BROWSING: ARM

China Unicom to announce the start of CDMA services

BEIJING—China Unicom is expected to announce in the coming days that it will start CDMA services in January. The listed arm of the China Unicom Group is expected to lease provincial networks from its parent company.

German E-commerce developer sells mobile arm

OXFORD, United Kingdom—The much troubled German e-commerce developer Brokat Technologies has agreed to sell its mobile business unit to EOne Global, a U.S. company specializing in payment solutions via the Internet, for a reduced price of e28.25 million (US$24.8 million). Brokat said in August...

Spanish operators contest wireless fee

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Three Spanish mobile operators are expected to make an appeal before Spain's National Court over a government-imposed fee for using cell-phone spectrum. The three firms, Vodafone's Spanish unit Amena, Xfera and Telef

Products

Audiovox CommunicationsAudiovox Communications introduced the Maestro, a Pocket PC that uses Microsoft Windows Powered Pocket PC 2002 software. The product features 32 MB of SDRAM and 32 MB of Flash Rom and an Intel Strong ARM 206 MHz processor. It also includes built-in CFR...

Briefs

A new study by marketing research firm BWCS claimed that more than 90 percent of U.K. business travelers with laptops are interested in using wireless local area network (WLAN) services at airports, while 40 percent of those surveyed said they have no interest in...

Philips cell-phone arm sold to Chinese firm

OXFORD, United Kingdom—The grand plans by Royal Philips Electronics to become a worldwide player in the cell-phone market have all but disappeared with the announcement that China Electronics Corporation (CEC) will take over the majority of Philips' cell-phone manufacturing and research and development (R&D)...

Behind the music: Wireless data

The wireless data industry started as a dream and a nationwide network almost 30 years ago.As the years slowly passed and people began to recognize the value of mobile data, more and more trucking managers jumped on board to wirelessly track their vehicles,...

Sonera Zed to add FreeRein function to Wireless Entertainment Network

BELLEVUE, Wash.—Sonera Zed Ltd., the wireless Internet arm of Finnish telecommunications company Sonera Corp., will add a unique mass messaging function to its Wireless Entertainment Network offering through a deal with FreeRein.Under the deal, Sonera Zed will incorporate FreeRein's M/Gen Group product, which allows...

Products

WCitiesLocation-based information service provider WCities launched a geo-coded wireless service that provides location-specific information to individual users' cell phones. According to Tan Rasab, the company's chief executive officer, with the service, cell-phone and PDA users can find whatever they're looking for anywhere in the...

Hutchison looks to acquire bankrupt 3G operator

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Hi3G, the 3G license holder owned jointly by Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa and the Swedish Investor group, has emerged as the most likely bidder for the bankrupt Norwegian 3G licensee, Broadband Mobile. The country's communication ministry has already stated that it would...

Palm pays $11M for Be

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Palm Inc. made its biggest move yet to bolster its operating system business, this time doling out $11 million for Internet software company Be Inc.Palm is buying the intellectual property and technology assets of Be, which include its BeIA and BeOS operating...

OS: Who is the fairest of them all?

In the short lifespan of the still nascent wireless Internet, the owners of the operating systems have already learned that best is not always enough. Palm, Windows CE and Symbian are the three OSs trying to slug it out with marketing strategies, technical appeals...

Chip-maker deals intended to increase mobile device processing speed

Two of the world's leading chip makers last week announced deals they said would lead to the creation of faster and more efficient processors for 2.5- and third-generation mobile devices.Texas Instruments Inc. and Intel Corp. separately said they would license microprocessing technology from ARM...

Bolivian operator receives funds for expansion

NEW YORK—Millicom International Cellular (MIC) said its Bolivian mobile subsidiary received a US$25 million investment to fund its network expansion.Telefonica Celular de Bolivia received the money from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, and US$10 million...

Palm lays out plans to strengthen OS position

Palm Inc. last week announced a deal with some of the country's biggest chip makers to design a pre-packaged chip architecture for Palm OS-based personal digital assistants, a move Palm said will speed up the design and development time for the company's licensees and...

Oki Bluetooth module slated for delivery this fall

NEW YORK-Oki Semiconductor, Sunnyvale, Calif., will make commercially available in September its new module, compatible with version 1.1 of the Bluetooth standard for short-range wireless applications.The Bluetooth module, which measures 18-by-38 millimeters, incorporates a Bluetooth RF and baseband controller, which has met Bluetooth Qualification...

GAO questions Pentagon report

WASHINGTON-A congressional report due out later this summer is expected to determine that a Pentagon study-which cast doubt on making military spectrum available for third-generation wireless services-is incomplete and needs further study, a finding that could help industry as momentum gains in the Bush...

Sun, ARM alignment simplifies Java handset development

Sun Microsystems Inc., the inventor of Java technology is embracing ARM Ltd., a provider of microprocessor solutions, to optimize applications for handsets.ARM, which has about 75 percent market share in providing processor chips for wireless devices, is throwing in its Jazelle technology which will...

Products

Handsets/ devicesMitsubishiMitsubishi released three new handsets. The Eclipse is a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) phone with a color display. The dual-band phone offers 256 colors and up to 86 kilobits-per-second data speeds. It has several features for business users. The phone allows users...

Weiner asks GAO to probe consumer complaints

WASHINGTON-Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) officially asked the General Accounting Office to probe growing mobile-phone service problems in the United States, a move likely to produce additional data that could bolster the lawmaker's consumer wireless bill. "Unfortunately, a growing number of wireless phone users are...

Pentagon budget woes could boost Industry 3G effort

WASHINGTON-While policy-makers struggle to balance commercial spectrum needs and national security, the outcome of industry efforts to secure the military's 1700 MHz band for third-generation wireless systems could be influenced greatly by Pentagon budgetary constraints, international pressure, presidential politics and last Friday's stunning court...

RadioFrame receives $11 M in financing

RadioFrame Networks Inc., a Redmond, Wash., provider of indoor wireless voice and data systems, has received $11 million in first- and second-round venture- capital financing from five investors, the company announced June 20.Participants included COM Investments, the personal investment company of Craig McCaw, Ignition...

CTIA’s Wireless Foundation expands Donate-A-Phone with its Return Outreach Initiative

WASHINGTON-The Wireless Foundation, the charitable arm of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, has expanded its successful Donate-A-Phone program so that carriers and other wireless retailers may donate $2 to the charity of their choice for every phone they recycle."It is a way to...

America Movil acquires stake in Brazil’s ATL

MEXICO CITY-U.S.-based Williams Communications said it entered an agreement with America Movil, the wireless arm of Mexican telecom giant TelMex, to sell its 19-percent interest in Brazilian wireless provider Algar Telecom Leste (ATL) to America Movil. The financial terms of the transaction were not...