A new joint project created by Ericsson, Motorola, and Nokia hopes to make mobile instant messaging and presence services work across devices and networks. Called the Wireless Village initiative, the joint project was announced by the Big Three of mobile handsets on Thursday. Wireless Village was established to define and promote a set of universal specifications for mobile instant messaging services. The technology will allow users to send instant messages and subscribe to additional services on various devices, such as cell phones, pagers, and Personal Digital Assistants, the companies said in a joint statement.
Millions already use instant messaging services on PCs connected to the Web.
The Wireless Village initiative, chaired by Nokia's Director of Messaging Frank Dawson, intends to deliver architectural, protocol, and test specifications and tools for instant messaging and presence services by the end of this year. The initiative is open to participation from the industry. We hope to grow a community that represents wireless and fixed players. America Online , today's instant messaging market leader with ICQ and AIM, has been invited, Dawson adds. AOL, Yahoo, and MSN offer instant messaging services on wireless pagers, phones and PDAs.