Handsets
Philips
Philips introduced several new handsets. The Ozeo GSM dual-band mobile phone offers a new user interface and a large LCD display with five text lines. The carousel icon screen feature simultaneously displays up to five visual icons representing the phone’s functions and features. The handset also has voice operation technology, allowing a number stored in memory to be dialed by speaking the name of the person to be dialed. The company also released the Xenium 989 GSM wireless phone, also with a carousel of icons user interface. The handset is 85 cubic centimeters and weighs 99 grams with a standard 90 mAh battery, which offers standby times of up to 400 hours. Talk times are from three to six hours. Along with voice command capabilities, the unit includes T9 text input software. www.pcc.philips.com
LG InfoComm
LG InfoComm USA unveiled three wireless CDMA handsets, the LG-110, LG-210 and LG-510 Internet-ready device that offer PIM-style functionality and PC Sync capabilities. The LG-110 will be offered in both single- and dual-mode formats and feature one touch 911 dialing, 200 entry phone book memory and the Phone.com UP/WAP 3.1 microbrowser. The LG-210 features voice-activated dialing and a voice recorder, tri-mode capabilities, a Tegic T9 text input and the Phone.com UP/WAP 3.1 microbrowser for Internet access. The LG-510 uses a clamshell-style design with a second external LCD for incoming Caller ID functionality when the phone is in the closed position. In addition to the features of the other phones, the LG-510 also offers a raised key-pad and a user interface navigation key for easy scrolling, three-step escalating vibration call notification and is available in single-, dual-, or tri-mode formats. www.lginfocomm.com.
Sony
Sony launched its first Internet-enabled WAP mobile phone, the CMD-Z5. Due on sale in Europe in May, the CMD-Z5 uses Microsoft’s Mobile Explorer browser software and weighs 82 grams. www.sony.com.
Motorola
Motorola extended its WAP-enabled phone range, and teamed up with content partners to provide personalized brand companion Web sites. The new phones include the Timeport P7389i, a GSM tri-band GPRS phone; the Timeport 7389, a tri-band GSM phone with secure access to the Internet almost anywhere in the world; the Americas Timeport P7389e, the company’s first global e-commerce phone capable of reading two smart cards; the Timeport P1088, an integrated smart phone, personal organizer and messaging solution with Internet access; the TalkAbout T2288, providing Internet access and mobile communications; and the V.2288, with an integrated FM radio aimed at younger phone consumer. To go along with the new Internet-enabled phones, Motorola is developing tailored companion Web sites for each of its core brands with MyTimeport.com the first to be launched. The sites allow users to access stored information, e-mails and Internet sites from content provider such as Amazon.co.uk, Digital Bridges and Sports.com.
www.motorola.com.
Nokia
Nokia Corp. introduced four new mobile phones, including a high-speed data enabled phone with Internet content using WAP. The 6210 is a GSM 900 dual-mode phone that supports High Speed Circuit Switched Data with data speeds of up to 43.2 kbps and WAP. Targeted at mobile professionals, the 6210 is expected to be available during the third quarter. The 9110i Communicator GSM 900 phone is an upgrade of the 9110 and supports WAP as well as Quick Imaging and Find applications as new add-on software. The 9110i includes data communications capabilities, including telefax, Internet, e-mail, wireless imaging, short messages and organizer functions. Nokia expects the 9110i to be ready during the third quarter. The 6250 is designed to meet the requirements for a rugged and durable phone for outdoor use. The 6250 is a GSM 900 dual-mode phone that Nokia claims is water, shock and dustproof and can withstand temporary immersion in water as well as being WAP compliant. The 6250 is expected to be available during the third quarter. And for world travelers, Nokia introduces it 8890 premium phone that is operational where network service is available on five continents and over 120 countries. The dual-mode GSM 900 phone weighs 3.2 ounces and includes voice dialing, predictive text input and picture messaging and comes wrapped in a matte aluminum magnesium cover. Nokia expects the 8890 to be available during the second quarter of this year. www.nokia.com.
