Dual mode fixed-mobile convergence (FMC)/mobile UC vendor DiVitas Networks today announced a partnership with Samsung that will add several of that company's Windows Mobile based handsets to DiVitas' list of supported devices. According to Peter DeNagy, Samsung's General Manager for Enterprise Mobility Enablement, no actual DiVitas-capable Samsung handsets are being announced at this time. Samsung's policy is not to announce new products until 30-days prior to availability, but based on the tone of the announcement, we can likely expect those by the end of the year.The new capability is based on Samsung's Mobile Innovator's Software Developer Kit (SDK) version 1.2.0, which will add a stable Windows Mobile option to DiVitas' line of Nokia/Symbian handsets. Supported devices will include the Samsung Epix, Samsung Saga, Samsung Jack and the Samsung Omnia (CDMA) in the U.S. and the Samsung Omnia (GSM) globally. DiVitas had previously included Windows Mobile handsets on their list of supported devices, in particular the HP iPaq 900 and the HTC TyTn11 and S730. However according to DiVitas' CEO Vivek Khuller, those were always offered with a caveat as the platform had inherent drawbacks in the areas of battery life, Wi-Fi performance and audio routing.
While the Samsung announcement means that DiVitas will now have a stable and fully-supported Windows Mobile capability, how well the Samsung options support Wi-Fi is something of a mystery. Their representatives didn't know if the Wi-Fi interface supported the 802.11e/Wi-Fi Multimedia QoS option or WPA2-based encryption, two essential capabilities for Wi-Fi voice. According to their web site, it runs on the 802.11b/g radio link.
I have never been a big fan of Windows Mobile, but it does feature a rich development environment for customized applications. In the US enterprise market it comes in second behind RIM while in the consumer space it falls far short of the iPhone, Palm Pre, and Android experience. In a recent Business Week opinion piece, wireless analyst Jack Gold suggested that maybe they should just discontinue it.
The bigger story may be increased support for CDMA, which has been a drawback in the dual mode FMC market. Dual-mode solutions have depended almost entirely on Nokia handsets, which essentially confined them to GSM technology. As CDMA carriers serve over 60% of US cellular lines, dual mode was missing out on a significant percentage of the potential market.
While a stable Windows Mobile option is a plus, what DiVitas really needs is BlackBerry support. Archrival Agito Networks announced support for four BlackBerry models on their dual-mode solution back in June, but how they were able to do it is still a mystery. Clearly, dual mode FMC has not broken into the mainstream and continues to be hampered by user concerns with carrying voice traffic on their wireless LANs. Better Windows Mobile support and additional CDMA options won't solve all of their problems, but it should at least remove some of the roadblocks for DiVitas.
