May 5 (Bloomberg) -- Nokia Oyj and Microsoft Corp. released the first software component from their partnership, seeking to challenge Research In Motion Ltd., the Canadian maker of BlackBerry handsets.
Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile, a component that shows smartphone users the availability of workplace colleagues and offers communications with them via e-mail, instant messaging or voice, is now available in Nokia’s online Ovi store, the companies said in a statement.
Nokia and Microsoft announced last August that they would integrate their products to combine the reach of the world’s biggest handset maker and the world’s biggest software company. Both Nokia and Microsoft want to regain momentum in the fast- growing smartphones market against RIM, Apple Inc.’s iPhone and phones using Google Inc.’s Android software.
“This is about giving companies like RIM, or specifically RIM, a run for their money,” Robert Andersson, Nokia’s executive vice president for devices, said in an interview in August.
Microsoft is also working on a re-introduction of its Windows Mobile software for handsets.
“This evens out the competitive landscape between Windows Mobile and Nokia, and gives them both equal access to the Microsoft back-end,” said Leif-Olof Wallin, a Gothenburg, Sweden-based analyst for Gartner Inc. “Microsoft hasn’t been pleased with progress on Windows Mobile and it’s tactical to line up with the top smartphone maker.”
‘Tip of the Iceberg’
The Communicator software is the core of a suite that is expected to include document sharing, live meetings and video conferencing capabilities for smartphones analogous to those on corporate desktop PCs but adapted for mobile use, Microsoft and Nokia executives said.
The software can be downloaded free from Nokia’s Ovi Store for the E72 and E52 smartphones in English and will be available in 18 more language versions by the end of May.
“We have hundreds of engineers across both companies working on the alliance and this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Kai Oistamo, the head of Nokia’s device division, said in an interview. He declined to comment specifically on the next products from the companies.
An earlier, Java-based version of the Communicator for Nokia handsets is “really not comparable” in usability and functions to the new version, which is more integrated with the Symbian platform, Nokia spokesman Leo McKay said by e-mail.
Cost Saving
Microsoft expects to make money from the product through broadening the base of users for its enterprise server products, Stephen Elop, head of Microsoft’s business division, said in an interview. Nokia likewise sees a return from enlarging the market for its business smartphones, Oistamo said.
Phones using Microsoft’s Windows Mobile software already have Office Communicator Mobile enabling them to access corporate servers. Microsoft doesn’t have a development partnership similar to Nokia’s with RIM or with Apple, both of whose devices use Microsoft software called ActiveSync to connect with its software on desktops and servers.
Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM climbed into the top five handset vendors in the first quarter, displacing Motorola Corp. as it expanded beyond North America and rolled out lower-priced phones aimed at consumers.
Microsoft says its Office communications software can save companies as much as 50 percent on telecommunications costs as older voice telephony systems are displaced by more flexible messaging.
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