Gaining access to content from the wireless Web just got easier. Those who
need stock updates, e-mail access or driving instructions delivered to the
palm of their hand, can just ask Oracle.
OracleMobile Tuesday introduced
its free wireless service that allows two-way messaging devices to access
Internet content without a Web browser.
While many wireless devices work on a push system that feeds an alert or
message to a pager or mobile phone, Ask@OracleMobile developed a two-way
messaging system for Internet users on the move. Ask@OracleMobile enables
people to access personalized information about stock quotes, driving
directions, flight information and more, directly through its wireless portal.
Users simply send e-mail to ask@oraclemobile.com using keywords such as
“stocks” or “flights” in the subject or body of the message.
Ask@OracleMobile quickly sends back the requested information to the
wireless device, tuned-in to the users personal preferences.
Denise Lahey, OracleMobile chief executive officer, said the free program a
key step toward fulfilling its mission is to make the wireless Web
accessible from any device.
“Our Ask@OracleMobile service significantly increases the value of the
millions of two-way messaging devices in use today by delivering Internet
information on demand,” Lahey said.
In order to make the two-way wireless system available to millions of
users, OracleMobile partnered with wireless data and messaging company Metrocall Inc.
and Canada-based Research In Motion Ltd.
to tap into its popular Blackberry wireless
e-mail programming.
Current services include stock quotes, traffic and flight information,
driving directions, horoscope, lottery, dictionary, translation, UPS
tracking and weather information, but additional services will be added by
OracleMobile throughout the year.
OracleMobile services are designed for any wireless Web-enabled device,
including mobile phones, pagers, palms pilots and personal digital
assistants. The Oracle Corp. subsidiary was unleashed in February to focus on delivering
services to the rapidly emerging wireless Internet marketplace.
According to Cahners In-Stat Group,
corporate America is indeed going mobile. In a recent report, the
independent research firm determined that large companies with 1,000 or
more employees are struggling to manage growing numbers of mobile workers
and remote branch and home offices.
In-Stat estimates that large U.S. firms support nearly 1 million remote
office locations around the globe in addition to roughly 5 million
telecommuters.
In order to increase the accessibility of this growing remote workforce,
large companies are using wireless devices to keep many employees
productive, even while they’re on the go. In-Stat forecasts that more than
13 million employees will use wireless phones and other similar devices and
by 2004 to support more than 29 million wireless-enabled workers.
Kneko Burney, In-Stat director of e-business infrastructure and services,
said the nature of enterprise investments in information technology will
change as firms are expected to reinforce, if not extend, their central
computing resources, likely adding application serving capabilities, like
those provided by OracleMobile and Citrix
Systems Inc. .
“Firms are expected to add more intelligence to their remote office
networks allowing for better remote management,” Burney said. “Given this,
In-Stat expects these firms to become key consumers of both
small office
networking technologies and application serving infrastructure over the
next two years.”
In-Stat’s findings about large corporations indicated that Internet access
is at the core of their internal and external communications. Nearly 70
percent of employees have access to the Internet at work and more than 80
percent of employees have access to their company’s network.
By 2004, In-State projects that more than 90 percent of all employees will
be connected to corporate networks either by the Internet, directly through
a personal computer, or through a growing variety of wireless Web devices.
Mark Plakias, The Kelsey Group
vice president of voice and wireless commerce, said OracleMobile is leading
the pack of application service provider’s developing solutions for access
to the wireless Web.
“In adding two-way wireless messaging devices, OracleMobile continues to
show a comprehensive roadmap for mobility services,” Plakias said. “We like
the Oracle model, which allows all of its applications and content partners
to use the same platform to reach many devices. We see OracleMobile as the
current leader in multi-modal wireless ASP operations.”
