LONDON-Magic4 has added magic4 SyncML to its mobile messaging platform, allowing manufacturers to incorporate the technology into handsets so users can synchronize mobile data to their PCs."There is market demand from mobile phone users who want ubiquitous access to their updated information, so synchronizing...
MURRAY HILL, N.J.-Lucent Technologies Inc. said that Bell Labs has designed two prototype chips that will enable mobile devices to receive more than 19 megabits of data per second on 3G networks.The chips are part of a multiple input/multiple output technology called Bell Labs...
OSLO, Norway-Multimedia messaging service (MMS) competition is already warming up in Norway, with Telenor Mobile announcing it will charge only 68 U.S. cents for each MMS message sent, about 50 percent less than its original plan. The Norwegian operator had previously announced that it...
PARIS-Alcatel said it is establishing daily live third-generation UMTS mobile videophony communications between Asia and Europe. The company said it has been linking calls between its 3G Reality Centers in Europe and Asia during the past few months.All the calls were made using 3GPP-compliant...
NEW DELHI, India-India has become the fourth country in the Asia-Pacific region to have GSM players offering multimedia messaging service (MMS), with BPL Mobile launching the new service in Mumbai, India's commercial capital.So far, MMS has been offered by operators in Singapore, Hong Kong...
OTTAWA-Nortel Networks Ltd. and Qualcomm Inc. announced the successful test of an UMTS voice and data call across commercial cell sites using live 1.9 GHz radio spectrum, Qualcomm chipsets in commercial-form-factor handsets and a live, end-to-end 3GPP UMTS network from Nortel.The test is significant...
DUBLIN, Ireland-Handset manufacturer DBTEL, which already has contracts to produce phones for a number of leading European operators including British Telecommunications (BT), is to start selling phones under its own brand name in Europe.The Taiwanese company has targeted six of the largest European markets-including...
BEIJING-Nokia has launched its new 7650 handset in China, just weeks after Sony Ericsson started selling its MMS-capableT68ie model. China Mobile will launch its MMS service in major Chinese cities later this month. Beginning next year, all Nokia handsets will be equipped with MMS...
SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. and Samsung Electronics announced they will use the new MSM6200 Mobile Station Modem chipset and system software for dual-mode third-generation handsets.The companies said the new chipset supports the Frequency Division Duplex mode of W-CDMA as well as GSM and GPRS.lution that...
PARIS-Vodafone Spain and Nortel Networks presented details of the rollout program for Vodafone's UMTS network in Spain. A Vodafone executive said network coverage has been deployed in 23 cities and 98 municipalities during the first half of this year.The companies said they have met...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-After the controversy unleashed in Argentina between Qualcomm and 3G Americas over which technology will prevail in Latin America, Pyramid Research has modified its forecast, lowering by 25 percent its previous estimation of GSM penetration in the market in 2007 and increasing...
DUBLIN, Ireland-Forget about third-generation (3G) technology and don't even think about General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). A group of researchers in Finland reckon fifth generation (5G) is the next big thing and that by the end of this decade, it will offer mobile users...
BOSTON-Contract manufacturers will make 26 percent of all handsets worldwide, a number that will likely grow to 38 percent in 2007 as first and second-tier handset vendors seek lower costs, production flexibility and economies of scale, according to a new report from Strategy Analytics.In...
NEW YORK-The $40 million in outstanding debt of Brightpoint Inc., Indianapolis, received a downgrade to B from B-plus from Standard & Poor's Corp., which also assigned a near-term negative outlook to the company's debt."Increased market saturation for wireless handsets and global economic weakness, particularly...
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-Sprint PCS said its entire nationwide PCS network is now E911 Phase II compatible. The company began selling GPS-enabled handsets last year."It's important to emphasize, however, that Sprint's network readiness is just part of the equation," said Len Lauer, president of Sprint's...
TOKYO-Japanese vendor NEC Corp. has taken a 5-percent stake in two mobile-phone subsidiaries owned by Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. for a total $73 million. The stakes are in Hong Kong mobile operator Hutchison Telephone Company Ltd., Hong Kong's largest mobile operator, and Hutchison 3G HK...
TOKYO-Sharp, a major consumer electronics maker, assumed the third position, after NEC and Matsushita Communications Industrial, in the Japanese mobile handset market in the second quarter, according to statistics compiled by Gartner Japan.Sharp is the pioneer of picture telephones. It has been providing a...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-In an effort to break the stranglehold of the likes of Nokia, Siemens and Sony Ericsson, Vodafone is preparing to launch a huge marketing campaign that will prominently feature handsets labelled with the company's brand name, and not those of handset manufacturers.The...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-Despite the fanfare surrounding Nokia's launch this week of its first third-generation (3G) handset, many insiders remain adamant that there are significant technological issues to resolve before the devices can be shipped in any volume. The well-known problem of dropped calls during...
BEIJING-China Mobile plans to buy 300,000 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) handsets to promote its multimedia messaging service (MMS), which the company will launch in the coming days, following a similar move by rival China Unicom, which has already bought hundreds of thousands of...
DUBLIN, Ireland-A new initiative launched by the major U.K. mobile operators and retailers will, it is hoped, reduce the environmental impact of the 15 million mobile phones replaced in the United Kingdom each year.The Fonebak recycling scheme will see retailers accept handsets, batteries and...
LONDON-A U.K. company has launched a recycling program for the country's mobile phones. All five of the country's mobile operators, along with several retailers, have pledged support to the program called Fonebak.The United Kingdom discards about 15 million handsets every year, with handsets being...
VIENNA, Va.-Systems integrator TRW will integrate software from Cramer Systems into MmO2's Airwave public-safety wireless service in Britain. Cramer's software will be part of the Network Management Center used by Airwave to perform order management and service activation applications. Airwave will link communications between...
VIENNA, Austria-Mobilkom Austria, the largest Austrian mobile operator, has become one of the first European operators to deploy a UMTS network. About 25 percent of Austria, including most major urban areas, is covered in the initial launch.However, the operator is waiting for terminals before...
