Synchronica enables mobile email for all

Synchronica's Mobile Gateway 4.0 can deliver email via MMS, SMS and push-to-WAP

Mobility specialist Synchronica has claimed that it can enable mobile email on any phone handset with the latest version of its Mobile Gateway server software.

Mobile Gateway 4.0, to be showcased at next week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, adds the ability to deliver email via MMS, SMS and push-to-WAP, as well as existing support for the Open Mobile Alliance SyncML and Imap protocols.

Synchronica chief executive Carten Brinkschulte explained that the new version expands the firm's reach from smartphones and feature phones to the entry-level "lowest common denominator" handsets that often do not have a built-in email client.

"Email-to-SMS, email-to-MMS and push-to-WAP enables us to deliver email to more basic phones than ever before," he said.

The product is targeted at mobile carriers, which will be able to use the software to make email available to virtually any subscriber. Even Google Mail and Microsoft Exchange accounts can be accessed via the new release, according to Brinkschulte.

With multiple protocols available, the new Mobile Gateway can automatically select the best protocol for a particular handset, he added.

Another feature of Mobile Gateway 4.0 is document transcoding, which enables users to view email attachments such as PDF or Word files on basic phones. The attachment is decoded on the fly to a data type that can be displayed on the handset, according to Brinkschulte.

Also new is mobile synchronisation with calendar and contact details from email systems such as Google Mail, MSN and Windows Live Mail.

This feature is handy, Brinkschulte said, as it means that users do not have to key in the email address when sending messages. "Over-the-air synchronisation of contacts is pretty much a requirement for email," he said.

Mobile Gateway 4.0 is available immediately.