Handsets

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico—InfoSpace Inc. announced that it is providing its wireless software and services for the launch of WAP, SMS and speech-enabled data services by Verizon Wireless Puerto Rico. …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—Having failed in its ambitions to become one of the top five suppliers of mobile terminals, Alcatel is expected to announce a partnership with another cell-phone developer to …

BEIJING—China Mobile is to formally launch its General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) nationwide on 17 May under the brand name Monternet. The service, offering high-speed Internet and e-mail, could be …

DUBLIN, Ireland—In a further indication of the necessity of closer cooperation between previously fierce rivals, Nokia and Siemens have announced plans to collaborate on mobile terminal software. Open standards is …

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DUBLIN, Ireland—A new report from U.K.-based analysts Strategy Analytics suggests that a number of handset vendors could be prime targets for larger rivals. The report, “Western Europe Operators’ Handset Vendor …

HELSINKI, Finland—Nokia, the Helsinki-based Finnish wireless equipment supplier, is predicting a dramatic concentration on the vendor side of global telecommunications, believing that the number of major vendors will diminish by …

GREENSBORO, N.C.—RF Micro Devices Inc. said it has started to ship its RF2173 and RF2174 power amplifiers for two additional handsets of a top-tier multinational handset original equipment manufacturer. The …

STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Ericsson has dismissed market speculation in Sweden that its latest swing of the downsizing ax is driven by a need to attract a takeover suitor. Nokia is being linked …

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BEIJING—China’s largest domestic mobile handset maker China Putian is planning an overseas listing. The company sold 28.96 million handsets last year. China Putian is about to appoint Lehman Brothers and …

TOKYO—Kyocera, the world’s largest maker of integrated circuit (IC) ceramic packages and a leading mobile handset vendor in Japan, has won a large-scale wireless local loop (WLL) order from a …

NEW DELHI, India—Bangladesh has reduced the import duty on mobile phones and dropped the levy on new connections. The duty on handsets has been reduced to 2,500 taka (US$44) from …

RESTON, Va.—Nextel Communications Inc. introduced the Motorola Inc. P280 and v60 iDEN handsets for international users. “The Motorola P280 and v60 allow our customers to expand their reach just by …

LONDON—Red-M announced a new in-building mobile voice strategy and roadmap that it believes will reduce call costs, lower voice infrastructure costs and improve employee productivity. According to Red-M, the solution …

OXFORD, United Kingdom—According to one of the United Kingdom’s largest cell-phone retailers, Carphone Warehouse, less than 1 percent of the 170,000 customers that purchased General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) phones …

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TOKYO—NEC, the largest telecom vendor in Japan, announced it will expand its procurement of mobile handsets from China to 200 billion yen (US$1.6 billion) in fiscal 2002. NEC is going …

TOKYO—J-Phone, a Vodafone Group operator in Japan, announced it will postpone its third-generation (3G) service launch until December to provide “global standard service.” J-Phone had previously planned to launch its …

TOKYO—KDDI, the second-largest telecom operator in Japan, on 1 April launched its third-generation (3G) service based on cdma2000 1x technology, entering the highly competitive Japanese high-speed data market. In Japan, …

DUBLIN, Ireland—Hutchison 3G, part of the Hutchison Whampoa Group, signed a contract with software developer Network365 for the provision of mobile payment software across eight countries, including the six European …

NEW YORK—Medis Technologies Ltd., which is developing direct liquid ethanol fuel cells for use in wireless handsets and other portable electronic devices, has received notice the U.S. Patent Office plans …

TOKYO—Coca-Cola Japan, NTT DoCoMo and Itochu jointly announced that they will establish Coca-Cola vending machines with which i-mode users can purchase a can of Coke without cash using i-mode mobile …

BEIJING—China’s Eastern Communications (Eastcom) announced it is halting its 123.08 million yuan (US$14.87 million) effort to develop its own proprietary mobile-phone technology to compete with foreign vendors. The company mentioned …

TOKYO—KDDI, the second-largest telecom operator in Japan, announced it will launch a field trial for credit card settlement using third-generation (3G) handsets in the fourth quarter. Four leading credit card …