IBM to Develop Mobile Phone Services

IBM said the company has planned to allocate investment of US$100 million for developing mobile phone services, after being synonymous for a long time with the personal computer, and hopes to become equally influential in mobile computing.

The company provided few specifics about its research goals but said it broadly hopes to improve mobile payment methods, security, privacy and user interfaces and, chiefly, to enhance the ability of corporations to use mobile devices to interact with customers and employees.

In developing such a fund, IBM is tagging behind venture capitalists, mobile phone manufacturers and carriers that have created big pools of research and investment money for the mobile space. The growth of more advanced phones that give consumers easier access to the Internet has spurred their interest, as has corporations’ hopes of turning mobile gadgets into platforms for content delivery and commerce.

In a press release, IBM picked up on the trend that the personal computer was no longer the center of the action. Mobile devices are gradually becoming ubiquitous and helping us transcend many boundaries – geographical, economic, and social, among others, the company said.

IBM said it hopes its research will serve “the millions of people who have bypassed using the personal computer as their primary method of accessing the Internet and instead use their mobile devices for managing large forces of enterprise field workers, conducting financial transactions, entertainment, shopping and more.”