SONYSony Electronics' Personal Mobile Communications-America announced the availability of a dual-mode 800 MHz analog/Code Division Multiple Access version of its D-Wave Zuma wireless handset. The lithium ion battery provides up to 2.3 hours of talk time or up to 45 hours standby time in...
For months now, my buddy Mike Houghton and the North American GSM Alliance have been scratching their heads trying to figure out how Qualcomm, Lucent and the CDMA crowd have made such inroads with Congress and the Clinton administration on this seemingly esoteric issue...
WASHINGTON-Pekka Tarjanne, outgoing secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union, predicted last week a family of third-generation wireless standards will emerge by year's end and that family will include a standard "pretty close" to the Global System for Mobile communications-based technology dominated by Sweden's...
CHS Electronics Inc., an international distributor of microcomputer products, announced an agreement to purchase BrightStar Corp., a start-up wholesale distributor of cellular phones and accessories, the companies said.CHS will use cash and shares of stock to pay for the acquisition, but other terms of...
Alcatel Alsthom's announcement of lower-than-expected earnings hit telecom stocks in Europe and the United States late last week.The French telecom equipment vendor said its telecom segment's income will be "adversely impacted by sharp investment cuts recently decided by some traditional operators and the deepening...
Extending desktop personal computer information to mobile phones has become a point of differentiation for several wireless companies of late, and Paragon Software plans to introduce a new application to do just that this week at PCS '98 in Orlando, Fla.In conjunction with Nokia...
IRVING, Texas-Nokia Mobile Phones announced the Telecoil-a hearing-aid compatible accessory designed to provide improved communications for the hearing impaired.The new product works with Nokia 5100 or 6100 digital wireless phones and offers digital communications solutions to more than 2 million T-coil hearing-aid users in...
HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Telecommunications demonstrated its High Speed Circuit Switched Data technology on a Global System for Mobile communications network, which boosted data speeds from current 9.6 kilobits per second to 14.4 kilobits per second in a single traffic channel.Nokia said applications on display included...
BANGALORE, India-State-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL) last year announced its plans to give private cellular operators in New Delhi and Mumbai a run for their money by launching a low-tariff mobile telephone service to cater to the salaried middle-class and students.Ever since MTNL...
Recent developments in Japan suggest standards leaders there realize they must deal with the cdma2000 third-generation proposal.
Japan's standards body, the Association of Radio Businesses (ARIB), recently concluded that both W-CDMA, based on the GSM platform, and cdma2000 third-generation proposals are valid proposals and meet...
LONDON-The Wireless Application Protocol Forum announced 23 companies have joined the organization since May, and it recently expanded and elected new officers to its board of directors.Formed last summer by Ericsson Inc., Motorola Inc., Nokia Corp. and Unwired Planet Inc., the WAP Forum's goal...
When controversy comes calling, policy makers and wireless telecom firms turn to a high-tech sounding board whose work is based more on reality than on rhetoric: the Telecommunications Industry Association.TIA, comprised of U.S. and foreign telecom manufacturers that develop technical standards, has been dragged into...
HOLTSVILLE, N.Y.-Symbol Technologies Inc., which designs, manufactures and installs wireless local area network systems, bar-code systems and short-range wireless-connectivity products, today announced its support for and full participation in the development of the Bluetooth specification. Symbol is a member of the Bluetooth Special Interest...
GLOBECOM SYSTEMSGlobecomm Systems Inc. announced commercial availability of its Systems Explorer II Portable Satphone, a satellite phone system that uses Integrated Services Digital Network technology. Explorer II is made in the United States and weighs 32 pounds. The system can be configured from the...
VENEZUELANokia Corp. was awarded a multi-year contract valued at up to $105 million to supply a turnkey 900 MHz Global System for Mobile communications network to Corporacion Digitel C.A. in Venezuela. Nokia said it will provide mobile switching centers, home location registers, base station...
Sorry Microsoft Corp., but analyst firm Strategy Analytics predicts the handheld device market in the future will not be dominated by any single standard."Microsoft will not dominate this category as it has with PCs," Matthew Checkley, associate consultant with the firm, said in a...
HELSINKI, Finland-Nokia Corp. said it conducted a demonstration of its High Speed Circuit Switched Data technology on a Global System for Mobile communications test network.The test included applications such as video-on-demand, music-on-demand, information services, large e-mail downloads, network games, re-broadcasting of television programs, and...
WASHINGTON-A powerful Senate resolution that was to promote third-generation wireless harmonization was thoroughly diluted by U.S. backers of European-based mobile phone technology last week, a bizarre turnabout that drew a mix of new faces into the escalating controversy and further muddied the waters for...
Sweden-based L.M. Ericsson said it has found no reason to believe the current W-CDMA 3G standard chosen by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute would infringe on any valid intellectual property rights claimed by Qualcomm Inc.In fact, CEO Sven-Christer Nilsson's comments to the Japanese press...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-The licensing of two additional cellular carriers in South Africa will represent the biggest opportunity for black empowerment in Africa-and for some, the last chance to become involved in the vibrant telecommunications market here.When the Department of Communications issues tender invitations later...
DUBLIN, Ireland-The number of new phone manufacturers and the introduction of GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) handset design packages have lead to a proliferation of new handsets. However, there already have been casualties, and it seems inevitable that other manufacturers will be forced...
WASHINGTON-The third-generation wireless debate took a dramatic turn last week as a key Clinton administration official questioned whether the United States should follow Europe's lead in allocating massive 3G spectrum, and an industry schism erupted that could have Motorola Inc. going its own way.Motorola,...
HELSINKI-Two of Nokia Corp.'s joint ventures in China, Beijing Nokia Mobile Telecommunications Ltd. and Beijing Nokia Hang Xiang Telecommunications System Ltd., signed an agreement to supply equipment for the sixth expansion of the BTA network.The expansion will increase the capacity of the Beijing Telecommunications...
In Chicago, where the mobile phone penetration rate is one of the highest among the nation's most populous markets, cellular carriers Ameritech Cellular Services Inc. and SBC Wireless have made aggressive moves to match offers coming primarily from their PCS counterpart, AT&T Wireless Services...
