[May 25, 2005]

Nokia 770 to Support SIP-complaint VoIP

BY ROBERT LIU

NEW YORK -- Nokia’s new 770 Internet Tablet, which is providing the only bit of buzz on the LinuxWorldSummit, is designed with VoIP capabilities, thanks largely to the combined efforts of fellow countrymen of the Finnish handset maker.

The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet, which connects to the Internet via WiFi or using Bluetooth with a compatible mobile phone, is built upon the DeviceLinux.org software applications platform, a license-free set of developer tools. Using this software environment, Helsinki-based Movial Corp. developed VoIP Connect – a third-party, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-compliant application designed to run on the 770’s Linux environment.

But even though Skype also offers a Linux-based download for the desktop, Movial’s CEO doesn’t view the popular peer-to-peer (P2P) application as a competitor to his own product because his revenue stream is based on OEM agreements with handset makers and operators.

“For the operators, it’s a lot better to rely on SIP than on peer-to-peer,” Jari Ala-Ruona, Movial’s CEO, explained to TMCnet.

According to Ala-Ruona, VoIP Connect supports both iterations of SIP: IETF and IMS. While the IETF’s model for SIP is more widely used as the industry standard, cellular operators have adopted an infrastructure that uses IMS in order to better control access and usage of their closed networks.

The PC client is available immediately. VoIP Connect for the Nokia 770 will be available this summer. The product was never announced because Movial didn’t want to pre-empt Nokia’s launch of the 770.

Additional features of the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet include an Internet Radio, RSS News reader, Image viewer and Media players for selected types of media. The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet is planned to start shipping in the third quarter of 2005 in selected countries in the Americas and Europe.

Robert Liu is executive editor at TMCnet.  Previously, he was executive editor at Jupitermedia and has also written for CNN, A&E, Dow Jones and Bloomberg.  He can be reached at [email protected].