BuddeBlog

1eEurope, a pan-European provider of strategic consulting and e-business services, launched OpenHand in the UK in September 2002. It is an alternative to the BlackBerry mobile email service offered by O2 and Vodafone. Unlike the BlackBerry service, OpenHand offers direct access to email accounts on the company server. The service provides email access in real-time and does not rely on synchronisation. Instead, it enables the email server and calendar to be instantly accessed, directly from a PDA or laptop through a mobile phone or an integrated GSM/GPRS card. Charges are for server software, a user licence, with mobile operator charges separate.

See also:

Europe – Wireless Data – i-mode, Applications and M-commerce;

September 2002 saw the introduction of Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS) in Spain by the country’s leading mobile operator, Telefonica Moviles. The mobile giant uses equipment from Ericsson and Nokia and charges for MMS on a per message basis.

For more information on which operators have introduced MMS in Europe, see:

Europe – Wireless Data – Prepaid, SMS, MMS, WAP, GPRS;

A Yankee Group study of 14 mobile data providers in Europe showed that SMS remained the most successful application in 2001, accounting for 84-97% of total average data revenues per user.

In September 2002, Hutchison Whampoa launched a competition targeted at 3G content developers with a prize fund of £60,000 (US$93,500). The company hoped to uncover new content providers for content ranging from business applications to games that will adapt their services to its 3G network, which was due for launch in 2002.

See also:

Europe – Third Generation (3G) Mobile.