SINGAPORE-Mobile data is quickly taking off in many parts of Asia, with growth rates in the region comparing favorably to take-up rates in Europe and the United States, say analysts.Although overall percentages of Asian wireless subscribers that use data services are not available, Steven...
Finland. Sonera began offering High Speed Circuit Switched Data services to its data customers 6 September, but without available handsets. Sonera said it wanted to be ready when handsets are available later this year.France. At Telecom '99 in Geneva, Alcatel, French carrier SFR/Cegetel, Phone.com...
Microsoft Corp. said it plans to deliver mobile data services in Japan by creating a joint venture company with NTT Mobile Communication Network Inc. called Mobimagic Company Ltd.The purpose of the equally held joint venture will be to develop and market mobile data services...
Perhaps the greatest indicator of how the wireless data industry has matured is the almost giddy buzz of excitement generated by this week's Wireless I.T. show in Santa Clara, Calif., sponsored by the Cellular Telecommunication Industry Association.In the fall of 1997, some 56 companies...
Nextel Communications Inc. announced customer additions of 458,000 in the third quarter, ending the three-month period with 4.05 million customers."The third quarter was our best ever, with both domestic and international operations setting new records and reaching new milestones," said Nextel President and Chief...
Last week heralded a slew of fairly positive announcements from the still-struggling paging industry, with PageMart Wireless Inc., Paging Network Inc., SkyTel and TSR Wireless L.L.C. announcing significant partnerships.PageMartPageMart announced a strategic agreement with the MSN.com Mobile Service to provide customized personal information services...
SANTA CLARA, Calif.-ThinAirApps.com introduced its ThinAir Secure Server application that, when installed inside a private corporate network, allows employees to access corporate database information and services from wirelessly enabled devices.Devices supported include the Palm VII, III and V connected organizers, Research In Motion Ltd....
British Telecommunications plc and Microsoft Corp. announced they have agreed to work together in developing mobile Internet and multimedia applications and equipment.Specifically, the two said they intend to develop handheld interactive wireless devices based on Microsoft's Windows CE platform, create a mobile multimedia service...
Glenayre Technologies Inc. launched Symmetry, a PC-based intelligent agent software package provided through Infowave Software Inc. that connects Glenayre pagers to information stored on Microsoft Outlook software.The two companies together began developing the wireless desktop extension software, then code-named Kodiak, in June. According to...
Microsoft Corp. teamed with Socket Communications Inc. to introduce the Microsoft Communications Kit-a carrier-independent solution designed to wirelessly enable laptop or palmtop computers running Windows or Windows CE using data-enabled wireless phones as modems.Using either a cable attachment or infrared port connection, users can...
AgilentAgilent Technologies debuted the SQL server 7.0 database scanner and HP SFCommand. HP SFCommand will help network operators integrate all security applications, such as monitoring and the implementation of security policies, across every server in their networks. The SQL Server 7.0 database scanner enables...
LONDON-British Telecommunications plc and Microsoft Corp. announced a wireless Internet trial with about 1,000 mobile phone users in the United Kingdom and Norway. Users will be able to access Microsoft Exchange-based calendaring, address lists, Web content and online information services from their wireless phones.The...
While the bankruptcies of Iridium L.L.C. and ICO Global Communications have cast doubt on the mobile satellite services market, fixed satellite services provider Teledesic L.L.C. believes it may find a way to benefit from these difficulties.Teledesic is wireless visionary Craig McCaw's idea for an...
TOKYO-Softbank, Microsoft and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) announced they will establish a joint company to provide wireless access line services.According to the announcement, the new joint company will provide the wireless service at a speed of 1 Megabyte per second (Mbps) for individual...
TORONTO-Research in Motion (RIM) of Waterloo, Ontario, a small Canadian company far from Silicon Valley, has developed some of the hottest wireless technology in the world. In just a short time, RIM has transformed itself into a market leader in technically advanced interactive pagers...
As the European telecom industry continues its consolidation activity, the continent's less-dominant paging industry hopes it might ride the coattails of this trend to effect something of a turnaround.The European paging market is defined by its highly fragmented nature. Multiple small paging operators dot...
In 1989, I started my career in wireless as an outside sales rep for Metro Mobile (which would later become part of Bell Atlantic Corp.) in my hometown of Columbia, S.C. Those were the heady days of thousand-dollar telephones, $3 per-day roaming fees, 3-watt...
TOKYO-Softbank, Microsoft Corp. and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) announced in August they will establish a joint company to provide wireless access line services.According to the announcement, the new joint company will provide the wireless service at a speed of 1 Megabyte per second...
ATLANTA-Infowave Software Inc. said it unveiled the final version of Infowave for the Net, a client/server solution designed to provide secure wireless access to the Internet or intranets.The company said it will market the product jointly with its wireless product for Microsoft Exchange-Infowave for...
NEW YORK-The Financial Accounting Standards Board, Norwalk, Conn., recently issued a proposal for public comment that would eliminate accounting for mergers as pooling of interests, which are the sum of the book value of their assets.By dollar volume of recent merger activity, particularly in...
If you want clout in Washington, the only thing better than being a top board member of either of the two largest wireless trade associations is not being a member of the two largest wireless trade associationsAsk Nextel Communications Inc. It's not a member...
The Wireless Data Forum celebrated its first birthday last week by releasing its first book, called "Going Mobile: A Cookbook of Wireless Data Solutions."The WDF said Going Mobile is the first in what is to be an annual publication on the state of the mobile...
When Wireless Knowledge L.L.C. announced its intention to create a service linking wireless devices to information based behind corporate firewalls, regardless of airlink standards, analysts had only one comment-"show me."But it seems the company is unable to meet that request just yet. In January,...
Wireless industry members agree smart phones will become a critical differentiating factor for handset vendors and mobile-phone operators within the next two years, but the proliferation of these devices remains relatively unknown.For handset providers, smart phones represent an opportunity to extend their products, boost...