Seven offers push e-mail on Java phones

Seven Networks hopes to target a wider market by delivering support for Java phones, starting with three devices from Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications.

Two Sony Ericsson Walkman phones and the Sony Ericsson K510 camera phone can now support Seven’s Always-On push e-mail offering, Seven said on Tuesday.

The Always-On service pushes e-mail from online services including AOL Mail, EarthLink, Gmail, MSN Hotmail and Yahoo Mail to subscribers’ phones. Any changes users make to their e-mail accounts from the phones are synched with the e-mail server. Always-On already works on certain handsets running J2ME and BREW software as well as higher-end devices from Palm and those running Symbian and Windows Mobile software.

Java phones from other vendors will also support the Seven software in the future, Seven said.

In the past, push e-mail services have been largely targeted at executives, but increasingly companies like Seven are trying to reach the mass market. Offering the software on Java phones, which tend to be lower-end devices compared to the smartphones running Symbian or Windows Mobile software, will help open up the market to more users, Seven said.

In order to use Seven’s push e-mail customers must have a capable phone. The service is often offered as a self-branded application from operators. If a customer wants the service and their operator doesn’t offer it, Seven will host it for them.

Seven also offers push e-mail products for enterprises.

Seven competes with a handful of other push e-mail providers, including Visto, Good Technology, and Research In Motion. It also competes with Windows Mobile, which supports push e-mail when combined with a back-end Exchange server.