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COMPONENTS SHORTAGE COULD BE DEMAND CATCHING UP WITH SUPPLY

The popularity of wireless may be contributing to an industrywide shortage of some components used in mobile devices, although device manufacturers may not be feeling the effects just yet.After suffering through a slump during the last several years that was characterized by an oversupply...

LUCENT, MOBICOM TO BUILD HANDSETS

ALLENTOWN, Pa.-Lucent Technologies Inc.'s Microelectronics Group and Mobicom Corp. said they are working together to build and deliver wireless handsets to China's Global System for Mobile communications market, estimated at more than 29 million subscribers. Lucent will supply for Mobicom's handsets its Sceptre GSM...

Wireless devices put RIM on map

TORONTO-Research in Motion (RIM) of Waterloo, Ontario, a small Canadian company far from Silicon Valley, has developed some of the hottest wireless technology in the world. In just a short time, RIM has transformed itself into a market leader in technically advanced interactive pagers...

LUCENT TO EQUIP KONKA WITH GSM HANDSET TECHNOLOGY

SHENZHEN, China-Konka Group Co. Ltd. of China and Lucent Technologies Inc.'s Microelectronics Group announced a five-year agreement under which Konka will use Lucent's Global System for Mobile communications technology platform in its cellular phones.The platform is based on Lucent's Sceptre GSM chipset, which includes...

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS CHIP DESIGNED FOR TELEMETRY APPLICATIONS

DALLAS-Texas Instruments plans to introduce today a chipset that combines radio-frequency data transmission and reception with a microcontroller unit.The chipset consists of the TRF6900 single-chip RF transceiver, which provides for flexibility in low-power RF transmission and reception, while the MSP430 MCU is part of...

INTERDIGITAL EXPANDS SYSTEM ON A CHIP

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.-InterDigital Communications Corp. announced it has expanded its development of third-generation telecommunications technology to include a commercial "system on a chip" using Frequency Division Duplex technology.InterDigital is designing the new system on a chip so it can be embedded into advanced...

DSPC OFFERS KIT, CHIPSET FOR NEXT-GENERATION CDMA PHONES

Cupertino, Calif.-based chip manufacturer DSP Communications Inc. today plans to introduce two new products for current and future Code Division Multiple Access handsets.Immediately available is DSPC's new CDMA Manufacturers Development Kit for wireless handsets, which will enable handset manufacturers to reduce development cycles, said...

U.S. SPECTRUM POLICY: GOING FOR WARD? GOING BACKWARD? OR BOTH?

Every day does not produce news about the 3G standards process; it just seems that way. The basic reason, as Jimmy Durante once succinctly put it: "Everybody wants to get into de act."There seems to be consensus that if "convergence" or "harmonization" is good, then...

MORPHICS EXPECTS CARRIERS TO CLAMOR TO SOFTWARE-DEFINED RADIO TECHNOLOGY

At the crossroads of four wireless industry trends is where Cupertino, Calif.-based Morphics Technology Inc. believes it has found an opportunity.The four factors are expensive spectrum, expensive infrastructure, the migration of predominantly voice traffic to data traffic and fractured standards. The solution, says John...

DEVELOPER PREPARES PATENT FILING AMIDST BANK SHORT-SELLING ITS STOCK

NEW YORK-San Francisco-based World Wide Wireless Communications Inc., which has a patent pending for putting wireless network infrastructure onto computer chips, is engaged in a battle with a bank over short-selling of its stock.The company said it received confirmation Aug. 2 that the final...

SMART-CARD INDUSTRY A THREAT TO CELLULAR CARRIERS

BOSTON-Smart cards are poised to move beyond their role in identifying Global System for Mobile communications subscribers, due to momentum outside wireless and beyond U.S. borders.The challenge both for telecommunications carriers and for smart-card manufacturers is to harness these forces or risk losing their...

QUALCOMM, LUCENT TEAM FOR LOCATION TECHNOLOGY

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. and Lucent Technologies Inc. announced an agreement to jointly develop and promote standardization of a technology for locating the point of origin of an emergency wireless phone call.The technique is based on Qualcomm's advancements in Code Division Multiple Access handsets and...

