Kurt Shintaku's Blog

The Messaging and Security Feature Pack for the Motorola Q with Verizon Wireless is now available!   

This is pretty cool.  The MSFP Update is a ROM update for the Motorola Q that enables a number of key technologies including:

– "Direct Push" – This basically enables the "immediate delivery of email" functionality that people are used to having on Blackberries with some key architectural differences.  The user experience is very similar to a Blackberry in that email arrives on a person’s device almost immediately after it arrives on the user’s Exchange Server.  The difference between the MotoQ’s direct push and a Blackberry is that it  can immediately delivery attachments for reading on the device, it doesn’t require any annual payments for "RIM Blackberry services", and it doesn’t require that email be processed through a RIM datacenter.  Unlike Blackberry which has your email sent to a RIM datacenter then transmitted to your device, under Windows Mobile MSFP, email flows straight from the Exchange Server to the device.

– "Certificate Authentication" – Another feature of Blackberries, this enables an IT department to only allow the usage of authorized mobile devices into their messaging infrastructure.  A certificate must be installed on the device in order for the backend messaging servers to recognize and work with it.  This ensures that rogue, insecure, and otherwise uncontrolled devices do not interact with the messaging infrastructure.

– "Remote Kill" – Often times, IT wants to send a "special message" to a device to have it "wipe it’s memory" in the event the device is lost or stolen.  MSFP’s administrator tools make this possible and the new device update will recognize this.

For installation files and instructions, please see: http://direct.motorola.com/hellomoto/motosupport/source/SoftwareUpdateSummary.asp?country=&language=&web_page_name=SUPPORT&strCarrierId=Verizon&strPhone=Q&strCable=Mini%20USB%20Data%20Cable