Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on the sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
As phone-based navigation emerges …
LIBERTYVILLE, Ill.-Motorola Inc. has teamed with Avis Rent A Car System Inc. to make the Avis Assist phone-based navigation system available in up to 50 cities in the United States and Canada. Through the program, which is based on Motorola’s VIAMOTO software, Avis customers pay $10 per day to rent a Motorola phone with a location-based navigation service that offers spoken step-by-step directions to destinations … Read more
… so do concerns about driver distristraction
Driver distraction has become an increasing debate among lawmakers, with Congress likely to consider legislation soon that would ban the use of handheld cell phones while driving-nationwide. Such legislation would put a damper on the futuristic plans of the automotive and cellular industries to put high-tech, consumer friendly electronics in the car. The cell phone has already fallen prey to similar laws in New York and other municipalities around the United States where talking on a phone, without the aid of a hands-free device, while driving is illegal. Recognizing the potential distractions cell phones pose to drivers, Cingular Wireless L.L.C. has enacted its Be Sensible safety campaign to promote safe wireless phone use while driving. Cingular’s program includes a teen driver education platform and an initiative geared toward educating adults on safe driving … Read more
Grappling with the digital TV transition
WASHINGTON-Legislation has been introduced with the goal of speeding the transition to digital television, which in turn should make spectrum in the attractive 700 MHz band available more quickly. “Our legislation breaks the logjam between the three industries and is vital for the transition to bring DTV to consumers,” said Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.). One of the three industries, TV manufacturers represented by the Consumer Electronics Association, has indicated its support for the bill. The bill gives the Federal Communications Commission 30 days to accept an agreement between CEA and the cable industry that would eliminate set-top boxes for digital content. Boxes would still be necessary for services such as video on demand … Read more
Whoa, 12 MB of phone memory was “advanced”
In the early days of wireless, users could expect their phones to store, perhaps, 100 names and phone numbers. Today, users in some cases can expect their phones to hold an entire half-hour TV show, complete with audio and video. Such advances in storage create significant new opportunities in wireless. Imagine: A “Simpsons” fan could buy the entire first season of the TV show on quarter-sized cards, which could then be slipped into a phone’s memory card slot for viewing. Or an MP3 buff could download a few hundred songs onto a storage card and listen to them later using a mobile phone. “It’s going to be one of the bigger opportunities for cell phones in the next five years,” said Mario Morales, vice president of semiconductors for research firm IDC … Read more
So storing up to 128 low-res images was a kind of a big deal
Sprint PCS launched Samsung Telecommunications America’s SPH-A600 camera-enabled handset featuring a rotating screen that allows the color display to swivel 180 degrees and face outward to serve as an external display. The $350 handset’s camera functions include a 4X zoom, built-in flash, self-timer and adjustable resolution settings. The phone can store up to 128 low-resolution images. The handset also marks the 20 millionth CDMA handset shipment between Samsung and Sprint PCS since the companies began working together in 1997 … Read more
That $4 billion ring-tone market, though
LONDON-The worldwide ring-tone market totals an astounding $4 billion, a number that will likely draw music companies like BMG, Sony Music, EMI, Warner Chappell and Universal into the wireless market, according to new research from consulting company Strategy Analytics. The firm said the ring-tone market is set for consolidation, as major record companies will move to strengthen their position and monophonic ring tones evolve into more advanced technologies … Read more
Mobile e-mail is gonna be huge in Europe
CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom-Mobile e-mail will drive the growth of mobile data services for Western European businesses during the next five years, according to advisory firm Analysys. Analysys predicts 40 percent of people in Western Europe with business mobile phones will use mobile e-mail in 2008, compared with less than 1 percent today. In addition, revenue generated by mobile e-mail will increase from $55.7 million in 2003 to $3.3 billion in 2008 … Read more
Sprint affiliate Horizon PCS struggles
Sprint PCS affiliate Horizon PCS said it plans to cut 293 jobs or nearly three-fifths of its work force and close 19 of its 41 retail stores in an attempt to improve its balance sheet, which the company said is being skewed by its relationship with Sprint PCS. Bill McKell, Horizon PCS president and chief executive officer, said during a press conference this week that the carrier regrets the layoffs, and if the company cannot reach a deal with Sprint PCS, it could be forced to file for bankruptcy protection. McKell added that Horizon currently pays close to 50 percent of its total revenues to Sprint PCS, which is well above the 30 percent the carrier had originally planned to pay when it became an affiliate in 1998 … Read more
Check out the RCR Wireless News’ Archives for more stories from the past.
