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Subscribers today often value the data residing on their phone - contact details,SMS messages and calendar entries - higher than the device itself, so a technologythat ensures the return of lost data is becoming increasingly invaluable.
Already in 2004, the research group Zelos found that 15-20 percent of mobilesubscribers expressed a strong need for a mechanism to back up data with 66 percentranking contact data as the top priority - a service that consumers were willing topay for up to  3 per month. The need has probably increased by now, since consumerstoday rely more and more on their mobile devices as the primary repository for vitalcontact information.
"Mobile operators are always looking for new revenue streams - OTA backup andrestore service may be the first mobile data application beyond SMS which will besuccessful in the mass market", said Synchronica CEO Carsten Brinkschulte. "For manyconsumers, the mobile phone has become their main communication method and theyoften use only the phone's address book to store phone numbers. If they lose theirphone, they lose contact to their social network. Think of our Mobile Manager Backupand Restore as an insurance policy for your personal data."
As well as providing a safety net for consumers who lose their phones, a backup andrestore service also makes upgrading to a new phone easier. Customers can use thebackup and restore facility to transfer their personal information over the air totheir new phone.
One of the first customers using Synchronica's backup and restore solution is themobile operator NetCom with 1.4 million subscribers, a wholly-owned subsidiary ofthe TeliaSonera Group that has more than 22 million subscribers in the Nordic andBaltic region.
"We wanted to be able to offer our customers an OTA backup and restore facility fortheir personal data which would mean that a change of phone - either due to loss orupgrading - would not mean losing all important information", said Arne Igesund,Manager of Data Services at NetCom. "With the Synchronica solution we can provideour customers with seamless data migration from one device to another, quickly andeasily. We also liked the fact that Synchronica's software is based on the SyncMLopen standard, meaning it works on a wide range of devices."
Synchronica's Mobile Manager backup and restore module is based entirely on thedominant SyncML / OMA DS industry standard supported by the majority of featurephones and smartphones from all leading vendors. Unlike other solutions, it does notrequire a client to be installed on the device, but instead uses the built-in SyncMLclient of the device. Since it does not require an additional client, it works withmass market feature phones - a clear requirement for a successful productintroduction in the consumer market.
The solution includes built-in connectors to carrier-grade Personal InformationManagement (PIM) systems such as Sun Java Enterprise System providing a webinterface for end users to view and edit their data. Alternatively, it can beintegrated with existing address books and PIM systems using its flexible pluginarchitecture.
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About Synchronica
Synchronica plc develops and markets synchronization and device management solutionsfor mobile operators, device manufacturers and enterprises. Its product portfolioranges from data synchronization (DS) to device management (DM) and firmware updateover the air (FOTA). The company has deployed the world's first live installation ofa device management suite in a carrier-grade environment. Products include themobile device management suite Mobile Manager and the push email and synchronizationsolution Mobile Gateway. Headquartered in the UK with a development center inBerlin, Synchronica plc is a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange(SYNC.LN). More information is available at http://www.synchronica.com
Fo r more information, please contact:
Nicole Meissner, CMOSynchronica plcTel.: +44 1892 552 780Mobile: +44 7977 256 412Fax: +44 1892 552 721nicole.meissner@synchronic a.com
