October 31, 2001
Tests will be performed to ensure the Multimedia Messaging Services equipment from different manufacturers work seamlessly together.
Nokia and Sony Ericsson have agreed on testing the interoperability of MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) features and applications. Within the framework of this collaboration, Swedish AU-System will develop a suite of test tools according to the Nokia and Sony Ericsson MMS Conformance Paper developed based on the activities of the respective companies in the 3GPP and WAP Forum consortia. The MMS interoperability tests are scheduled to begin early next year.
The key reason behind this initiative is to help the various manufacturers active on the markets to ensure that their MMS features and applications are compatible, and thus enable the fast introduction of MMS-technology to the marketplace. The test tools create the possibility of interoperability testing of the MMS standard, which has been specified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and the WAP Forum.
The tests will be performed according to the MMS Conformance document, which sets the requirements for interoperability between different MMS terminals and servers. An updated edition is currently being finalised by Sony Ericsson and Nokia and will be released publicly in a near future.
"We have taken this initiative together in order to provide the market with a consistent and well functioning technology already from the very start early next year," says Jan Svensson, vice president at Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications.
"Nokia shares the industry view that MMS will follow the massive success of SMS and become a mass-market service, starting off no later than next year. Interoperability is a natural part of our processes, and we are committed to take the necessary measures to enable smooth adoption among consumers of this evolutionary technology," said Janne Jormalainen, Vice President, Product Marketing, Nokia Mobile Phones.
"In our previous assignments, where we have specified parts of the WAP and Bluetoothtm standards, we have seen the importance of a common interpretation for the market acceptance of a new technology," says Christer Bjork, Business Area Manager at AU-System.
MMS is an evolution of SMS, Short Message Service. In addition to text, MMS can transmit messages containing graphics, photographic images, audio and even video clips between mobile devices using Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) as bearer technology and powered by the high- speed transmission technologies GPRS (General Packet Radio System) and UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System). Today's SMS messaging service handles billions of character-based messages per month worldwide. MMS-enabled phones will allow users to easily create and edit the content of their multimedia messages. By using a built-in or attached camera, for example, users can produce digital postcards and send them to friends or associates. MMS is an open standard approved by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and WAP Forum of which, Nokia and Sony Ericsson are members.
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