Starting Jan. 1, several cities in Utah, including Salt Lake City, Cedar City and South Salt Lake, will levy a $1-per-month tax on cellular phones to tap what city officials see as a substantial revenue source.Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson first proposed the...
WASHINGTON-The Federal Trade Commission, appearing to be staking out regulatory jurisdiction over the nascent mobile Internet industry, said it will examine a wide range of wireless consumer protection issues next month at a two-day workshop here."Mobile wireless Internet and data technologies raise many of...
Cell phones have never been just phones. They've always been communicators, but they've also had the ability to be deal-makers, marriage-savers, calculators, address books, weapons (Someone somewhere had to use one of those brick phones in a bar-room fight, don't you think?) etc.Two recent...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Just as content on the wireless Web is not at the same point as the wired Web, wireless Web security is not at the same level either. But if the wireless Web is to succeed-in the way the wired Web is succeeding-it needs...
LAS VEGAS-Those who got an early view of the new Ericsson R380 World Smartphone at Comdex here last week quickly dubbed it a "spork."Developers Ericsson and Symbian didn't seem to mind the term for their new integrated device that combines the features of a...
SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. said the European Patent Office upheld the validity of one of the company's patents, which comes after two years of opposition from Nokia Mobile Phones Ltd.Qualcomm's patent, called "Method and Apparatus for Determining the Data Rate of a Received Signal," allows...
Not one operator around the world has rolled out third-generation services yet, but discussion of fourth-generation technology is already under way. An industry that began offering a basic communications tool is evolving into something much flashier, much more futuristic and certainly more exciting.Japan, the...
NEW DELHI, India-Cellular operators in Pakistan will move to the calling party pays (CPP) regime by the end of November, following a decision by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). Making incoming calls free on the mobile phones is expected to boost growth of the...
WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration last week quietly released a long, overdue report that recommends mobile phones, pagers, the Internet and other technologies for delivering emergency alert warnings to citizens.The "Effective Disaster Warnings" report was placed on a Web site of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric...
WASHINGTON-The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it plans to fine Clear Communications Group $120,000 for willful and repeated violations of federal workplace safety regulations."The failure to provide adequate fall protection is one of the most common and most preventable causes of injuries in...
WASHINGTON-For all the confusion and uncertainty following last week's presidential and congressional elections, it is possible telecom policy could escape the massive political gridlock that is predicted ahead.But don't count on it."I think there will be gridlock on taxes and other issues outside telecommunications,...
TOKYO-Matsushita Communication Industrial announced a new company in the Czech Republic to manufacture mobile phones and car audio equipment. The company will begin production in October 2001.Matsushita, which markets mobile phones under the Panasonic brand name, said the production capacity of the new company...
WASHINGTON-Beijing appears to be thumbing its nose at wireless provisions of the landmark U.S.-China trade agreement, posing potential problems for American mobile-phone firms and the next administration.The move comes as a group of U.S. wireless executives prepare to meet with their counterparts in China...
BEIJING-A department chief from the Ministry of Information Industry, Xie Linzhen, has said mobile phones manufactured by local companies would comprise 15 percent of the market by the end of this year, up from 8 percent by the end of June. Currently, 10 domestic...
WASHINGTON-The hearing-impaired community has asked the Federal Communications Commission to consider mandating hearing aid compatibility for digital mobile phones, saying the wireless industry has failed to adequately address the problem.The FCC has requested comments on the petition by Dec. 8. Reply comments are due...
BEIJING-Amiosonic's new range of GSM mobile phones will be able to interoperate with Lucent Technologies Inc.'s GSM network infrastructure under a deal announced by the two companies.Mobile operators in China will now have an end-to-end solution starting next year, the companies said.The agreement may...
WASHINGTON-The U.S. Supreme Court, confronted with four appeals challenging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mobile-phone radiation standard and congressional intervention, in October granted the government's request for more time to respond to lawsuits seeking to have the high court hear their cases.Petitions for certiorari,...
PRAGUE, Czech Republic-Cesky Mobil, the Czech Republic's third mobile telephone operator, is seeking to differentiate itself from its competition by offering low start-up costs and emphasizing ease of use.The formula has paid quick dividends. In its first four operational months, it signed up more...
Not one operator around the world has rolled out third-generation services yet, but discussion of fourth-generation technology is already under way. An industry that began offering a basic communications tool is evolving into something much flashier, much more futuristic and certainly more exciting.Japan, the...
After pioneering efforts to bring Bluetooth technology to market, Ericsson dropped plans to launch the T36 cell phone, its first Bluetooth-enabled handset, in an attempt to pull its handset division back toward profitability. The T36, announced in June, was one of two cell phones...
WASHINGTON-A British consumer group in November said new tests reaffirm earlier findings that hands-free devices can increase RF radiation emitted by mobile phones, but the organization stopped short of claiming that earpieces pose a health risk."Our latest tests confirm that hands-free kits can indeed...
HandsetsNeopointThe company released new dual-band and tri-mode smart phones that include increased capacity for personal digital assistant functions, built-in e-mail capabilities and a NeoPad Qwerty keyboard. The dual-band NeoPoint 2000 and tri-mode NeoPoint 2600 phones hold more than 2,000 contacts, schedule, task and personal...
SANTA CLARA, Calif.-When most travelers plan out their itineraries, the most pressing needs involve finding an airline flight and booking the hotel reservations. If you are lucky you may even be able to match the two correctly and avoid spending any uncomfortable nights sleeping...
ISELIN, N.J.-Electric Fuel Corp. announced that The PocketPhone Shop, a mobile phone retailer in the United Kingdom, will carry its line of Instant Power cell-phone batteries. The batteries are fully charged and disposable. Electric Fuel, which focuses on primary and refuelable zinc-air battery technology,...
