NEW YORK-In a move apparently intended to get ahead of the crowd, Hutchison Telecommunications Australia Ltd., Sydney, announced July 12 it plans to sell 29.5 percent of the company in a $215 million initial public offering next month.The Australian branch of Hong Kong-based Hutchison...
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.-Phone.com Inc. gained ground in Japan recently, having signed agreements to incorporate its UP.Link Server Suite in wireless networks there.Two Japanese cellular carriers, DDI Corp. and IDO Corp., launched wireless Internet access services based on the technology, the company said. DDI's service...
A recent advertisement for HEAD tennis racquets shows a photo of tennis sensation Andre Aggasi and below it, the caption, "Long live the radicals."It's a cute slogan for tennis, but not one the wireless industry will covet. Nothing, radical or otherwise, seems long-lived in...
GTE Wireless Inc. is taking Qualcomm Inc. to federal court, claiming the handset manufacturer violated its patent by incorporating certain roaming technology in mobile phones.In a lawsuit filed in Virginia, GTE claims to hold a patent to technology that facilitates intelligent or preferred roaming-the...
U S West Wireless recently completed field tests of Qualcomm Inc.'s High Data Rate product, saying it was impressed with the solution, but didn't indicate plans to deploy the technology commercially.
"We were able to show proof of the concept and that it does provide...
The wireless handset market has proven that a strong brand name doesn't guarantee success.
Sony Electronics Inc. announced last week it is pulling out of the North American handset business and terminating 200 jobs in San Diego. The well-known consumer electronics giant is one of...
The Gartner Group's Dataquest reports that Interim Standard-95 Code Division Multiple Access-based handsets are the top-selling handset in the U.S. market. As such, Qualcomm Inc., powered by a lead in the CDMA market, has leapfrogged L.M. Ericsson in terms of market share. Ericsson, Motorola...
HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp.'s Wireless Software Solutions division introduced the Nokia WAP Browser, a Wireless Application Protocol microbrowser designed for wireless handsets and personal digital assistants.The browser is featured in Nokia's previously released 7110 phone, but now is available to others wishing to integrate WAP...
NEW YORK-Consumer perception of Korea Telecom as "slow moving and bureaucratic, but quite good at service provision," has helped, not hindered, its subsidiary Korea Telecom Freetel, said Sang-Chul Lee, president and chief executive officer.The Code Division Multiple Access personal communications services provider, which holds...
BASKING RIDGE, N.J.-AT&T Corp. introduced a consumer-oriented version of its Digital One Rate plan, a plan that eliminates roaming and long-distance fees and is targeted at the business user.AT&T said this DOR version, incorporated in the AT&T Personal Network offering, is best suited for...
WHIPPANY, N.J.-Bell Labs researchers say they have developed a wireless location system that is accurate to within 15 feet when users are outdoors, and to 100 feet when they are indoors.Using the Bell Labs technology, wireless networks would be equipped with global positioning system...
Qwest Communications International is pursuing an acquisition of U S West in competition with another bidder, Global Crossing.Microsoft announced in mid-May a US$600 million investment in Nextel Communications, the leading trunked radio operator in the United States. The deal is to give Nextel customers...
DENVER, United States-After several months of fruitlessly chasing the horizontal market of international roaming business users, Iridium announced a refocused marketing plan aimed at the vertical industrial segments and a new pricing plan featuring flat-rate airtime costs and cheaper handsets.Iridium's new chief executive officer,...
MIAMI-The market opportunity for international roaming is clear, present and growing, but domestic U.S. carriers so far have been focused on tapping the large and more immediate potential posed by the burgeoning data traffic at home."Many of the U.S. carriers I follow have not...
HandsetsKyoceraKyocera plans to begin marketing at the end of July in Japan its VP-210 VisualPhone, a PHS phone with a built-in camera that can transmit and receive images in real time at a rate of two frames per second. The handset incorporates a CMOS...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-While the drive to implement Internet e-commerce is being hyped almost on a daily basis, with some justification, as the way forward for almost all future business transactions, the possible success of this application within the mobile world remains less than clear.Many...
DUBLIN, Ireland-One of the most common complaints from telecommunications companies competing with former monopoly operators is cross-subsidization by the incumbent, particularly in countries where the incumbent also controls a major cellular operator. However, regulators across Europe have been tackling this issue, and it now...
DENVER, United States-A new battery-system invention coming on the market can boost customer satisfaction, make mobile phones more powerful and create higher revenue for carriers, the system's creator company believes.U.S.-based Enrev Corp., formerly called Advanced Charger Technology Inc., has created and patented a battery...
ElectofuelElectrofuel Inc. announced the Lithium Ion SuperPolymer battery, which has an energy density of 470 Wh/liter and 183 Wh/kilogram, almost doubling the previous endurance records of rechargeable batteries. With the SuperPolymer battery, laptop computers will run 15 or more hours on a fully charged...
NEW YORK-Exxon Corp., Irvine, Texas, has posted signs at its domestic filling stations requiring customers to turn off their wireless phones before filling their cars' gas tanks due to the slight chance the devices could ignite a fire.Esso Sekiyu K.K. and General Sekiyu K.K.,...
L.M. Ericsson wants the industry to know it plans to become a formidable contender in the cdmaOne infrastructure business.It's been more than a month since the company completed its purchase of Qualcomm Inc.'s fledgling infrastructure division and licensed intellectual property rights to cdmaOne technology...
NEW YORK-Ericsson Mobile Phones, Research Triangle Park, N.C., introduced a suite of new handsets June 21 at MobileFocus '99 that the company plans to offer for sale later this year and early next year.For those who want a wireless communications device rugged enough for...
HONG KONG-The future of cdmaOne technology was the theme of this year's CDMA World Congress in Hong Kong, and while data services are the future, wireless executives are struggling with how to price and package services."Everyone uses the lack of a killer application as...
WEST POINT, Ga.-Powertel Inc. is offering its handsets and wireless services via an e-commerce section on its redesigned Web site-www.powertel.com.Mike Bashaw, vice president of marketing and product development for Powertel, said e-commerce shoppers will be able to select from a variety of handsets and...
