The Wireless Village industry initiative, which has successfully consolidated into the Open Mobile Alliance, said several of its member companies have successfully tested interoperability of enhanced features in version 1.1 of the group's specifications.

The Wireless Village initiative was founded to define and promote a set of universal specifications for mobile instant messaging and presence services (IMPS). The new set of specifications are to ensure interoperability of mobile instant messaging and presence -- the ability to tell if another user is online, and giving that user the ability to "announce" their electronic existence to authorized recipients.

The most recent round of testing, completed at the end of last month, focused on four primary features: presence, instant messaging, groups and shared content. The newest feature tested was the Group Management service element. Group or "chat" functionality lets both operators and end-users create and manage groups. Users can invite their friends and family to chat simultaneously in group discussions, while operators can build common interest groups where end-users in the mobile domain can meet each other online.

Specifically tested were login/logout, adding and deleting names from contact lists, confirming presence is properly indicated, sending and receiving messages and other group-related functions.

The interoperability testing was conducted between various mobile device clients and servers developed by several Wireless Village supporters. Participant companies included Comverse, Critical Path, Ecrio, Ericsson AB, Followap, Logica, magic4, MessageVine, Motorola, Nokia, Openwave, OZ Communications Inc., Peramon, Siemens, Sony Ericsson Communications AB, Webmessenger and Wiral Ltd. This represents a significant increase in the number of participant companies as compared to the last testing event, officials said. The successful testing focused on required features like login/logout, adding and deleting names from contact lists, confirming presence is indicated properly, sending and receiving messages and group related functions.