Show spotlights wireless innovation

LA JOLLA, CALIF. - Even without the summer humidity, vendor representatives at last week's DEMOmobile conference would have been sweating. Their task was to pitch their products in a matter of 6 minutes to a crowd of jaded venture capitalists, fellow executives and journalists.

In its sixth year, DEMOmobile highlighted new mobile and wireless products, covering applications, client devices and infrastructure. The show, produced by Network World's Events & Executive Forums group, featured 35 vendors ranging from early-stage start-ups to established public companies. Together the group has reaped $142 million in venture investment.

For some vendors, the presentations were easy. "I've done this kind of thing lots of times. I told my [presenting] team I had complete faith in them. It's called 'delegating the fear," says Paul Fulton, president and CEO of Orative, a start-up with software that sorts and manages cell phone calls and messages for corporate users."

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LA JOLLA, CALIF. - Even without the summer humidity, vendor representatives at last week's DEMOmobile conference would have been sweating. Their task was to pitch their products in a matter of 6 minutes to a crowd of jaded venture capitalists, fellow executives and journalists.

In its sixth year, DEMOmobile highlighted new mobile and wireless products, covering applications, client devices and infrastructure. The show, produced by Network World's Events & Executive Forums group, featured 35 vendors ranging from early-stage start-ups to established public companies. Together the group has reaped $142 million in venture investment.

For some vendors, the presentations were easy. "I've done this kind of thing lots of times. I told my [presenting] team I had complete faith in them. It's called 'delegating the fear," says Paul Fulton, president and CEO of Orative, a start-up with software that sorts and manages cell phone calls and messages for corporate users."

For all the vendors, the hard work is ahead: turning prototypes, beta code, ideas, ambitions and dreams into viable products that people will buy.

Here's a closer look at four of the dozen or so enterprise network-focused innovations highlighted at the show:

Orative

Cell phones have become one of the most critical tools for employees not only in the field but also in the office, Fulton says. Yet cell phones today lack the management and control features found in corporate PBXs and e-mail systems, he says.

"You get a lot of voice mails on your cell phone," Fulton says. "But you have to call in and listen to every message, write down numbers and names, and sift the solicitations from the important business calls."

By contrast, Orative's client/server software creates a list of your calls, visible on the phone's screen. You can see which ones are important and call back with the press of a button, or press another button to send an alert that you've seen the message and will call back in a given number of minutes.

The software has a server component that runs on Linux, with a set of Web screens for setup by administrators and for setting preferences by users. You can buy a version that links with Microsoft Exchange Server or Lotus Domino to access calendar, contacts and directories. There is a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol interface to link with Microsoft Active Directory.

After a user account has been created, the user from a Web browser logs on to the Orative server, which then dials the handset. Once connected, it downloads - over any cellular network - the small client application, which is based on Qualcomm's Brew mobile software. After that, the software tracks and displays all your cell phone calls.

Beta testing is set to start later this fall, with availability expected for early next year. Pricing has not been determined but Orative executives say it will be "in line with messaging options" offered by carriers.

Route1

Start-up Route1 says it had to create its own client devices to get its software to work. The company will soon offer through contract manufacturers a trio of handheld devices in different styles without memory or disk storage.

Using Route1's software and a wireless LAN (WLAN) or cellular link, the devices act as the keyboard and display of the PC at your desktop.

The Mobi, at $500, is a Windows CE-based clamshell-style PDA, with a full keyboard; the Mobi Executive mimics the size and style of a laptop; the Mobi Fleet, about the same size as the Executive, has a ruggedized design and can be mounted in vehicles. The latter two devices run Windows XP and will cost $1,500 apiece.

The handhelds include an 802.11b WLAN adapter and a choice of Code Division Multiple Access or General Packet Radio Service/GSM cellular interface. They automatically connect first to a Route1 server for registration and then to the network through a corporate firewall. The server works with an agent on the PC to set up a peer-to-peer connection between the two devices. After that, it's as if the remote user is sitting at his PC, accessing data and applications on the C drive.

Users can click on a Microsoft Word document, open it and work on it, or view a 2M-byte e-mail attachment without having to download it from the network. But very little data passes over the wireless link.

"What's very clever is [that] it's sending a graphical representation to the Mobi device of everything that's on my desktop PC," says Barry Richards, a wireless market analyst with Paradigm Capital, who's used an early version of a Mobi handheld to access his desktop PC and a tablet PC. Interaction with the PC applications, even over low-bandwidth cellular links, has been quick and smooth, he says.

According to Route1 CEO Andrew White, customers would buy the device and the PC agent, and use their existing cellular carrier or a WLAN. No other software is needed.

The Mobi devices are scheduled to ship by year-end.