The Magneto Mystery

The Magneto Mystery
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Opinion: Will Microsoft preview "Magneto," a handheld e-mail system poised to compete with RIM's BlackBerry, at CTIA? Don't bet on it.The word on the street is that Microsoft will leak a rather low-key public beta test of its "Magneto" wireless e-mail product at CTIA next week—or maybe not until June.

Im trying very hard to make sense of Microsofts failure to release it at Cannes 3GSM last month.

Here are the excuses people have given so far:

1) Its not ready.

Yeah, right, thats really going to bother Microsoft.

Resource Library:

2) It includes such good wireless e-mail that it will kill RIM.

This is superficially silly. I mean, Microsoft is competing with RIM, so why would it weep if RIM died ... and anyway, why would it kill RIM? Fantasy!

But then, a few thoughts came trotting by. First, Microsoft is still in the final stages of negotiating an anticompetitive solution with the European community. Trampling a small competitor into the dust should really, if one is being tactful, wait till the officials are out of the door first.

Click here to read about Europes controversial patent law.

Rumors of a wait till September for final rollout wouldnt conflict with such a problem. So were left asking, "Would it really kill RIM?"

That should be an easy question to answer. All we need to know is "What is Magneto, anyway?" and unfortunately we dont.

And thats where it gets interesting. Why dont we? Normally, by the time Microsoft has gotten a beta test program to the point of expected release, its not a secret. But this one is —apparently a deadly one!

Have a quick look at this forum on the NeoWin Web site and tell me if youve ever seen anything like it. "Microsoft have [sic] asked us to remove the story and screenshots," it says. "If you have come to this news story to find more about Magneto then we apologise. Look forward to Windows Mobile Code-name Magneto RTM later in the year."

As I reported in my pre-Cannes story about Magneto, this is not only very, very unusual for Microsoft, but its also completely stupid. By the time they got the muffler on NeoWin, it was too late. The news was echoing around the Web. But clearly, someone inside Microsoft felt that it was really, really important that it be suppressed ... why?

We do know that Microsoft has licensed ActiveSync to other phone makers. Nothing helpful. The rivals are on their own developing software to use it, but at least its a done deal; they can. So that makes it easier for Symbian phone users to retrieve e-mail through their PCs. But heck, thats not going to kill RIM! So one theory or the other is wrong. Or, perhaps, both.

Next Page: What else do we know about Magneto?

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