PRODUCTS

ELite Logistic ServicesElite Logistic Services Inc. introduced its PageTrack control module, a wireless automotive security, control and monitoring solution. The system uses SkyTel Communications Inc.'s two-way ReFLEX network, the ReFLEX CreataLink 2 XT two-way data transceiver from Motorola Inc. and global positioning system technology....

COMPANIES AGREE TO CHIP STANDARD

TOKYO-Hitachi Ltd., Intel Corp., Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Sharp Corp. agreed to standardize specifications for stacked chip scale packages, a multiple memory module for mobile communications and handheld computing applications.Specifications of S-CSP with flash memory and SRAM chips include compatibility of pin assign, unification...

ITU TASK GROUP OKS 3G HARMONIZATION

WASHINGTON-An International Telecommunication Union task group in June in Beijing approved a carrier-crafted plan to harmonize competing U.S. and European CDMA technologies for Internet-friendly third-generation mobile phones, paving the way for the compromise to be translated into a new, global-roaming standard by year's end.ITU...

CHINA UNICOM’S CDMAONE DECISION TO INFLUENCE REGION

HONG KONG-China United Telecommunications Corp.'s plan to deploy Code Division Multiple Access technology ensures its survival into the next generation and creates momentum for cdmaOne technology throughout the Asia-Pacific region, cdmaOne proponents indicated at the CDMA Development Group's fourth annual CDMA World Congress in...

ITU TASK GROUP OKS HARMONIZA TION EFFORT

WASHINGTON-An International Telecommunication Union task group in Beijing last week approved a carrier-crafted plan to harmonize competing U.S. and European Code Division Multiple Access technologies for Internet-friendly third-generation mobile phones, paving the way for the compromise to be translated into a new, global-roaming standard...

LUCENT INTRODUCES CHIP

ALLENTOWN, Pa.-Lucent Technologies Inc.'s Microelectronics Group introduced a subscriber line interface circuit chip that operates on 3.3 volts of power, thereby reducing power consumption by about 35 percent compared with 5-volt SLICs.The SLIC chip, called the L9215, is targeted for use by telephone companies...

CARRIERS SEND HARMONIZATION PROPOSAL TO ITU

The Operators Harmonization Group, an ad hoc assembly of mobile phone operators from around the world, sent its third-generation technology harmonization proposal to the International Telecommunication Union, which meets in Beijing this week.As RCR reported, the agreement defines a harmonized CDMA standard with three...

PRODUCTS

XircomXircom Inc. announced a new product line called CompactCard, which it said extends wireless connectivity for Windows CE handheld computers. CompactCard is a series of Type II CompactFlash cards that give Windows CE devices access to Ethernet, modem and Global System for Mobile communications...

POLITICAL FIGHTS REMAIN AMONG 3G PLAYERS

Industry executives in February hailed the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue agreement as a major breakthrough in the 3G debate, but today it appears standards bodies have made little progress to pursue this framework, and political infighting among the 3G players remains.Executives in February agreed to...

FCC GIVES CARRIERS OPTIONS TO ADDRESS DEAD-ZONE ISSUE

WASHINGTON-The fallout of last week's Federal Communications Commission decision on solving the dead-zone problem saw the chairman's office denouncing the industry's response and consumers advocates split.As expected, the FCC did not mandate technical requirements for how wireless carriers address calls that fall in areas...

WCA LIKELY HEADED TO COURT OVER STRONGEST SIGNAL REGULATIONS

WASHINGTON-The consumer group fighting for specific E911 call-completion regulations vowed to take its case to court if the Federal Communications Commission adopts a technology-neutral rule this week.When it became apparent last week that the Wireless Consumers Alliance had lost its battle with the cellular...

HARMONIZATION EFFORT TAKE-OR-LEAVE PACKAGE

The Operators Harmonization Group, an assembly of mobile phone operators from around the world, said they agreed last month in Tokyo to a baseline proposal to harmonize ITU CDMA-based third-generation technology proposals.The proposal needs further refinement, a process that should be completed in the...