NeoMedia Technologies, Inc (NEOM)

[ss9173]

S_R_M, *****5 Star Post***** Ever since Motorola acquired Symbol they have been on my watch list for all the reasons you mentioned. I became especially intrigued when I found the Airclic and Symbol relationship from 2000 as you pointed out.

Here is my previous post on that relationship: http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=13456171&txt2find=airclic

In addition, below are a couple of other interesting articles, which mention how Motorola and Symbol may work together in the future.

http://mobileenterprise.typepad.com/weblog/2006/09/motorolasymbol_.html

Motorola/Symbol: It's About The Channel

Motorola's acquisition of Symbol Technologies is a smart move for a company that has been working hard to figure out a way into the enterprise mobility market. It's a concession to the most basic fact that there's more to the enterprise than smartphones and consumer cross-over.

Today, only about 2% of the mobile workforce has mobile computing capabilities. What about the remaining 98%? Clearly they're not the "power users" that have made BlackBerry a household name.

And then there's this company called Symbol Technologies that sells barcode scanners, wireless infrastructure, RFID and ruggedized handhelds. Walk into just about any retail store in the U.S. and take a look around. You'll see Symbol devices everywhere.

Now retail is just one market category. And research firm IDC has identified some 800 million mobile workers around the globe. So there are plenty of opportunities.

Over the past several years, the enterprise mobility industry has learned one hard lesson after another. The most important of which is that wireless operators are one channel to market for mobile enterprise solutions. The other distribution approach is the three-tier model so common in IT solutions. Symbol has worked hard to develop three-tier distribution, and that's a major acquisition for Motorola.

At a product level, Motorola gets a competitive line of ready-for-the-enterprise handheld devices, some of which are ruggedized. All of these devices are designed for verticalized business applications and not as consumer products. Also in the toolbox is enterprise-class wireless infrastructure that makes Motorola competitive with the likes of Cisco on the WLAN side of the business. Throw in some barcode scanners, RFID equipment and a few other pieces, and Motorola will be the first vendor to have mobile enterprise solutions for everything from the shop floor to the checkout counter and all the way to the executive boardroom.

From an IT management perspective, this complete product suite will be available through more traditional IT channels and will be manageable from a single enterprise mobility platform.



http://www.zdnetindia.com/news/communication/stories/163445.html

Extracts from above link:

That humble mobile phone could soon become an indispensable tool for a range of business applications, thanks to a new wireless technology. Near-field communication (NFC), the short-range wireless standard based on having a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip embedded in the handset, is being tested extensively in many countries.

In Japan, for example, the technology has been successfully employed by wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo to allow customers to use their cell phone as a mobile wallet.

US-based Motorola signaled its intentions for the mobile market after the company's acquisition of Symbol Technologies in September. Though it has yet to announce any detailed plans, according to a Motorola spokesperson, the company regards NFC as an "extremely powerful proposition and are actively investigating the area."

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Again, thanks for your detailed DD on this subject. You've done a great job researching all these possible connections. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Your theory on Motorola's interest in Neomedia certainly seems plausible IMO.

Regards,
ss9173