Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, a unit of giant Swedish phone maker LM Ericsson Telephone Co., has partnered with a small US software company to give mobile workers access to popular PC applications from their mobile phone, the companies said yesterday.
Ericsson plans to bundle software from Extended Systems in some of its future mobile phones, allowing users to access and synchronise information between their mobile phones and a PC or laptop, the companies said in a joint statement.
Workers will be able to exchange the data using infrared technology based on a standard dubbed IrMC1.1, the companies said.
Extended's software, called XTNDConnect PC, allows users to access and synchronise applications like Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes and Symantec's Act using Palm Computing, Windows CE-based and Ericsson mobile devices.
The first Ericsson phone to include Extended's software will be the R320, a high-performance phone that supports the Wireless Application Protocol, a technology for accessing Web content on portable devices. The companies didn't say when the R320 is scheduled for release, and Ericsson couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
The goal is to allow users to trade data between their phone, PC and even a PDA (personal digital assistant) without having to enter information several times in different devices, the companies said. As phones become smarter, the ability to exchange data smoothly with computers will be a key component in their success, an Ericsson official said in the statement.