Wireless data
Speedwise
Speedwise Ltd., an Israeli-based provider of service-enabling software solutions, unveiled its new flagship product, Speedwise Accellence. Speedwise Accellence enables cellular and personal communications services network operators-independent of radio frequency air interface-to offer wireless Internet browsing to their subscribers who use laptops and handheld personal computers. According to Speedwise, the new software does not interfere with HTML and has a minimal effect on the look and feel of the Web page. Speedwise Accellence also enables significant acceleration without requiring installation of special software on users’ devices. www.speedwise.com
Sonera SmarTrust
Sonera SmarTrust announced a deal with Gemplus to market a GSM Subscriber Identity Module card that will feature digital signature and Public Key encryption. The SIM card is expected to be available during the first half of this year. The service will use Sonera’s secure digital signature and encryption technology that, according to the company, will create acceptance for using wireless devices for serious business transactions such as banking and buying and selling stocks.
Mycom
Mycom International launched its NIMS-PrOptima Wireless Network Portal as a new module in the company’s NIMS-PrOptima suite of products allowing users access to the suite from anywhere at any time. www.mycom-int.com.
Qualcomm
Qualcomm unveiled its Wireless Internet Launchpad suite, enabling a broad range of new terminal products, applications and Internet services, including advanced multimedia, connectivity, position location, user interface, and removable storage functionality. Qualcomm plans to integrate these capabilities into the company’s CDMA chipset and system software solutions for manufacturers designing new classes of enhanced mobile handsets. www.qualcomm.com.
Akumiitti
Akumiitti announced a new category of products for cellular operators. The applications will enable wireless service providers to enlarge and diversify their value-added service offerings. Version 2 of the Entertainment Service Center will eventually support chat, instant messaging, wireless games and other services. The software will support a transition to third-generation services and a large-scale deployment of value-added services in GSM, TDMA and CDMA networks. www.akumiitti.com
Schlumberger
Schlumberger and Entrust Technologies announced they are collaborating to provide a new generation of Wireless Application Protocol Identity Module smart cards developed with Schlumberger with Entrust public-key infrastructure products and services. GSM mobile telecom operators will have a turnkey solution for securing mobile Internet transactions. The client security solution developed by the companies brings digital signature processing in support of nonrepudiation of these transactions. Nonrepudiation is a fundamental requirement of any transaction, said Schlumberger. www.slb.com/smartcards
Network equipment
Ericsson
Ericsson introduced two new technologies to increase GSM network capacity. The RBS 2206 radio base station doubles capacity, and the GSM Capacity Booster, an adaptive antenna solution, allows capacity expansion of up to 250 percent. The products will support third-generation services, said Ericsson. The TBS 2206 is an indoor macro base station with 12 tranceivers inside ea
ch cabinet. It supports an extended range of 120 kilometers and four-branch receiver diversity. The antenna te
chnology reduces interference in critical areas. The GSM Capacity Booster consists of an indoor macro base station and a passive eight-lobe array antenna.
Ericsson also unveiled a complete range of W-CDMA Radio Access Network products including the RBS 3202 macro base station; plug-in WCDMA transceiver unit and remote radio unit; and the TRAM radio and transport network planning tool kit. Ericsson claims the RBS 3202 is the first base station that will cover all network requirements. The W-CDMA transceiver can be installed with remote radio units on existing GSM radio base station sites, enabling operators to rapidly create coverage of 3G services where demand is high. The TRAM suite of software helps plan, design, expand, monitor and fine-tune both radio networks and transport networks. www.ericsson.com.
Nokia
Nokia introduced its Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution technology for GSM and TDMA networks. The technology will offer packet data user rates of up to 473 kilobits per second and will enable global roaming between GSM and TDMA networks, Nokia said. The company’s UltraSite and MetroSite technology upgrades use existing band allocations. www.nokia.com
Siemens
Siemens announced HiPath, an enterprise convergence architecture that allows a carrier’s existing voice and data infrastructures and applications to interoperate globally over all networks using an open standard and distributed architectures. The Internet Protocol technology includes offerings for customer relationship management, Web-based call centers, e-business, collaboration and mobile working. The company said the technology provides interoperability between different applications and networks, enabling scalable solutions to operate over voice and data networks. www.siemens.com
Alcatel
Alcatel released its Evolium BTS platform including GSM, GPRS, EDGE and UMTS in one cabinet. The multistandard radio platform provides other types of transmission interfaces, including microwave and local multipoint distribution service (LMDS). Evolium allows a smooth transition from GPRS to EDGE, with EDGE transmission included in each BTS. Operators can offer data services at 384 kilobits per second, Alcatel said. The product can receive Internet Protocol third-generation (3G) transceivers and can be connected to an IP network delivering GSM and 3G services. www.alcatel.com
LaserBit
LaserBit Communications Corp., a British-American-Hungarian joint venture established by the Hungarian Innovative Technologies Fund, is developing a free-space laser-based voice and data transmission system. The company claims that where a clear line of sight is available, its laser transmission delivers the most effective point-to-point connection between telecommunication equipment or computer network devices. The system carries the data using the concentrated laser beam in connection with a unique modulation technique employed to ensure error-free data transfer over distances from 20 meters to 5 kilometers.www.laserbitcommunications.com.
