Philips Consumer Communications introduced its Fizz analog mobile phone at the Consumer Electronics Show. The Fizz phone offers 40 hours of standby time and 220 minutes of talk time with the extended battery option. It has a 26-character, three-line display, a notebook to store 50 names and numbers, shortcut access to each menu function and instant redial of the last 10 numbers called. It also features timers for both incoming and outgoing calls, call restrictions and keypad lock. (972) 432-1300.
Nokia Mobile Phones premiered the Nokia 1611, a digital handset with a solar battery option. The phone will be available in Global System for Mobile communications markets in Europe at the end of this month, and solar batteries will be available in volumes in April. Nokia said the 1611 provides nine days of standby time and seven hours of talk time with the extended battery. It said talk time with a standard battery is up to three-and-a-half hours and standby time is up to 110 hours. The 1611 can be charged with a standard charger or by placing it in a sunny spot. Other features include mobile originated short message send and receive, a new front cover color and a tape recorder icon for voice mail. (972) 257-9267.
Paging Network Inc. announced e-Worx, a wireless e-mail solution that allows customers to forward e-mail messages from their personal computer to their pager. The service will be offered free to PageNet subscribers who carry text pagers, the company said. Using e-Worx, the pager displays the sender’s e-mail address, the subject line of the message and up to 192 characters of the message. A subscriber’s PC also can be programmed only to forward urgent messages from pre-selected senders. PageNet said e-Worx is the second value-added service it has offered free to its customers. In September, PageNet and the Cable News Network teamed to provide PageNet customers with news updates through their pager. (972) 985-4100.
Motorola Inc. launched the StarTac Select series of Global System for Mobile communications 1.9 GHz phones. Motorola said the phones are the company’s first wearable phones for the North American market. Weighing as little as 3.5 ounces, the StarTac Select incorporates a full size subscriber identity module card. The phones come with two removable batteries, including optional extra capacity main and auxiliary batteries, for talk time up to six hours and standby time up to 115 hours. Depending on the model, other features are available including a large graphic display with four lines of text, lithium ion batteries and the VibraCall alert feature that causes the phone to vibrate rather than ring when a call is coming in.
The company also introduced its MicroTac Select 6000 GSM phone. The Select 6000 is a flip phone that weighs 5.4 ounces and has a lithium ion battery. It offers talk time of up to nine hours and standby time of up to five days. The Select 6000 also features a quick access menu and VibraCall. (800) 331-6456.
IFR Systems Inc. introduced its 1900 CSA communications service monitor for personal communications services testing. The 1900 CSA is a stand-alone service monitor that can perform full parametric and protocol testing in the 800 MHz cellular and 1900 MHz PCS frequency bands for Interim Standard 136 Time Division Multiple Access networks. It incorporates full band coverage from 0.5 MHz to 2 GHz. IFR Systems designs and manufactures electronic test instruments for wireless and fiber optic communications, optical fibers, avionics and general test and measurement applications. (310) 277-5162.
NEC America Inc. said it will release its DigitalTalk Interim Standard 136 Time Division Multiple Access cellular phone during the second quarter. The phone is dual-mode and will support both the VSELP and EFRC vocoders. It also features a half-wave retractable antenna and a 10-character, four-line alphanumeric dot matrix display screen. In addition, the DigitalTalk phone has a sleep mode, short message service, authentication, access services, data interface and calling party identification. In digital mode, the phone provides 160 minutes of talk time and 40 hours of standby time. (972) 751-7382.
Vivox USA debuted its Vivox Tape hands-free phone system, which utilizes a car’s cassette player to amplify sound from a cellular phone through the car’s speakers. The system consists of an electronic circuit, a microphone and a speaker enclosed in a satellite unit that plugs into the cigarette lighter. A cassette acts as the interface between the phone and the car radio system, amplifying the signal into stereo sound. The volume and tone can be adjusted using the radio controls. The system needs no installation and can be moved from one car to another. (954) 929-8999.
