Mobile device software management vendor Mformation Technologies is taking its product portfolio beyond traditional cellular mobile devices into the emerging mobile WiMAX space with plans to provide “seamless all-IP device management and remote activation capabilities.”
With the expanded Mformation software mobile service providers can remotely activate, configure, diagnose, update, secure and manage WiMAX-capable devices through all phases of their lifecycle, the company said.
“Mobile device management (MDM) is a critical capability to manage devices over cellular (and) the service providers and device and terminal OEMs want to support seamless service provisioning over WiMAX and you need mobile device management to support that,” said Rob Dalgety, marketing director-information technologies for Mformation.
While many of the system needs are parallel between cellular technologies liked CDMA and GSM, “underneath the bonnet a range of things are different,” said Dalgety. Primarily WiMAX is IP-based so “there’s quite a different underlying or vindication authorization and detection process underneath the WiMAX service layer,” he continued.
There’s also a difference in the types of devices that will be managed, although that should change as mobile WiMAX moves more thoroughly into the marketplace.
“In the short term we would expect devices to be modems and laptops and tablets,” he said. “As the road map goes out some of the more traditional mobile devices will drop into that space.”
Of course WiMAX also holds promise as a connector for non- traditional devices like MP3 players or cameras that would be interconnected through the Internet.
One thing won’t be different: the customers.
“We sell to carriers and service providers. The current leaders in North America in mobile WiMAX are our customers,” said Dalgety, adding the general vendor’s refrain, “We hope to have the authority and approval to announce the key people in North America we’re working with.”
Until then, he said, he could only describe the Mformation customer base as “the guys who are leading and shaping this space and they’re going to be using our service managed devices.”