Mobile Enterprise Weblog on MDM's "collision course."

"In a nutshell, carriers and enterprises are developing parallel technologies for managing mobile devices. These parallel approaches are actually on a collision course, and carriers and IT departments will soon enough be overwriting each other with patches and updates...

Both the enterprise and the carrier expect to manage the mobile device. This leads to a fundamental question. Either the IT department buys an unlocked device (and the carrier cannot manage it), or the carrier is involved in the sale, and the IT department is in constant contention over the most basic rights to device management...

Best practices on both sides of the equation put us in a perpetual loop. The carrier changes the Wi-Fi settings. Then the enterprise does the same. And so forth...

[We need]: standardized demarcation between OMA DM Management Authorities and an Enterprise Management Object for OMA DM. The MEA would define the management object and would work with OMA to implement and standardize the demarcation points."

Origami gadgets.

"Sony’s Tokyo labs have filed a patent on a clever way to get bulky electronic devices into small pockets... 'Their plan is to create handheld computers, phones and portable games consoles that fold up for carrying and then become rigid for use.'"

HOMBRE: Ajax-alike thin client for any phone.

"HOMBRE, which stands for Hands On Mobile Runtime Environment, is a 65 kilobyte environment for building mobile applications. It can run on almost any handset and actually uses the handset’s on board applications and API calls to play video, audio, and access network features."

Vodafone seeks to integrate enterprise applications.

"Vodafone has moved further into the field of systems integration for enterprise mobile devices with the launch of its Applications Service... The service is aimed at enterprises looking to mobilise applications such as Salesforce.com, Oracle, SAP, Siebel and Remedy, and is the result of Vodafone's December acquisition of the systems integrator Aspective. Supported handsets will include BlackBerry devices, Windows Mobile Pocket PCs and Symbian devices."

Motive forges new direction for mobile device management.

"Motive, Inc. Chief Operating Officer Richard Hanna outlined how Motive is helping clients stay ahead of customer demand by providing end-to-end solutions for mobile device management (MDM).

'After achieving a clear leadership position in home device management (HDM), the next logical step was to expand into MDM... Our approach is straightforward, yet compelling: We will respond to market demand for fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) and to consumer demand for a single unified platform by leveraging our core activation, care and device management capabilities to provide a single end-to-end lifecycle management solution for mobility.'"

InnoPath MDM solution implemented by Japan's EMOBILE Ltd.

"InnoPath Software Inc, a provider of mobile device management solutions, has said that its Integrated Mobile Device Management (iMDM) solution has been adopted by Japanese mobile broadband operator EMOBILE Ltd. "

Lose a phone? YouGetItBack will help get it back.

"Designed to help customers retrieve their missing portable devices, the new e-tag service will reside on a user's cell phone as an application, according to the company, and prevent anyone but the phone's owner from making calls if it is misplaced or stolen.

What's more, the service also provides a denial of service, remote delete, data backup and recovery, and guaranteed replacement functions for customers who use e-tagging. The company will store any critical information a customer has on his or her phone, and if it isn't returned, transfer that data to a new phone."

Symantec aims for PC-type security on mobiles.

"[A] security suite for Windows Mobile devices... Companies will be able to encrypt everything on a handheld device and its storage cards, or just selected files, using 256-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption. Either way, access to the data is protected via a username and password when starting the device or trying to access the encrypted folder, Miller said. The antivirus component keeps users from accessing infected files and lets administrators regularly scan devices. The antispam feature can filter out and delete spam text messages, Symantec said. Also included are an IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) VPN, a tool for keeping devices that are not compliant with policies off the network, and a mechanism for keeping employees from using selected features of a device.

If a device falls into the wrong hands, administrators can wipe off the data remotely or set it up so the data is eliminated after a specified number of password tries. The suite also includes an audit log feature that keeps track of activity on the device so the company can see everything that happened after it fell out of the employee's hands, Miller said."

Openwave Systems CEO resigns, company explores possible sale.

"Openwave Systems, a Redwood City-based developer of open software products and services for the communications industry, said on Friday that David Peterschmidt has resigned as its president and CEO, and that the company has retained an advisor to help it explore strategic alternatives, including the possible sale of the company."

Motorola replaces Bitfone with Red Bend client for FOTA.

"Red Bend Software Inc has replaced Bitfone Corp as the provider of client software for firmware-over-the-air delivery to mobile phones from Motorola Inc, in what looks like fallout from Bitfone’s December acquisition by Hewlett-Packard Co... in addition to Motorola, Red Bend’s FOTA client is also in use by Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG and BenQ, as well as smaller players such as Sharp and NEC, with only Samsung among the tier-1 players preferring to plough its own furrow right now... Red Bend took the decision almost two years ago to drop out of the FOTA server market, preferring instead to work with any server that supported the OMA DM standard. As such it can talk to servers from companies like mFormation and Synchronica, as well as the Bitfone server, back in an operator’s or handset manufacturer’s network... With mFormation and Synchronica focusing on FOTA server development and Bitfone now absorbed into HP, said Grauballe, only InnoPath Software Inc remains as an independent developer of both server and client technology."

Synchronica plans fund-raising.

"Mobile technology developer Synchronica Plc confirmed yesterday that it was considering raising additional funds 'to secure the company's future.'"

More rumors on the Google Phone.

"What is clear, though, is that Google is working on a complete phone stack, he said. 'Whether it will be a Google branded device or whether Google will go to people and get that stack, just like Windows Mobile…or Palm OS, embedded in other devices, is unclear, but signs are leading to the former.'"

Sony Ericsson’s mobile phone/universal remote control.

"Now Sony Ericsson has another interesting thingy designed for your mobile phone - the possibility for it to download interfaces and act as a remote control for any device."