WASHINGTON-A new Swedish study links analog cell-phone use to brain tumors, a major scientific development that comes as lawmakers prepare to introduce legislation that would earmark federal funds for wireless bioeffects research and repeal a 1996 telecom act provision that bans zoning boards from...
When RadioShack warned last month its second-quarter sales were sluggish, the news did not surprise many. Sure, RadioShack's stock price fell 20 percent, but double-digit losses have become routine. But when the company blamed a $50 million anticipated sales shortfall on wireless handset and...
WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association said it supports Nextel Communications Inc.'s waiver application from enhanced 911 Phase II requirements."Nextel has documented the process by which it arrived at its Phase II technology choice, which includes extensive investigations into multiple Phase II E911 technologies,...
NEW YORK-Motorola Inc. said it has agreed to conduct an eight-week trial of Emblaze Systems' technology using a scaled-down version of a cdma2000 1xRTT network.It is designed to test the capabilities of live-on-demand video and video mail to handsets and other handheld devices.
BEDMINSTER, N.J.-Verizon Wireless and Motorola Inc. introduced two new wireless handsets that, with an optional headset, also serves as an FM radio. The FM functionality on the Motorola V120c and V60c automatically mutes when a phone call comes in, allowing users to press a...
SAN FRANCISCO-Nextel Communications Inc.'s i85s and i50sx Java-enabled handsets, provided by Motorola Inc., will soon provide support for Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol, Over-the-air download application and serial port connectivity beginning in August."These enhancements reinforce Motorola's and Nextel's joint commitment to providing developers with leading...
LEESBURG, Va.-Iridium Satellite L.L.C. began shipping last week an order of 1,000 phones pursuant to a contract signed with the Defense Information Systems Agency last December. The 1,000 phones also include a secure sleeve, which will allow for encrypted communications when both parties on...
Worldwide rollout of next-generation wireless services went 2 for 1 last week as both Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo and U.K.-based Vodafone Group plc introduced handsets for high-speed data services, while Finnish operator Sonera said it was delaying its rollout due to a lack of...
Some of the world's largest wireless vendors are working to bypass carrier interoperability issues by supporting a standard they say will let users send advanced short message service messages back and forth between phones, regardless of the network."This is a way to help carriers...
As it stands today, developers of wireless applications have to write those applications in a unique code-whether that be cHTML, VoXML, WML or XML-to make those applications recognizable to the wireless device. But if we look into the future, some unknown years ahead, we...
Trying to pin down Nextel Communications Inc. into a specific category is not an easy chore. By definition, Nextel is a specialized mobile radio operator, yet most analysts compare it with the other nationwide carriers when looking at its quarterly results and spectrum holdings.When...
Manufacturers realize that making devices smaller and equipped for high-data speed is becoming as important as efficiency across technology lines.Tropian Inc., a semiconductor company that offers advanced radio-frequency products to the wireless industry, has developed a multimode transmitter for wireless applications.The product, called TimeStar,...
WASHINGTON-Cingular Wireless Inc. plans to file a waiver from the enhanced 911 Phase II rules, probably within the next two weeks, said Brian Fontes, Cingular vice president for federal relations, confirming hints made last month by Stephen Carter, Cingular's chief executive officer.Cingular chose the...
WOODBURY, N.Y.-Comverse, a unit of Comverse Technology Inc., has been authorized by the Ministry of Information and Industry to sell voice mail and short message service technologies to service providers in China.Six Chinese mobile operators including Guangdong Mobile, Shanghai Mobile, Liaoning Mobile, Hei Longjiang...
WASHINGTON-If you are a congressman driving one Friday evening to Connecticut while holding a mobile phone in your hand, and your wife exclaims suddenly that you are driving erratically, what do you do?When this happened to Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.), he introduced legislation...
Short messaging service has found a niche in Europe with the youth market sending billions of short notes to each other during the past year. SMS messages often only cost pennies per messages. But with more than 5 billion SMS messages sent each month,...
While Bluetooth chipsets are expected to be commonplace in wireless handsets in the next few years, Bluetooth's current push in the market is being spearheaded by the mobile computer industry in the form of PC Cards. These cards typically fit into the Type II...
Motorola Inc. marked its Smart Networks Developers Forum in New Orleans last week with partnerships and new product initiatives.Far away in Oman, the company signed a $5.2 million contract to expand a GSM digital cellular system in the country.Under the deal which takes off...
Glitches are becoming to phones what muscle spasms are to track athletes-confirmation that travel to the next generation of technologies will experience limps along with leaps.Most of the big name phone makers including Sony Corp., Nokia Corp., L.M. Ericsson, NEC Corp. and Matsushita Industrial...
TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo Inc. and DoCoMo AOL Inc. announced the June 1 nationwide launch of AOLi, which gives i-mode users access to America Online e-mail.AOLi will offer i-mode users their own AOL screen name, allowing them to link to the AOL e-mail service via either...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission proposed rules that could lead to the eventual end of analog cellular service, a move that could hurt telematics and other security businesses.However, the commission gave itself a number of "outs.""We seek to ensure that eliminating the analog compatibility standard...
Transition is the word of the year, according to UBS Warburg's analysis of mobile handset sales for the first quarter and forecast for the rest of 2001.Suppliers are struggling to sell over-stocked inventory, the wait is on for 2.5G technology, especially GPRS data applications,...
TOKYO-Japanese wireless operator NTT DoCoMo Inc. is expected to begin selling dual-band cell phones next year in response to strong subscriber growth, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily reported.The handsets will be able to switch between the 1.5 GHz and 800 MHz frequency bands...
Since technology is almost meaningless without the phones, it also can be lonely to be a phone maker in a market where securing a cutting edge is the only pathway to success.Recently, Sony Corp. and L.M. Ericsson teamed up to produce the Sony Ericsson...
