Devices

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Orange, one of the leading innovators of cell-phone services, has confirmed that it will delay the introduction of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)-based technology, originally due in the …

TOKYO—Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. announced its cell phone unit will close a Great Britain-based plant in an effort to further reduce costs by moving production to China and Eastern Europe. …

TOKYO-Wireless local area network (WLAN) service targeting the retail and travel industries is set to expand quickly in Japan. Some market watchers said that once the WLAN business takes off, …

LONDON-The introduction of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) in Sweden and NTT DoCoMo’s launch of third-generation (3G) services has set the scene for a new approach to mobile devices, both …

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 …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—The Italian government has told its five third-generation (3G) license holders that it has no plans to follow the French government’s example of reducing the license fees or …

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) …

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.—Motorola Inc. has licensed it iTAP intelligent keypad text entry technology to Acer Communications and Multimedia Inc. Acer said it will use iTAP technology, which it licensed for three …

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 …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—German manufacturing giant Siemens has announced a further 7,000 job cuts, of which 2,000 will be within its cell-phone division, and has called a halt to tentative merger …

NEW YORK—Telematics has the potential to create $20 billion to $40 billion in revenues during the next ten years, according to a recently released Booz Allen Hamilton report. Telematics has …

HAYWARD, Calif.—Certicom Inc. says it is shipping its virtual private network solution called movian VPN 2.0 for wireless devices using 802.11b, or WiFi, networks. “movian VPN allows companies to extend …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—The 20 million users of Hotmail e-mail services in Europe might shortly be able to receive their messages via short message service (SMS) following a deal between MIGway, …

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Cellular is making waves in the healthcare industry with a new device capable of monitoring heart patients’ conditions. The FDA has approved the Biotronik Home Monitoring System, a pacemaker …

STAMFORD, Connecticut, United States—Respondents in a study conducted by Gartner said an average of 49.5 percent of their cellular phone calls are placed from a car while driving, although this …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Recent efforts by European mobile operators to offer financial services looks set to lead to a clash with the global banking community. Most of Europe’s large operators have …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—The 50 short message service (SMS) content channels being offered by the German cell-phone operator D2 Vodafone are being seen as the precursor for other service providers looking …

TOKYO—Qualcomm Inc.’s Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless application platform received a boost through the company’s deal with video game giant Sega Corp., which announced it will release its video game …

IRVINE, Calif.—Toshiba Corp. said it has introduced a family of chips it calls Silicon Germanium Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor for cellular phones and other wireless devices with wideband CDMA and wireless …

OTTOWA—Spotwave Wireless unveiled its new SpotCell 100, an in-building coverage product that it said provides “always-on” cell phone coverage. According to Spotwave, the SpotCell 100, which is based on smart …

NEW YORK—Ericsson received mixed reviews this week from Moody’s Investors Service, which confirmed the company’s investment-grade A3 long-term debt ratings, but changed the ratings outlook to negative from stable. “The …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Current lithium battery technology used to power cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) is reaching its limits, according to researchers. To drive the power-hungry third-generation (3G) handsets …

TUCSON, Ariz.-Texas Instruments said it has unveiled converters with the lowest noise for wireless devices such as cell phones, personal digital assistants, and 802.11 PCMCIA cards. “By reducing power supply …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Despite the marketing hype, fewer than 200,000 of the 1 million U.K. online banking customers are using a WAP cell phone to access their accounts, according to new …

TOKYO—NTT DoCoMo, the leading mobile carrier in Japan, will launch cellular phone bill settlement service via i-mode on 22 October, NTT DoCoMo announced on 13 September. Using the service, NTT …