Tellabs
Tellabs launched a new mobile application of its AN2100 Gateway Exchange, a next-generation distributed telephone exchange enabling a flexible, scalable migration of circuit-switched devices on to a broadband core. According to Tellabs, the new solution enables mobile operators to build cost-effective 2G networks and make a smooth transition to 3G-capable service platforms. Within the solution is the Everest 9500 IP ATM switching and routing solution that can handle both ATM and IP simultaneously in the same node. www.tellabs.com.
Tecore
Tecore said it developed General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) capabilities for its AirCore switching platform to offer its customers a high-speed data-capable solution. The product is based on the company’s existing carrier-class, high-availability AirCore switching platform. The GPRS solution is comprised of the home location register, serving GPRS support node and gateway GPRS support node. The product is compliant to European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standards and will interoperate with other vendors’ base station subsystem equipment. In addition, AirCore’s integrated prepaid solution will support GPRS subscribers to offer a competitive advantage. www.tecore.com
NextNet
The company said it developed a user-installable MMDS customer premise equipment as part of its end-to-end broadband wireless access system. The new architecture combines the functions of a data transceiver, modem and antenna into a single fully integrated unit that connects to any IP-based device via a standard NIC connection. www.nextnetworks.com
Software
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett Packard Co. teamed up with Portal Software to jointly develop, market and sell a real-time, usage-based billing solution for mobile Internet services based on Portal’s Infranet 6.0 software and the HP Smart Internet Usage platform. HP has also integrated it SIU platform with Sepro’s e-rate software to create a solution for mobile service providers that want to tap into the revenue stream created by commerce transactions completed over a mobile device. Working on its own, HP’s Mobile E-services Bazaar combines an online e-service trading community, open to wireless operators, service providers, application providers and enterprises, with physical locations for developing and testing new value-added applications. www.hp.com.
Close Communications
Close Communications released software that was designed and developed to facilitate large-scale recruitment required when beginning wireless network implementation projects. Turnkey offers clients a complete technological and managed solution to human resourcing. Services include process engineering, interim management, and financial and budget planning. The software runs on most operating systems and is compatible with Microsoft Office and Outlook Mail. It stores CVs and photographs online for easy reference.
Test equipment
Anite
Anite Telecoms Ltd. unveiled its SAT+GPRS test solution aimed at mobile terminal manufacturers, software stack developers, chipset developers and all test labs, enabling a rapid time to market for their products. Based on the company’s SAT GSM test tool, the new product includes simulation of up to eight independent channels, and supports a mix of circuit switched and packet data channels. Anite is also promoting their RAMS system, a triple-band radio performance tester for GSM and GPRS terminals. The radio measurement and simulation equipment is contained in two 19-inch racks and is controlled by a Widows NT PC that also runs the test results management and analysis software. www.anitetelecoms.com.
Telecom Analysis Systems
Telecom Analysis Systems (TAS) announced that it will provide its WCDMA-LAB test system in conjunction with equipment from Agilent Technologies for a W-CDMA radio frequency test system. The system will be used by vendors to qualify the performance of candidate handsets for the Japanese market. The system uses test methods in accordance with the W-CDMA Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) test standards to evaluate both the transmitter and receiver performance of handsets based on W-CDMA technology. TAS WCDMA-LAB facilitates precise receiver performance characterization by providing accurate and repeatable air interface test conditions. Comprised of the TAS 4500 FLEX5 RF channel emulator and TAS 4600A noise and interference emulator, the product is the industry standard test platform for CDMA receiver performance evaluation, the company said.
