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...
GENEVA-Sun Microsystems Inc. announced three manufacturers of Global System for Mobile communications handsets have agreed to incorporate Java technology in their products.First, Motorola Inc. plans to launch the Timeport P10888 smart phone with Java technology in Europe in the second quarter. Also, Sony Corp....
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson announced that it and IBM Corp., Lotus, Oracle, Palm Computing Inc. and the Symbian group have formed an alliance to advance applications based on the General Packet Radio Service.The GPRS Applications Alliance strives to introduce packet data to mobile networks as...
Nokia Corp. and Palm Computing Inc. have entered into a joint development agreement under which the two will cross-license their respective technologies to create a new category of wireless phones featuring Palm's pen-based user input method and personal information management functions."It's an expansion of...
TOKYO-While operators and venders successfully found a way to interconnect two different systems for third-generation services, NTT DoCoMo and its vendors are now gearing up to develop equipment for wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA).NTT DoCoMo in April selected a total of 11 3G vendors, including three foreign...
NEW YORK-Cellular terminals have come a long way in the quarter century since Motorola introduced its handheld DynaTAC mobile phone, a clunky device that weighed nearly 0.9 kilograms and measured 0.09 cubic meters (35 cubic inches). To be sure, the days of weighty loads...
WASHINGTON-After last year's PCS show was largely disrupted by Hurricane Georges, Jay Kitchen, president of the Personal Communications Industry Association, said he's been assured this year's show will not be a repeat performance.The list of speakers at Personal Communications Showcase '99, set to begin...
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...
OXFORD, United Kingdom-While the drive to implement Internet e-commerce is being hyped almost on a daily basis, with some justification, as the way forward for almost all future business transactions, the possible success of this application within the mobile world remains less than clear.Many...
NEW YORK-Ericsson Mobile Phones, Research Triangle Park, N.C., introduced a suite of new handsets June 21 at MobileFocus '99 that the company plans to offer for sale later this year and early next year.For those who want a wireless communications device rugged enough for...
Geoworks Corp., adding yet another new business focus, has embarked on a crusade to elevate the wireless environment to the broadcast advertising status of television and radio.The company revealed plans to launch a series of wireless information services, sponsored by advertising, which customers can...
LONDON-NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc. and Symbian announced their agreement to create research and development programs, specifically to establish and expand the wireless information devices market and provide broad support for devices developed on Symbian's EPOC platform.Under the agreement, NTT DoCoMo and Symbian will...
South KoreaCentigram Communications Corp. announced it signed a $2.4 million agreement with South Korea-based Shinsegi Telecomm Inc. to expand the voice-messaging capabilities on Shinsegi's Code Division Multiple Access network. Shinsegi purchased three additional servers for its Pusan, Kangnan and Kangbuk branches, bringing its total...
STOCKHOLM, Sweden-L.M. Ericsson introduced its first product as a result of its participation in the Symbian initiative-a mobile companion to Global System for Mobile communications phones called the MC 218.The product is designed according to Ericsson's divided smart-phone concept, in which the voice-based phone...
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...
NEW ORLEANS-For an agency whose job it is to regulate an industry, last week at CTIA's Wireless '99 three of the five people sitting on the Federal Communications Commission seemed reluctant to predict where that regulation will go in the next century."I don't think...
Geoworks Corp. announced the latest stage in its continuing transformation last week with the introduction of a consulting division called the Professional Services group.The business unit was created to provide software development, strategic consulting, project management and quality assurance consulting services to the wireless...
The Internet landscape was altered dra-matically last week when America Online Inc. announced it will acquire Netscape Communications Corp. in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at $4.2 billion.At the same time, AOL also announced it entered into a strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems Inc. to...
Qualcomm Inc. and Microsoft Corp. plan to announce this week they are creating a new wireless communications company to focus on the integration of wireless data, information technology and computers.According to information leaked to the press last week, the venture aims to extend Microsoft's...
LONDON-Motorola Inc. said it completed agreements to become a shareholder in the Symbian joint venture. Symbian is a venture of Psion Software, L.M. Ericsson and Nokia Corp. created to promote the EPOC operating system for wireless information devices, such as smartphones and palmtop computers.When...
Audiovox Corp. and Tendler Cellular introduced a system to provide location information for wireless 911 callers using a Global Positioning System receiver built into a cellular handset. Using FoneFinder, emergency calls go through to public-safety answering points just as any other 911 call would,...
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...
LOS GATOS, Calif.-ARM Ltd. announced it will support the newly formed Symbian joint venture recently created by L.M. Ericsson, Nokia Corp., Motorola Inc. and Psion.Symbian was established to create new products and license software to drive open standards for wireless information devices. ARM creates...
At a somewhat lavish press event at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Motorola Inc. announced it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Starfish Software Inc., a leading supplier of customized solutions for the Connected Information Device market.Terms of the transaction were not...
