Ericsson to Test Interoperable IM

Since reporters love to compare technologies so much and ask "who will win?", I imagine that they'll eventually have a field day wondering if Ericsson's new phone-based instant messaging system will compete with standard SMS messaging, though they are somewhat different. The instant messaging offering lets people communicate beyond just another phone, and adds in the "presence" option showing if the person is available or not. There are plenty of possibilities for such things - such as setting phone calls to go directly to voicemail if the person is not "available". Interestingly, Ericsson plans to offer the service regardless of which carrier you use. As carriers want increasing control over the user experience, they may not appreciate such moves. Update: Not to be left behind Nokia announced plans to license technology from OZ Communications for their own presence solution.