HANNOVER, Germany-From the CeBIT ’99 show in Germany, L.M. Ericsson made several
announcements.
Ericsson unveiled the R380 dual-band mobile phone with built-in personal digital assistant
functionality including address book, calendar, voice note recorder and notepad. It also features hand writing
recognition, voice dialing and voice answering. The R380, which Ericsson said will be available in volume in early
2000, is based on the EPOC operating system and supports the Wireless Application Protocol.
Ericsson introduced
the A1018 mobile phone. It comes in five different colors and has numerous colored front panels that can be changed
according to personal preference. The different colors include grey, khaki, plum, blue, red, olive green, lime green,
orange, brown and white. The A1018 handles data, fax, short messaging service and is compatible with Ericsson
Mobile Office equipment.
Ericsson displayed the T18 dual-band mobile phone, a classic Ericsson-looking phone
with new features including voice dialing, voice answering, active flip and vibrating alert. It comes in three different
colors-grey, blue and red-and should be available in volume in the second quarter, said Ericsson.
Ericsson signed a
contract with U.K.-operator One 2 One for the supply of a General Packet Radio Services system including the Internet
protocol-based core network infrastructure, packet switching products and upgrades of the existing radio products.
GPRS will enable One 2 One to provide wireless datacom services at speeds up to 115 kilobits per second. The services
will be available to One 2 One in 2000.
Ericsson demonstrated its Edge technology, designed for migration into
existing Global System for Mobile communications and Time Division Multiple Access networks, enabling operators
to offer multimedia and other Internet protocol-based services at third-generation speeds up to 384 kilobits per second
in wide area networks. Edge enables services like multimedia e-mailing, Web infotainment and video conferencing to
be accessible from wireless terminals. Ericsson said the Edge standard for GSM and TDMA is expected to be set late
this year and commercial introduction could start in less than two years.
