Does Your PDA Yahoo?

By Michael Foley
iApplianceWeb
(05/31/01, 09:13:35 AM EDT)

The new MobileIM mobile messaging service allows service providers, enterprises, and individuals to use instant messaging systems for communications, content delivery, and m-commerce transactions. MobileIM's instant messaging client connects all major instant messaging applications (i.e., AOL's Instant Messenger, ICQ, Yahoo! Messenger, and MSN Messenger) with text-messaging capable devices, such as cell phones, PDAs, and alphanumeric and Blackberry pagers.

At the heart of MobileIM's solution is a proprietary, patent-pending technology that bridges communications barriers between disparate instant messaging systems and wireless carriers' data networks. Until now, universal instant messaging has not been available to subscribers of different networks. MobileIM's mobile instant messaging technology platform has three core elements that enable messaging to and from users with text-messaging capable devices.

The three core elements are:

• MobileIM Message Manager -- Provides the routing and conversion of messages among disparate instant messaging software and carrier protocols.
• MobileIM Presence Manager -- Manages users connection status and location information gathered from the wireless device.
• MobileIM Preference Portal -- Portal that provides the interface for mobile instant messaging to MobileIM users.

MobileIM has three products available:

• IM Service Provider -- Content service that delivers news, stock prices, weather, sports, alerts, m-commerce transactions, etc.
• IM Enterprise -- Corporate service that provides ability for employees to communicate with one another using their text-messaging capable wireless devices.
• IM Individual -- Consumer service for sending messages through cell phones, pagers, PDAs, RIMs, or other text-messaging capable devices.