INQ said it has been working closely with Twitter to develop an app for its 3G handsets so users will have an always-on connection to Twitter and Facebook after the initial log-in. The fledgling handset maker noted that this will let users tweet and re-tweet over the Internet instead of using SMS.

Still, Gartner Research Director Carolina Milanesi doesn't "see this as cannibalizing SMS," which is "totally different usage." She also noted that INQ currently sells its inaugural social-networking device -- the INQ1 -- only to the mobile operator 3 in the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Australia and Hong Kong, "although they have plans to sell to other carriers."

Seamless Media Syncs

Slated for release overseas in the fourth quarter and heading to the U.S. next year, the new INQ Chat 3G and INQ Mini 3G handsets will employ a specially designed widget to receive Twitter updates directly on the devices' home screens. Both models also are designed to receive application upgrades over the air, as well as seamlessly sync with the multimedia content on a notebook or desktop PC.

Improving upon the INQ1, the Chat 3G sports a QWERTY-style keypad, together with a new e-mail client that incorporates free push Gmail. "With the INQ1, we were blown away by how much consumers were writing just using the standard 12 keys -- 30 percent of them were regularly sending e-mails," noted INQ Mobile CEO Frank Meehan.

By contrast, INQ's compact Mini 3G has been designed to serve as an entry-level social mobile device targeted at the price-sensitive prepay market. Among other things, it delivers Twitter, Facebook, IM and Skype communications capabilities as well as access to Web-based e-mail services from Hotmail, Yahoo and Google.

Software firms such as Twittermobile currently offer apps for converting selected handset models from Nokia and Sony Ericsson into full-fledged Twitter platforms. But INQ Mobile says its integrated design approach is superior to simply downloading additional software onto existing devices.

Embedded Benefits

The deep embedding of social-networking capabilities within the underlying software for INQ's devices delivers more benefits, including native messaging and an address book that consolidates phone contacts with those from other relevant apps, the company said.

"This allows INQ to remove many of the cumbersome steps that have made using these services on ordinary mobiles frustrating or time-consuming," the handset maker said. INQ also stresses that key social-networking applications "are 'always on' and accessible with one click from the home screen."

Though INQ Mobile's new Twitter-enabled handsets are squarely aimed at consumers, businesses also need to be aware of how the technology might be used in the enterprise space, both now and with the launch of mobile devices featuring similar capabilities.

"Given that Twitter is a public forum, employees should understand the limits of what is acceptable and desirable," noted Gartner Research Vice President Jeffrey Mann.

He said it's a good practice to remind employees that policies already in place apply to this new communication forum. "If organizations have not defined a public Web-participation policy, they should do so as quickly as possible," Mann advised.