02-23-2004, 07:00 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 534
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Microsoft vs. Symbian Heats Up In Middle East
Here's a Wireless DevNet story about how the Microsoft/Symbian competition shapes up in the Middle East. The i-mate Pocket PC Phone Edition was recently launched in that region, and is intensifying Microsoft's push into the wireless market in the Middle East.
Info2Cell.com Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Bashar Dahabra, was interviewed for the article. According to Dahabra, the i-mate will find a niche market among professionals, but will not reach mass market appeal. Part of the problem is that "the new mobile pocket PC lags behind in the support of Java Midlets that enable Symbian users to download Java applications written for Symbian phones, delivering enhanced offerings such as GPRS games, access GPRS to company hot servers or simple functions such as gaming."
While there isn't anything magical about Java that makes GPRS data access easier it does point out that there are fewer games available for the Smartphone/Pocket PC Phone Edition that take advantage of the network capabilities of the devices. In fact, I can't even name one off the top of my head! Of course, part of the reason that there aren't many - if any at all - is because mobile data plans are pretty pricey. Does anyone know what data plans are in the Middle East? I suspect they'd be roughly the same as Europe. That means cheaper than North America but still a noticeable bill each month. Are people really choosing Symbian-based phones because of their ability to play games that connect to the network?
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David McNamee
Office Platform Specialist, Microsoft Corp.
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