NEW ORLEANS-Lucent Technologies Inc.'s Microelectronics Group introduced a Code Division Multiple Access chip that uses technology with origins in the airline industry to make it easier to understand cellular phone callers in noisy environments, such as airports and restaurants.Called the EVRC+, the chip is...
Never has an industry been so vastly underestimated as the cellular industry in its formative years.When the industry celebrated its 10th birthday in late 1993, industry watchers joked about how wrong the early subscriber forecasts were, while putting out new subscriber forecasts that underestimated...
BOSTON, Mass.-By 2003, more than 725 million people worldwide will subscribe to cellular and personal communications services, generating annual service revenues of $330 billion, according to Strategy Analytics Inc.'s report "Worldwide Cellular Market Forecast."Global System for Mobile communications technology "will continue to dominate the...
NEW YORK-Nearly 40 electronics manufacturers have joined forces with Sun Microsystems Inc. to develop new devices that run Jini programming language, some of which could come to market by late this year.Jini, pronounced "genie," is an enhancement of Sun's Java programming language, which permits...
SANTA ANA, Calif.-Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and SRS Labs Inc. entered into a licensing partnership that calls for Samsung to use SRS' VIP voice technology in its cellular and wireless handsets worldwide.SRS said VIP increases the clarity and intelligibility of the spoken voice, especially...
Welcome to 1999 and woe to pols that haven't discovered the digital age.No wonder House Commerce Committee Chairman Tom Bliley (R-Va.) counts cellular privacy as a top priority in the 106th Congress.Analog cellular phones are wrecking political careers left and right.First, it was the...
LOUISVILLE, Colo.-The Federal Communications Commission has ruled that a prohibition on cellular phone use in airplanes should not apply to a new air-to-ground wireless phone system designed by AirCell Inc.AirCell provides air-to-ground wireless communications to the general aviation and commercial airline markets by connecting...
TeklogixTeklogix introduced the Teklogix 9150 Wireless Gateway, which features dual Personal Computer Memory Card International Association radio card slots that help it support mixed radio configurations. The 9150 allows users the flexibility to install a wireless backbone using open system access point architectures or...
SAN FRANCISCO-Bellcore announced its AirBoss microbrowser will feature Information Mechanics' WebTek wireless data application as its first commercial application.The AirBoss microbrowser, which supports Handheld Device Markup Language, allows dispatchers and field employees to exchange information via two-way pagers, cellular phones and other mobile devices,...
The Internet landscape was altered dra-matically last week when America Online Inc. announced it will acquire Netscape Communications Corp. in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at $4.2 billion.At the same time, AOL also announced it entered into a strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems Inc. to...
WASHINGTON-The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is adamant the wireless industry comply with rules requiring digital phones be compatible with text telephones (TTYs) used by the deaf community, especially when TTYs are used in conjunction with digital phones to make 911 calls. Nevertheless,...
WETHERSFIELD, Conn.-Shared Technologies Cellular Inc. signed an agreement with Boston Communications Group Inc. that will allow STC, in cooperation with Boston's wireless carrier customers, to provide nationwide prepaid service with almost all models of cellular phones, said STC.The agreement also allows STC to provide...
NEW YORK-NTT Mobile Communications Networks Inc. sold the second-largest initial public offering in history Oct. 22, raising $18.4 billion as its stock began trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. sold one-third of its stake in the wireless carrier, which does...
ORLANDO, Fla.-To paraphrase a Bell Atlantic commercial, "wild things are happening" in dispatch radio, according to speakers at the recent PCS '98 show.Just outside the spotlight, which is focused on the apparent dominance of Nextel Communications Inc. and the demise of Geotek Communications Inc.,...
CHS Electronics Inc., an international distributor of microcomputer products, announced an agreement to purchase BrightStar Corp., a start-up wholesale distributor of cellular phones and accessories, the companies said.CHS will use cash and shares of stock to pay for the acquisition, but other terms of...
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn.-Hearing-aid manufacturer Starkey Laboratories Inc. said testing of a new antenna design from RangeStar International Corp. and a new model Starkey hearing aid showed reduced audio interference by more than 94 percent.Audio interference is created by the handset's digital transmission, which causes...
SONYSony Electronics' Personal Mobile Communications-America announced the availability of a dual-mode 800 MHz analog/Code Division Multiple Access version of its D-Wave Zuma wireless handset. The lithium ion battery provides up to 2.3 hours of talk time or up to 45 hours standby time in...
As an industry, we are all too aware of the fundamental changes in our business. The days of high average revenue per minute of use, phenomenal subscriber growth numbers, low churn rates and duopoly markets are long gone.Industry transformation has resulted in eroding economics: decreasing...
ORLANDO, Fla.-Motorola Inc.'s Cellular Infrastructure Group has implemented an end-to-end plain paper fax solution for Code Division Multiple Access-based fixed wireless networks, which has been deployed on the company's WiLL CDMA systems.Previously, CDMA subscribers had to connect their personal computers to digital cellular phones...
WASHINGTON-Lawmakers for months have been deluged with letters from constituents who fear the Federal Communications Commission will not make the wireless industry comply with the 1996 telecom act's mandate to make mobile phones accessible to hearing impaired individuals and other disabled Americans.In many cases,...
WASHINGTON-Federal agency head William Kennard said he is not backing off from support of the strongest-signal proposal to ensure emergency 911 calls are completed, and indeed, is interested in a new proposal that calls for an adequate signal to place 911 calls.Kennard "is still...
In preparation for PCS '98, RCR sat down last month with Jay Kitchen, president of the Personal Communications Industry Association to talk about the trade show, the wireless industry in general, and PCIA specifically. The following is a transcript of that interview: RCR: What is going...
NEW YORK-JVC Company of America, Wayne, N.J., and PocketScience Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., have teamed up to provide a portable e-mail system that is both complementary to and competitive with wireless services.At a news conference Sept. 16, Neil Peretz, a co-founder with Scott Fullam...
NEW YORK-TeleData World Services Inc., Atlanta, expects to begin next month providing its TWOS brand prepaid cellular phones and service to 10,000 convenience stores nationwide owned by Lantana Merchants Solutions Corp., Newport Beach, Calif.The Lantana Solutions rollout, announced in late August, followed another just...