TAS also enhanced the capabilities of the 4500 FLEX5 RF channel emulator by adding a powerful dynamic channel modeling feature. The product’s power-delay profile emulation mode can be programmed to provide a wide range of time-varying RF channel profiles. The product meets the requirements outlined in the cdma2000 and W-CDMA test specifications. ww
w.taskit.com
Antennas
Foxcom Wireless
Foxcom Wireless introduced a dual-band GSM 90
0 in-building radio frequency distribution system based on fiberoptic technology called Litenna. The new system, installed in Europe, addresses the coverage and capacity allocation problems in city buildings, from tunnels to other hard-to-cover areas. Litenna enhances cellular/PCS base stations, repeaters and microcell capabilities, said Foxcom. The product allows wireless operators to operate on separate dual bands. And service providers can enter cooperation agreements, installing dual-band Litenna systems to one location and share the costs, the company said. www.foxcomwireless.com
Andrew Corp.
Andrew announced the 0.3-meter 23 GHz ValuLine flat plate antenna. The product provides a communications solution for wireless operators requiring low visibility antennas for short-haul point-to-point communications in areas such as congested inner city sites. The antenna meets the performance needs of cellular, PCS/PCN, broadcast and private user microwave markets, Andrew said. The antenna is less than 46 millimeters deep and measures 336 millimeters by 336 millimeters. It weighs less than 3.6 kilograms, reduces tower wind loading and is cost effective for worldwide shipping. A new mount solution offers quick installation with a panning adjustment in both the azimuth and elevation planes. The antenna is suitable for integration with original equipment manufacturer radio systems. www.andrew.com
Applications
NTT East
Nippon Telegraph & Telephone East developed a fingerprint identification system that can be used with credit cards and cellular phones. The system can be connected to an existing computer system and uses a small sensor to compare fingerprints. The system will be available commercially in 2001.
Nuance Telecommunications
The company unveiled a Voice Web Portal program, an initiative aimed at driving the voice-portal marketplace. Nuance’s flagship Voyager voice-interface product combines speech recognition software and voice authentication software to communicate with the Internet by voice. The Voice Web is a separate collection of Internet sites and applications written specifically for voice interaction. Voyager offers voice-based hyperlinks, much like those used by the Web, and standard Web features, such as bookmarks, through voice. The technology will not allow users to interact with existing Internet sites by voice. Developers must create a special site optimized for voice access using a voice programming language. Through the program, Nuance initially will provide consulting services and assistance with developing prototype applications. www.nuance.com
Motorola and Mercedes-Benz
The companies have teamed up to provide drivers with the first fully integrated StarTAC digital cell phone with hands-free capabilities. Through hands-free audio, drivers can communicate via vehicle speakers and integrated microphones. Voice-recognition technology is available on select Mercedes-Benz 200 vehicles, allowing drivers to make calls through verbal commands such as “dial home” or “get phone book.” www.mot.com
SnapTrack
Japan’s NTT DoCoMo released a global positioning system (GPS)-based mobile personal location service. Callers in Japan can access the service using a cellular phone linked to a new personal digital assistant from Denso called Naviewn. SnapTrack provides the location technology that allows the palmtop to accurately process the position signals it receives from GPS satellites. The information is relayed via a cell-phone link to a location server. The server extracts information from the cellular links, and in combination with the GPS signals, calculates the caller’s position within 5 to 20 meters. The location is displayed on a map on the Naviewn. www.snaptrack.com
Cellpoint
Cellpoint announced Finder!, an application that enables the mobile Internet generation to locate friends easily and communicate in a new way. The product provides a friends list, defined by the user. Friends can be located by selecting their names on a mobile phone menu or from a computer. The application then locates the user and the friend and calculates the distance and direction to the friend. The result is communicated back to the user as a text message, such as “John is close to Piccadilly Circus, about 3.2 kilometers west of you.” Users can request locations of several friends at a time, and users can edit a friends list either on the phone or over the Internet. Changes can be downloaded over the air to mobile phones. www.cellpt.com
