A subsidiary of Brightpoint Inc., Brightpoint (Asia Pacific) Pte. Ltd., has completed the sale of its 67-percent interest in a Hong Kong-based accessory company. According to Brightpoint, the sale was part of the company’s restructuring plan announced on June 30, 1999.
Focus Affiliates Inc. said it completed its acquisition of Source-Wireless.com, a Dallas-based Internet company operating business-to-business online auctions of wireless products.
Lucent Technologies Inc. announced the availability of its new WaveAccess high-speed, point-to-multipoint outdoor wireless networking systems for large corporate campuses. WaveAccess establishes wireless links between buildings, using the unlicensed 2.4 GHz frequency band. It provides a range up to 10 miles with various levels of security encryption, Lucent said.
A new report from IGI Consulting predicts smart phones and personal digital assistants soon will dominate the wireless Internet market. The report, “Wireless Web Wonders,” predicts an 88-percent increase in the number of smart phones produced between 2002 and 2003, jumping from 175 million to 330 million units. The report also predicts PDA sales will increase 118 percent from 16 million in 2002 to 35 million the following year, with 33 percent of the estimated 1 billion cellular subscribers using smart phones to conduct e-commerce, access the Internet via mobile portals, run server-assisted applications and take advantage of location-based content and services. The report also analyzes the fight for control of the operating system market between Microsoft Corp. and Palm Computing Inc., with Palm remaining the market leader but Microsoft’s Windows CE dominating certain vertical markets.
Paging Network Inc. finished converting customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin and the San Diego area to its Centers of Excellence infrastructure. The latest additions are the last for PageNet, which has decided to suspend further COE conversions until its merger with Arch Communications Group Inc. is completed. That is expected to take place sometime this year.
