The Wireless Application Protocol made strides in Sweden, Germany and Finland last week, adding to its gaining momentum in Europe.In Germany, Nokia Corp. and Deutsche Bank have agreed to develop new mobile banking services based on the WAP that will allow users to conduct...
SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. and Autotrac Comercio e Telecomunicacoes S.A. of Brazil formed a joint venture to bring the OmniTracs mobile information management system to Argentina.The OmniTracs system provides two-way messaging and real-time global positioning system monitoring, which will enable Argentine transportation companies to maintain...
According to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission report filed last week, the recently bankrupt Iridium L.L.C. said it proposed offering bondholders and other creditors an equity stake in the company in lieu of cash.Iridium filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Aug. 13, after...
NEW YORK-Citigroup and Sonera Ltd. announced last week they are taking an undisclosed ownership stake in 724 Solutions, a Canadian software company that is hardly a household name but could hold the key to global mobile banking.Juha Snellman, director of sales and marketing for...
After defaulting on both its $800 million senior secured credit facility and its $750 million guaranteed credit facility last week, Iridium L.L.C. filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.Iridium said the move has the support of banks, bondholders and its strategic partners, and was...
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...
CoherentThe Coherent original equipment manufacturer division of Tellabs launched a complete design verification kit for its CEC-128 Integrated Echo Canceller multichip module. The kit consists of a CEC-128 plug-in module and a CD with full operating software, application notes and data book. The module...
NEW ORLEANS-At the CA World conference, American Mobile Satellite Corp. announced a technology development partnership with Computer Associates International Inc. and cStar Technologies Inc.The partnership is designed to deliver telemetry solutions that combine the nationwide wireless data capabilities of AMSC's Ardis network with cStar's...
Intelligent agent technology has been long considered a potential boon for messaging applications looking to provide meaningful content to wireless devices.Agents are small bits of code capable of monitoring data, recognizing what information is valuable to its user and then transmitting it to a...
SAN FRANCISCO-Saraide.com and APiON Ltd. have partnered to conduct Wireless Application Protocol Gateway trials, scheduled to begin this summer.According to the company, the trials will allow Saraide.com to integrate the APiON WAP Gateway into its global infrastructure and thereby make its Internet-based wireless data...
Geoworks Corp. last week introduced its Discopro.com free mobile information service, which delivers discount and promotional messages to subscribers' pagers or text-enabled phones.Interested users select which participating retailers they wish to receive advertising from, and then are sent electronic discount coupons and news of...
NCRNCR Corp. introduced a software product that allows carriers to perform event-driven marketing by analyzing customer behavior and predicting a customer's readiness to respond to particular marketing efforts. Called MarketingAgent, the software is part of NCR's Customer Relationship Management Solutions 4.0 portfolio. "Businesses that...
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.-Motorola Inc.'s Worldwide Information Network Services group announced the U.S. General Services Administration awarded it a contract for Iridium L.L.C. products and services.The contract is in addition to that with the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency, part of the Department of Defense. The...
MONTEREY, Calif.-Aeris Communications Inc. said its MicroBurst technology now covers the whole of North America and is ready for commercial service.At the WirelessDeveloper '99 conference last week, Aeris announced coverage pacts with Orbcomm Global L.P., and with cellular carriers, whose control channels transmit mobile...
RESTON, Va.-Orbcomm Global L.P. hosted its 1999 Global Solutions Conference last month, during which the low-earth-orbit satellite data and messaging services network operator and its partners made several announcements.First, Orbcomm said it signed a service license agreement with an affiliate to extend low-earth-orbit data...
Iridium L.L.C.'s first full quarter of operation was marked with handset production delays, distribution problems, low subscriber numbers and a deepening net loss, the aftermath of which has led the company to re-evaluate its strategic focus and upper management team.Since launching in November, Iridium...
Nortele-mobility servicesNortel Networks introduced a portfolio of subscriber services, called e-mobility services, that provide rapid, flexible deployment of leading-edge voice and data capabilities optimized for the Internet Protocol environment. The services include Wireless Prepaid, Group Conferencing, Smart Mobile Access, Wireless Voice-Activated Dialing, Mobile Messaging...
Motorola Inc.'s Worldwide Information Network Services group confirmed the Defense Information Systems Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense awarded it a three-year contract valued at up to $219 million for the purchase of Iridium phones, pagers and airtime.Under the contract, Motorola will provide...
Early cellular carriers did it. Early paging carriers did it. Mobile data carriers are doing it now, and according to analyst Tim O'Neil of SoundView Technology Group Inc., Iridium L.L.C. should do it as well.That is-subsidize handsets to promote network usage. It's a standard...
HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia announced an agreement to supply its General Packet Radio Service network solution to KG Telecom in Taiwan.KG Telecom will be able to provide mobile Internet access to its subscribers using the GPRS network. Nokia will deliver Internet Protocol core network infrastructure, including...
HANNOVER, Germany-Orange plc made several announcements from CeBIT '99, the European trade show. Orange signed an agreement with Nokia Corp. to begin a major trial of its Wireless Application Protocol Gateway. The Nokia WAP Gateway enables WAP terminals to use WAP services located at...
INDIANAPOLIS-Inadequate product supply in the Asia-Pacific region, price instability and the devaluation of the Brazilian real will cause Brightpoint Inc.'s quarterly and annual net income to fall below expectations, said the company.The company anticipates revenue for the first quarter, ended March 31, will be...
EMERYVILLE, Calif.-Several technology companies announced they have created an alliance to develop an interface connecting consumer and small-business appliances to Internet services, called the Open Service Gateway specification.Its backers say the specification will allow Internet service providers, network operators and equipment manufacturers to deliver...
NEW YORK-Orbcomm Global L.P., Dulles, Va., announced March 1 that Conatel, the Venezuelan government regulatory agency, has granted operating and frequency licenses to Telecomunicaciones de Caracas, the exclusive provider of Orbcomm satellite two-way data and messaging services in the Andean region of the Caribbean.Following...
