| Windows CE feature phone platform gets triple boost |
Apr. 05, 2006
 Intrinsyc Software's Windows CE-based feature phone development platform gained a boost at the CTIA conference in Las Vegas this week through the company's efforts with three industry partners. The turnkey Soleus platform, introduced at the 3GSM World Conference in February, now comes equipped with predictive text input software and a POP3/IMAP4 email client, and it's been integrated into a GSM/GPRS/EDGE feature phone design.
Strategy Analytics estimates that feature phones made up approximately 420 million units of the total 815 million unit global handset market in 2005, and feature phones are forecast to become the largest category of mobile phones sold by 2010 (see chart), representing a fierce battleground between mobile-oriented Windows and Linux factions.
According to Intrinsyc, Soleus adds to Microsoft's overall penetration of the mobile phone space, since Soleus, which targets feature phones, and Windows Mobile, which targets smartphones, address two distinct market segments.
A Microsoft Gold Partner, mobile software and services specialist Intrinsyc has pioneered a "new way" to build feature phones with Soleus, providing pre-integration with leading hardware platforms, telephony software, and popular applications. By building on Windows CE and the Microsoft Visual Studio development environment, Soleus lowers feature phone development costs and reduces time to market, according to Intrinsyc, while allowing third-party software suppliers to optimize their applications "with very little incremental work, resulting in less work to reach more handsets."
At the heart of Soleus is a rich set of built-in feature phone applications including calendar, camera, contacts, dialer, file manager, media player, and phone settings that can be quickly tailored to reduce time to market of the end product, the company says. In addition to these built-in applications, Intrinsyc partners with a select set of third-party ISVs (independent software vendors) that build "best-of-breed" mobile phone applications to optimize them for use in Soleus-based phones and reduce development time for getting new devices to market, the company adds.
"The ability to deeply customize mobile phones is the coveted holy grail for mobile operators," said market anaylst Neil Strother, research director for mobile devices with The NPD Group. "These operators want to make their brand prevalent throughout the handset user interface, and are always striving to offer specific, tailor-made mobile services to appeal to different customer segments. Software tools that make user interface design and customization simpler for both the device maker and operator are becoming increasingly important for many parties in the mobile device making chain."
Predictive text
Intrinsyc revealed, in the first of three CTIA announcements, that it has integrated the predictive T9 Text Input software of Tegic, a Division of America Online Inc., into Soleus "to provide a faster and easier text entry experience." According to Intrinsyc, T9 Text Input is "the most widely used alphabet-based, Chinese, Japanese and Korean character-based text input software for mobile phones available today." With T9 as a "key component" in a Soleus-based handset, "users will be able to enter words and phrases with just one key press per letter when typing SMS and mobile email messages," the company said. The T9 software, available in more than 51 languages, has been included in more than 800 mobile phone models to date.
POP3/IMAP4 email client
In a second announcement, Intrinsyc unveiled a similar partnership with Web Information Solutions, Inc. (WebIS) concerning that company's POP3/IMAP4 email client. This software, now preintegrated with Soleus, allows feature phone users to receive and respond to emails via their POP3/IMAP4 SMTP accounts and connect to almost any email provider using SSL, configurable message downloading options, and user defined message folders.
Said Alex Kac, CEO of WebIS Inc., "As more people lead the mobile lifestyle, they are using their phones to check email and type replies while on the go. Like Intrinsyc, WebIS recognises the huge market opportunity for feature phones and looks forward to being involved with the first Soleus handset designs."
These two partnerships, said Randy Kath, Vice President of Mobile Software Products at Intrinsyc, "reflect the Soleus goal of pre-integrating all the best-of-breed mobile software applications, making it easier and faster for device makers to build feature phones with market-leading technology already integrated."
GSM/GPRS/EDGE reference design
Intrinsyc's third announcement represents the culmination of a partnership, revealed in December, with Enfora L.P., a GSM/GPRS/EDGE radio module developer and wireless device manufacturer. The collaborative reference design, now completed, integrates Intrinsyc's Windows CE-based feature-phone software platform with Enfora's OEM EDGE radio module based on a Texas Instruments OMAP 850 dual-core (RISC/DSP) applications processor.
Enfora's OEM EDGE radio module
The very small 46 X 30 X 3mm footprint of Enfora's certified quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE radio module enables the creation of very small form-factor phones, according to Intrinsyc. "The embedded applications processor allows for camera, Bluetooth, SD, USB and other compelling handset features, as well as EDGE-compatibility for the fast delivery of multimedia and other broadband applications to the end user," the company said.
Further details on Enfora's radio module are available in our prior coverage of that Intrinsyc Soleus collaboration.
Extensive additional information about Intrinsyc's Soleus feature phone software platform -- including lists of features, an architecture block diagram, screenshots, and more -- are available in our exclusive coverage of its rollout at the 3GSM World Conference in February.
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