Mail for Exchange, for those of you who have never heard of it, is what many business rely on to provide their employees with an integrated email, calendar, and contact solution. It’s something that’s been exclusive to smartphones for a while now, but Nokia’s looking to change that by introducing Mail for Exchange for their Series 40 devices. It does everything a corporate drone would expect it do, as you can see from the video below, but we’ve got to wonder if it’s a bit too late for this to make any difference? We’re in a world where you can buy a low end Android device for less than $100. It’ll be a terrible piece of garbage, but it’s a smartphone. Spend double that amount and you’ll have something that’s respectable. Triple that and you’re looking at a dev9ce that many of us at IntoMobile wouldn’t feel ashamed to be seen using. And as for the whole Mail for Exchange thing, again, we’re in a world where you can get a similar service from Google for far less money. Microsoft is looking to combat this with Office 365, and businesses are excited, but Google is the leader in terms of cloud services.
Had Nokia introduced Mail for Exchange for dumbphones back when you couldn’t get a smartphone for less than $300, we would have been hugely impressed. And we don’t want to belittle their software developers, but … let’s be serious. Also, don’t forget about RIM, which offers people unlimited messaging for a low monthly price on devices that go for practically nothing since they’re made for the emerging markets. It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise then to see that Nokia isn’t doing so well. They’re no longer the leader in smartphones, they’re no longer the leader in terms of volume, and they haven’t had a profitable quarter for a while now.
Will Mail for Exchange for dumbphones fix any of those problems? Not really.
[Via: Unwired View]