[London, ENGLAND] Wireless Knowledge, a joint venture of
Microsoft Corp. and QUALCOMM Inc., announced Monday the
opening of a European office, its fourth major expansion
within a year.
Once more, London is to be the hub, becoming the location
of choice for yet another U.S. venture setting up a headquarters
for its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operations.
Wireless Knowledge, which already counts British Telecom and
Aventis Pharmaceuticals among its European customers, will
market its flagship product, Workstyle Server, to other
European companies. The product enables mobile workers to
use the wireless Internet to access business critical
information.
Eric V. Schultz, chairman and chief executive of Wireless
Knowledge, said the opening of the London office was of
strategic significance in supporting and growing his company’s
global customer base.
“Our enterprise-grade mobile data access solutions are currently
used by more than 45,000 subscribers worldwide. This expansion
will help us offer localized solutions and support that meet
their needs across the entire enterprise,” said Schultz.
Wireless Knowledge is aiming its products at the so-called
“SHD space” – at users of smart handheld devices (SHDs).
Catherine Pennington of research firm IDC commented that
the market in Europe for SHDs is only just starting to mature
and offers many opportunities for vendors to develop products
for consumer and corporate solutions.
“We are forecasting a very healthy performance for the SHD
space into 2004. This is expected to be particularly true
of the personal companion and smart phone segments,” said
Pennington.
Formed at the end of 1998, Wireless Knowledge aims to
provide a fully independent wireless data access solution
for corporate users. It lets them have access to e-mail,
calendar and contacts over any wireless network from
any type of Internet-ready device.
Corporations can acquire Workstyle Server direct from
Wireless Knowledge or through AT&T Wireless, Sprint
PCS, or Paradigm4.
