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Not content to stick with one e-mail solution for its upcoming flagship handsets, the 9500 and 9300 communicators, Nokia today announced a deal with Smartner to provide that company's Duality Always-On Mail product with the new smartphones.

The new Nokia devices—built on the mobile phone giant's Series 80 interface and Symbian operating system—will embed Smartner's device independent push e-mail solution. Duality Always-On Mail offers individuals access to multiple existing business or personal accounts. For corporations, Duality integrates with Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes for wireless access to e-mail, calendar and contacts.

Smartner joins Research In Motion as 9500 (see top image) and 9300 e-mail providers. With integrated BlackBerry clients, individuals and small businesses can use the communicators to access the BlackBerry Internet Service for business or personal e-mail. Large organizations can leverage BlackBerry Enterprise Server for Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Domino synchronization to the new smartphones. RIM plans to add GroupWise support—previewed back in September at Novell's BrainShare Europe Conference—later this year.

By integrating multiple e-mail solutions with the new communicators, Nokia asserts it makes its products more attractive to consumers. The company's Senior VP of Mobile Devices, Niklas Savander, said, “We acknowledge the market demand for push e-mail and by including the Smartner solution in our offering, we are strengthening our position towards becoming the mobile device of choice for e-mail."


9300

Nokia's partnership with Smartner extends a previous agreement to provide push-based e-mail for Series 60—another Symbian interface from Nokia—handsets, the most popular smartphone platform in the world.

Nokia 9500 & 9300 Communicators
The two new communicators, due later this year, are the descendents of one of the first smartphones lines, 9200, launched by Nokia back in the late nineties. Both handsets feature Wi-Fi in addition to cellular communications and a QWERTY keyboard. They look like mini-laptops.

As a little sister of sorts to the 9500 communicator, the 9300 will measure 5.2 x 2.0 x 0.83 inches and weigh only 5.9 ounces, about average for a smartphone, but extremely light for a Nokia Communicator. By contrast, the 9500 weighs in at a hefty 7.83 ounces and sports dimensions of 5.8 x 2.24 x 0.9 inches.

For more on the 9300, see Nokia’s Smaller, Lighter Communicator.

For more on the 9500, see Nokia Adds Wi-Fi to Communicator Series.