Symbian demonstrates advanced data services on Sony Ericsson P800 at CeBIT

Magpie concept to prove revenue generating opportunity of wireless web services on Sony Ericsson P800 smartphone

CeBIT, Hannover, Germany - March 13th 2002 - Symbian today announced that it has developed a content embedding and delivery technology concept project working closely with Sony Ericsson for the P800 smartphone. Called ' Magpie ', the concept embeds content into common phone applications according to context, allowing service providers to deliver small amounts of targeted information directly into a phone's user interface via commonly used applications such as contacts, calendar, messaging or voice. The project has been lent support by Logica.

"In the mobile phone world, delivering the right information at the right time is key to the success of advanced data services on mobile phones," said Simon Garth, General Manager of Symbian's Cambridge office. "Users do not have the time or patience to do extensive searches for information as they would in a PC-centric wired environment. Magpie enables content providers and operators to deliver discreet contextual information services that add real value for mobile phone users."

"Sony Ericsson is working with partners to develop compelling and exciting multimedia content and services for its new smartphones" said Anil Raj, Corporate Executive Vice President of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications. "This concept from Symbian, demonstrated on the P800, offers an original and intuitive way of delivering contextual content to mobile phone users."

"Logica's world leading role in mobile messaging puts us in a unique position regarding the future of messaging." stated Gerry McKenna, CEO of Logica Mobile Networks. "We believe that integrating services and content through rich multimedia solutions will significantly enhance the end-user experience and increase revenue for operators."

Symbian's Magpie technology shows how 'smart' wireless web services can be delivered to the Sony Ericsson P800 smartphone. For example, a Magpie-enabled calendar application would enable a wealth of time- and date-based services such as sports events, travel booking schedules, and TV and film schedules to be delivered in the context of the user's agenda. This information can then be dynamically updated as scores, dates, prices and times change.

Magpie offers network operators the opportunity to increase average revenue per user by partnering with content providers to "push" targeted information to individual users. Similarly the content providers are offered with a new and efficient platform for the delivery of billable content. At the same time, the consumer is provided with a greatly enhanced user experience through the timely delivery of personalised and customisable information.

The Symbian Magpie concept will be demonstrated on the Sony Ericsson stand at CeBIT, Hannover - Hall 26, Stands D40 to D60. The latest Symbian OS technology, phones, services and applications will also be demonstrated at Symbian's forthcoming Developer Expo to be held in London on 23/24 April 2002.  Symbian DevExpo 2002

About Symbian

Symbian is a software licensing company, owned by wireless industry leaders, that is the trusted supplier of the advanced, open, standard operating system for data-enabled mobile phones. Symbian's mission is to create a mass-market for Symbian OS mobile phones by enabling its licensees to build winning products. Symbian's website can be found at  Symbian

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