Sony showcases MYLO service for hand-helds, notebook PCs

Wireless data subscribers are no longer categorized as either consumer or enterprise, said Elizabeth Eller, Sony manager of wireless services. It's Eller’s opinion that work and play have become so blurred that it's not important to define one or the other segment as a target market for the consumer electronic company’s first wireless service offering.

Sony (www.sony.com) launched its MYLO (my life online) service in September. It’s available to Clié PEG-S320 hand-held and notebook PC users. Monthly service plans begin at $39.95 per month, for Clié users. Service for notebook users is $59.95 per month. A combined package is $79.95 per month. In addition to the monthly service fee, users must first buy a modem adapter kit for $299, which is reduced by a $100 rebate to $199. Wireless connectivity is provided via a Sierra Wireless AirCard 300 (www.sierrawireless.com).

MYLO subscribers connect to wireless networks operated by AT&T Wireless or Verizon Wireless through a backend service agreement Sony has with GoAmerica (www.goamerica.com). Service plans are restricted to one or the other wireless network - depending on the user’s home region. Subscribers receive as part of their monthly service fee 800kb of roaming (about 200 e-mails). Beyond that, users must pay 8¢/kb to roam onto an alternate data network.

“We thought (the MYLO name) expressed the user-friendliness and the consumer-orientation of Sony, in general, and certainly the wireless service,” Eller said.

MYLO users first see a home page with icons for “today, work, play and search.” The “today” page, for example, contains news, sports, weather and entertainment information. Within those categories, users can customize the presentation of information from their Clié or notebook PC interface.

“We call it a new lifestyle,” Eller said. “That lifestyle is one in which people kind of live their lives between work and play. You sit at your desk, do some work, and then if you’re like me, you want to turn around and see where to eat that night. When you’re out at night, you want to check on the news from your industry. People really don’t separate work and play. That was a lot of the thought behind our wireless service.”

By addressing both the enterprise and consumer markets, MYLO is unique, said Joe Korb, GoAmerica president. GoAmerica has in the past focused on the enterprise market. Its partnership with Sony indirectly brings GoAmerica into the consumer market as well. Korb explained that GoAmerica’s strength comes from its partnerships with major technology companies such as Dell, and now, with Sony.

“We’ve combined our expertise to help develop the MYLO service and are running it for Sony,” he said. “We’ve taken our business experience and transferred it to the consumer space.”

The MYLO service allows users to bookmark sites, access e-mail or instant messaging and search HTML and WML-based Web sites. The service encrypts and compresses data while reformatting it for the Clié using GoAmerica’s Go.Web technology.

A significant advantage of the service, Korb said, is the diversity of network connections and platforms that are supported by GoAmerica’s backend systems.