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...
TOKYO-Sony Corp. reported its net income for the first quarter of fiscal year 1999, ended June 30, dropped sharply to $152 million, a 55-percent decrease from the same quarter a year ago. Sony attributed the decrease primarily to the strong yen.By industry segment, sales...
CAMPBELL, Calif.-American Wireless has opened an office in Miami to serve its expansion into Latin America. Gilbert Valdesuso, formerly with CellStar Corp., was named vice president of the operation, said the company."Using Miami as our staging area, we will focus initially on hardware distribution...
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...
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...
TOKYO-Sony Corp., the globally renowned manufacturer of consumer electronics products, plans to launch wireless local loop (WLL) service in Japan before the end of the year.Sony has submitted an application to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications for a Type I license, which is...
IntellicellIntellicell Corp. announced Mike Hedge and Michael King, both previously with CellStar Corp., are heading up Intellicell's sales and marketing group. Hedge will be responsible for the implementation of an overall strategic growth plan to increase revenues and King will focus on developing a...
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a hamburger and French fries? Probably McDonalds.Think of a pair of tennis shoes, and you probably picture the Nike swoosh. Or a pair of jeans, and you probably think of Levi's....
SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. announced Qualcomm Personal Electronics, a joint venture between subsidiaries of Qualcomm Inc. and Sony Electronics Inc., shipped its 10 millionth Code Division Multiple Access handset.Initial shipments began in September 1995, reached 100,000 in May 1996, grew to 1 million in February...
Reuters and other national news agencies reported Sony Corp. is undergoing a restructuring process that will consolidate various business segments and lay off 10 percent of the company's work force.But according to U.S.-based employees, the measure will not affect the company's wireless product business,...
SONY ELECTRONICSSony Electronics introduced a new alphanumeric pager with a synthesized tuner, generic-over-the-air programming capabilities and the company's Jog Dial operation, called the MP-7001. The generic-over-the-air programming technology, or GOTAP, is an advanced feature of the Motorola Inc. FLEXsuite protocol. Sony also released the...
SEATTLE-Tegic Communications announced a licensing agreement with Sony Corp. that will allow Sony to incorporate Tegic Communications' T9 Text Input technology into products such as wireless phones.T9 Text Input enables users to enter text on a telephone keypad just as they would on a...
I guess there is no use longing for yesterdays when wireless trade shows were somewhat sane.Today's conventions are full of new twists as last-minute press conferences are called to announce deals signed at 3 a.m. the previous day, and phones that were supposed to...
MarketwaveRichard Bryan is the new senior vice president of sales and marketing at Marketwave Corp. Bryan previously worked for AT&T Wireless Services Inc. as its vice president of sales and marketing, in charge of staff, national accounts and retail sales.Kansas CellularKansas Cellular announced several...
Unwired Planet Inc. took another step toward making its vision of Wireless Application Protocol devices and services a commercial reality by providing interoperability testing between its WAP-enabled UP.Link Server and WAP-encoded browsers produced by handset manufacturers.The first company to begin testing its proprietary browser...
Qualcomm Inc. may be ready to sell off its handset division as competition in the cdmaOne handset business intensifies and costs increase.Sources say Qualcomm is in discussions with Siemens Wireless Terminals concerning the sale of Qualcomm's cdmaOne handset division. Qualcomm and Siemens declined to...
SPRINGFIELD, Ill.-Amica Wireless Phone Service said it expects to begin offering digital wireless calling Dec. 14 in Bloomington, Champaign, Dectaur and Springfield, Ill., using Code Division Multiple Access technology.Among other services, Amica Wireless offers pay-per-use minutes, voice mail and caller ID with basic monthly...
VICTORIA, British Columbia, Canada-Clearnet Communications Inc. announced it launched personal communications services in Victoria.Clearnet PCS offers a Sony Corp. dual-mode PCS phone.Clearnet originally brought its PCS service to British Columbia with Clearnet PCS in the Lower Mainland last year and launched analog service in...
Ever since Nokia Mobile Phones Inc. introduced the first in a new class of mobile phones with its Nokia 9000 Communicator, the excitement surrounding the idea of devices that combine wireless voice and data has been growing.Nokia last week manufactured its 100 millionth mobile...
PARK RIDGE, N.J.-Sony Electronics Inc. is contacting users of an estimated 60,000 Sony dual-band wireless phones in the United States because some may have power settings in excess of the maximum level authorized by the Federal Communications Commission.The affected phones were manufactured between February...
ORLANDO, Fla.-Unwired Planet Inc. released its UP.Link Platform Version 3.1 with Wireless Markup Language support at PCS '98.The platform, which includes the UP.Link Server and UP.Browser, now can deliver WML content from industry-standard Web servers to wireless handsets and is Wireless Application Protocol compliant.The...
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...
NEW YORK-A Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association group is developing recommendations for handset manufacturers that would reduce fraud potential and facilitate over-the-air customer activations for non-Global System for Mobile Communications carriers.The CTIA Fraud Technology Assessment Group, charged with evaluating and recommending new fraud-prevention measures, has...
As the digital revolution begins to move at a substantial pace, mobile phone manufacturers have some tough decisions to make.The demand for digital handsets is growing, especially in the CDMA arena, where carriers are screaming for more handsets. More cellular carriers aggressively are pushing...
