For a new company looking to succeed in business, producing wireless handsets would seem to be one of the tougher markets to crack. Beyond the big three producers, Nokia, Motorola and Ericsson, are plenty of smaller, capable companies scavenging for leftovers of the handset...
After answering more than 5.5 billion questions in the past four years, Ask Jeeves Inc.'s online question answering service is finally learning to talk.The talking capabilities come from an alliance formed with Nuance, a developer of voice interface software platforms, and General Magic, a...
For more than six months the mobile satellite industry has been trying to polish its image after the well-publicized failure of Iridium L.L.C. tarnished the reputation of all those involved in the industry.While Iridium shuffled in and out of bankruptcy court and deliberated with...
CHICAGO-Was last week's Personal Communications Industry Association GlobalXChange show a success?It depends on who you ask. While some exhibitors complained loudly about the lack of traffic, others said they received more attention since some traditional large vendors opted out of the show.Before the event,...
OYSTER BAY, N.Y.-Most wireless users are not aware of their phone's wireless Internet capabilities, according to a study from Allied Business Intelligence called "Mobile Wireless Voice and Data Use 2000."Less than 5 percent of participants in a sample survey said they believed a wireless...
When questioned about the narrowband wireless local loop market, people in the telecommunications industry offer such differing opinions you expect a hidden camera to be planted somewhere in an attempt to catch your bewildered expression.According to Arnon Kohavi, vice president of strategic business development...
OYSTER BAY, N.Y.-The continued growth of wireless users worldwide and the increasing integration of global positioning system applications into everyday life are expected to raise the value of the antenna market over the next five years, according to an Allied Business Intelligence report, "Antennas...
Broadband. It is a familiar term being tossed around the wireless industry like a hot potato, but its relatively new status is making its definition, applications and implications elusive to many.At the most basic level, wireless broadband-also known as fixed wireless, Broadband Wireless Local...
OYSTER BAY, N.Y.-According to a new study from Allied Business Intelligence Inc., a technology research company, the emergence of third-generation technology will lead to a boom in the wireless data market.The report, "3G Wireless: Global Data & Voice Networking Strategies-WAP, GPRS, 1XRTT, EDGE and Internet...
By almost all accounts, the market for in-vehicle wireless communications and information services-called telematics-is going to explode in the next few years.Studies by consulting firms Strategis Group and Allied Business Intelligence predict more than 1.2 million automobiles will be equipped with telematics devices by...
Liberty Media Group's announcement last week that it plans to acquire The Associated Group Inc. would give Liberty, the Tele-Communications Inc. offshoot traditionally focused on video programming, a foothold in the emerging broadband wireless access market.Among other things, Associated owns a 41-percent interest in...
As deregulation slowly takes hold of the U.S. electric utility industry, many companies are beginning to take a look at wireless telecommunications as a way to hold on to their customers.With strong brand names, customer bases and billing capability, electric utility companies could prove...
First out of the box with an end-to-end solution allowing voice carriers a means to migrate their networks to a packet-based paradigm, Lucent Technologies Inc. introduced a product portfolio targeted at new and incumbent operators.Lucent's R/Evolutionary Networking solution is based around the 7R/E Call...
Wireless broadband service has finally received attention from the likes of big telecom players Sprint Corp. and MCI WorldCom Inc. The race is on to access the local market and cheaply bypass connection to regional Bell operating companies.Sprint announced last week plans to purchase...
With vendors putting their time and energy into the three main U.S. digital standards and into developing standards for third-generation technology, there hardly seems room for commercialization of the more obscure technologies touted years ago."You need volume production and vendor financing behind it," said...
Despite a five-week service launch delay and continued handset production problems, Iridium L.L.C. finished the fourth quarter with results that beat analysts expectations.The quarter, ended Dec. 31, marked the long-awaited launch of the company's 66 low-earth orbit satellite global phone and paging system and...
Nextel Communications Inc. is testing nationwide pricing plans that fall in line with high-end one-rate plans offered by national mobile phone competitors.Analysts say the company quietly is rolling out the plans, which eliminate long-distance fees, to test the market's demand for nationwide pricing."This is...
Analysts say the launch of Iridium L.L.C.'s mobile satellite service has positioned Globalstar L.L.P. to be a low-cost provider when it offers service around 2000.After losing 12 satellites in a rocket launch accident in September, Globalstar's general partner, Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd., has seen its...
Cellular carriers have made significant progress in their efforts to upgrade their 800 MHz analog networks to digital technology.Consumers' appetite for digital features is demonstrated by the success of digital pricing plans such as AT&T Wireless Services Inc.'s Digital One Rate plan, said industry...
Aggressive digital pricing plans are quickly driving the migration of customers from analog service to digital service, say analysts."We attribute today's successful migration directly to rate plans combined with solid products," said Richard Siber, head of Andersen Consulting's wireless practice in Boston. "The features...
OYSTER BAY, N.Y.-The market for power semiconductors, integrated circuits and modules is expected to grow at an annual average rate of 19 percent, to reach $2.8 billion by the end of 2003, according to a new Allied Business Intelligence report, "Wireless Power Devices, Transistors,...
OYSTER BAY, N.Y.-Wireless local loop services may reach more than 100 million subscribers by the end of 2006, according to a report issued by Allied Business Intelligence Inc."There should be close to 2 million subscribers by the end of this year, and most vendors...
Investors are nervous when it comes to pricing competition in the mobile industry.
Just look at the effects of a Wall Street Journal article in April that described the competitive Jacksonville, Fla., mobile phone market. That article, in addition to AT&T Wireless Services Inc.'s introduction...
If all goes as planned, Iridium L.L.C.'s vision of a global wireless phone network-based on a constellation of 66 low-earth-orbit satellites interconnected to several terrestrial-based networks-will begin commercial service on 23 September.While the company continues to put the finishing touches on the satellite network,...
