Seven partners with Smartner

A U.S. mobile e-mail company, Seven, has acquired its Finnish rival, Smartner, in an effort to create a larger competitor to Research In Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry, currently the company to beat in the mobile e-mail market.

A number of companies, including Intellisync, Visto, and Good Technology, have all attempted to take a lead on mobile e-mail services.

However, analysts see each as too small, and that they will have to consolidate into larger entities if they wish to successfully challenge RIM or Microsoft, which is expected to enter the mobile e-mail market.

The chief executive at Seven has said that the merger between Seven and Smartner makes sense because it will give the combined company more world-wide coverage than either of them had singly.

The mobile e-mail market is still very much in its early stages, but it is estimated that by the end of 2008 somewhere around 80 percent of people who use e-mail will access it by mobile phones.

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