Geodesic To Bring Mobile Services To Blackberry Users

Geodesic Information Systems, a provider of mobile and desktop solutions for instant messaging, has announced that it has joined the BlackBerry ISV Alliance Programme and plans to offer its mobile services to support a broad range of BlackBerry smartphones including the BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Pearl and BlackBerry 8800 series smartphones.

According to Gartner, while SMS continues to increase in usage, the growing prevalence of IM clients on phones is shifting usage patterns. Gartner contends that IM will overtake SMS, becoming a mass-market application for the phone. Mobile users are increasingly relying on their handsets to serve their needs – not just for communication – but for entertainment, information and commerce as well. More than 1.8 billion Internet-enabled handsets have shipped globally, with more than 750 million active users. In 2007, operators worldwide realised mobile data (non-voice and non-SMS) revenue of more than $60 billion.

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Among Geodesic's various products, Mundu IM combines all of the most popular IM services, including Yahoo, AOL, MSN, ICQ and Google Talk, with deep collaboration across mobile, Web and desktop platforms, enabling users to chat seamlessly from their home, office or while in transit. Mundu IM supports all leading Web browsers, including IE, Mozilla Firefox and Safari and, in addition to interoperating with consumer IM services, it integrates with Jabber for enterprise IM. Geodesic's IM service also offers advanced features such as multi-lingual chat, conferencing capabilities across IM services, push e-mail, and extensive presence management.

"We're delighted to be a BlackBerry Alliance Programme member and offer their users critical business communications tools," said Arvind Venkateswaran, Geodesic's senior vice president of business development and general manager of US operations. "By bringing IM beyond the desktop and enabling anytime instant messaging, business users will be able to enhance their mobile communications and improve productivity – a win-win for employers and BlackBerry smartphone users."