device just as you would normally on a terminal tethered by a T1 line or other wireline technology.”

Consumers also can customize their phones outside of an enterprise channel. Goetter, who has used the QCP 6035 for about a year, has customized his device with Palm web clipping applications for American Airlines (www.aa.com), United (www.united.com), Bloomberg News (www.bloomberg.com), Bank of America (www.bankofamerica.com), E-Trade (www.etrade), Mapquest (www.mapquest.com), Fidelity (www.fidelity.com) and an online banking application for access to his credit union account information.

“These are the things that meet my needs,” he said. “And it’s the combination of the simplicity of the Palm system and the number of applications out there that make it so attractive to the mobile professional.”

Kyocera expected the smart phone to comprise 5% of its overall handset sales. But it now accounts for 7.5% of sales. Although the converged device was targeted at techies and early adopters, Goetter said Kyocera has observed “more than a handful ‘techno-virgins,’ people who have never had a computer or a cell phone before, who see the (QCP 6035) smart phone as … their initial foray into personal technology.”

Sprint PCS (www.sprintpcs.com) and Verizon Wireless (www.verizonwireless.com) began selling the unit at $499 with a 1-year service plan; Sprint now offers employees of enterprise clients a $399 price tag.