Mobile Gateway 3.0 (formerly "SyncML Gateway") supports IMAP/SMTP for demand-based email, and now supports both IMAP IDLE and
OMA EMN for server-pushed email, according to the company. Additionally, the Gateway offers SyncML (aka OMA DS) synchronization support for calendar, contacts, notes, and tasks. For service activation, it utilizes the OMA CP provisioning module, said to enable over-the-air configuration of the built-in IMAP/SMTP and SyncML clients.
A key benefit of OMA EMN, according to Synchronica, is that it enables both mid-range feature phones and high-end smartphones to receive push email "out of the box" -- i.e. without requiring any additional client software. Feature phones, the company claims, represent more than 80 per cent of devices in use today.
OMA EMN is attractive to mobile operators because it does not require a constant connection to the server, and therefore minimizes demands on mobile network infrastructure, according to Synchronica. OMA EMN makes use of SMS messaging to alert the mobile device that new mail has arrived.
ISPs and ASPs (Internet / application service providers), on the other hand, generally prefer Mobile Gateway's IMAP IDLE support -- also available through Mobile Gateway 3.0 -- as a means to deliver push email, because it works independently of the wireless operator, Synchronica said. IMAP IDLE was also developed by the IETF's
LEMONADE working group.
LEMONADE is an acronym for "License to Enhanced Mobile Oriented and Diverse Endpoints." The working group was set up by the IETF to address the efficiency of email services for bandwidth-limited and storage-restricted devices, such as mobile phones and PDAs, Synchronica said.
Mobile Gateway 3.0 has been shipping for some time. The new OMA EMN support appears to be immediately available.
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