Nokia partners IBM for mobile business

Nokia has signed a partnership deal with IBM to integrate mobility into applications such as Notes and Tivoli.

The agreement, announced at 3GSM in Cannes, will see Nokia software included in IBM's middleware to enable better integration of mobile applications.

The company also announced a new phone, the Communicator 9500, to take advantage of the software.

"The IT industry has learnt that it's no longer about the killer application, it's about providing business solutions," said Mary McDowell, general manager of Nokia Enterprise.

"We in the communications industry should do the same. In this business anything that can go mobile will go mobile."

Jason Chapman, principle analyst at Gartner, said: "It's going to be important for all the vendors to work with IT suppliers to make inroads into the mobile market.

"We'll see more of these deals. Microsoft has a different route in that they are also talking with equipment manufacturers and operators to try and get an end-to-end solution."

The new 9500, an upgrade for the existing Communicator range, will support triband GSM/GPRS and Edge networks and include Wi-Fi capability that has already been certified by Cisco.

In addition the whole 68XX range will be optimised for business data users.

The Communicator 9500 will be available by the fourth quarter of the year, with its unsubsidised cost expected to be around €800 (£537).

See also:

3GSM World Congress

The big players in the global mobile telephony industry gathered in Cannes recently to plot the future of mobile communications.  25 Feb 2004

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