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Bluetooth makes noise at CeBIT

HANNOVER, Germany-After a year of industry enthusiasm and the wild market forecasts that have surrounded the short-range wireless technology Bluetooth, the silicon-chip developers used the giant CeBIT 2000 exhibition to unveil products that appear to provide the first step on the path toward implementation.Key...

Products

HandsetsPhilipsPhilips introduced several new handsets. The Ozeo GSM dual-band mobile phone offers a new user interface and a large LCD display with five text lines. The carousel icon screen feature simultaneously displays up to five visual icons representing the phone's functions and features. The...

Who will win the smart-phone OS war?

The focus on the mobile industry has been enormous during the last year. Device vendors, service providers, application developers, infrastructure vendors and content providers have all been jostling to position themselves in the new value chain. Like the PC industry, control over the technology...

Which wireless operating system? … Does it really matter?

Much has been made of the battle for supremacy of the operating system for the wireless data terminal market. With the number of Internet-enabled wireless devices expected to outnumber PC Internet connections within a few years, people are asking, "What is going to be...

AmikaNow! offers products, services for text-enabled devices

AmikaNow!, an artificial intelligence solutions provider for wireless Internet services, unveiled a line of plug-in products for Microsoft Outlook 2000, as well as an online service called AmikaFreedom.com.AmikaFreedom and AmikaWisdom are e-mail management and wireless messaging solutions that use artificial intelligence to recognize keywords...

Symbian initiative outlines new agreements

SANTA CLARA, Calif.-The Symbian initiative unveiled several new product enhancements through deals announced at the Symbian Developers Conference.An agreement with Communication Intelligence Corp. added the company's Jot handwriting recognition system, QuickNotes electronic note-taking application, WordComplete predictive text-entry utility and Sign-On biometric security application to...

Market gap producing WAP alternatives

Most conversations regarding the wireless Internet in the industry today revolve around Wireless Application Protocol technology, but several companies are bucking this trend-aiming to extend Internet content to wireless phones using alternative means to WAP.Providing them the opportunity to do so is WAP itself....

Products

Agilent TechnologiesAgilent Technologies Inc. introduced a number of new test-solution products and made improvements to others. The Agilent 84000 RFIC series model A20E is a low-cost test solution developed specifically for high-volume semiconductor manufacturers that make radio-frequency power-amplifier integrated circuits used in cell phones...

Sprint PCS picks Wireless Knowledge as Premier Partner

SAN DIEGO-Wireless Knowledge L.L.C., a joint venture company between Microsoft Corp. and Qualcomm Inc., has been selected by Sprint PCS as a Premier Partner in its recently announced Application Developer's Program.Wireless Knowledge will assist Sprint PCS customers with the development of Web sites and...

Mannesmann accepts pricey Vodafone bid

After resisting a hostile takeover attempt by Vodafone AirTouch plc for more than two months, Germany's Mannesmann AG last week agreed to a revised friendly offer just days shy of the Feb. 7 deadline for Mannesmann shareholders to vote on the hostile bid.Mannesmann's supervisory...

ThinAirApps offers data access

NEW YORK-ThinAirApps L.L.C. introduced its ThinAir Server, a platform that allows corporate users to access enterprise data from wireless devices.The first set of products includes the ThinAir Server for Microsoft Exchange and ThinAir Server for IMAP and POP e-mail accounts.Wireless devices supported include Palm...

Internet forces wireless to play catch-up

When you're moving at Internet-speed, a lot can happen in a year.Those targeting the wireless remote access market found this out quickly. About a year ago, several companies emerged with the intent to provide solutions that would extend corporate data to wireless handsets. At...

BUSINESS BRIEFS

Aquis Communications Group Inc. announced it has completed its acquisition of SourceOne Wireless Inc., having managed the day-to-day operations of the Wheeling, Ill., firm since August. The deal adds Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Detroit, Indianapolis and Milwaukee to Aquis' footprint.Nokia Corp.'s board of directors...

Companies form Mobile Wireless Internet Forum

CANNES, France-Several well-known firms in the Internet and wireless industries have come together to form the Mobile Wireless Internet Forum with the intent to accelerate the deployment of open, Internet-based standards for mobile wireless devices.The group said it hopes to provide a venue for...

3 states attack federal pre-emption on liability issues

WASHINGTON-Richard Blumenthal, the high-profile Connecticut attorney general who played key roles in successful lawsuits against Microsoft Corp. and the tobacco industry, has joined his counterparts in California and Wisconsin in urging the Federal Communications Commission to declare that state laws banning unfair deceptive practices...

Smart cards likely to evolve with industry

NEW YORK-Smart cards must overcome a chicken-and-egg problem before they can expand their use in wireless devices beyond their established role as subscriber identification modules in Global System for Mobile communications products.The vision for smart cards is that they will become the tiny pocket...

RIM stock surges on investment news

Research In Motion Ltd. last week received a $25 million investment from Nortel Networks and an order for more than 2,000 BlackBerry handheld devices in the next three months from Intel Corp., leading to a strong surge in the company's stock.The Nortel pact is...

Vodafone AirTouch charts Internet plan

In what has been called primarily a preening gesture for Mannesmann AG shareholders, Vodafone AirTouch plc announced plans last week to launch an Internet portal designed for wireless Internet and mobile data services, delivering data, audio, graphics and video to wireless devices.The company expects...

D.C. NOTES: Oy vey

While Steve Case, Gerald Levin and Ted Turner were cartwheeling last week over AOL's planned purchase of Time Warner, others were not jumping for joy over this or anything else digital.A world away, in Jerusalem, top ultra-Orthodox Jewish rabbis pulled the plug on the...

Sierra, Infowave bundle solution for N.A. businesses

VANCOUVER, British Columbia-While most people bundle together in Canada to stay warm, two companies in Vancouver are bundling to make their services warmer for consumers.Sierra Wireless and Infowave Software Inc. announced they have signed a strategic marketing agreement to offer a bundled enterprise wireless...

Security worries could trip up wireless e-commerce takeoff

This holiday season heralded the beginning of the e-commerce revolution, and wireless operators have the opportunity to cash in on it with the growing proliferation of Internet-enabled wireless phones and handheld computers.Optimism among the analyst community is rampant. Most recently, Strategy Analytics predicted the...

Paging poised for two-way

If recent announcements by paging vendors and carriers are any indication, two-way paging products and services are poised to make a big splash in 2000.Both Motorola Inc. and Glenayre Technologies Inc. unveiled their long-awaited ReFLEX 25 compatible two-way paging devices last week at the...

NEWS BRIEFS

A subsidiary of Brightpoint Inc., Brightpoint (Asia Pacific) Pte. Ltd., has completed the sale of its 67-percent interest in a Hong Kong-based accessory company. According to Brightpoint, the sale was part of the company's restructuring plan announced on June 30, 1999.Focus Affiliates Inc. said...

NEWS BRIEFS

Aether Systems Inc. said it will license Diversinet Corp.'s Passport software to enhance the security of wireless e-commerce applications. The agreement integrates Aether's wireless data enterprise solutions with Diversinet's ability to capture digital signatures. Aether said the agreement will allow it to use digital...