WASHINGTON-When wireless customers begin to really use their wireless phones to access the Internet, who will they use? An Internet service provider of their choice or will they be forced to use the mobile-phone company's ISP?The answer Chris Gent, chief executive officer of Vodafone...
America Online Inc. took its AOL Anywhere strategy further into the wireless space last week with the introduction of its AOL Mobile Messenger service, created through several strategic deals with several wireless carriers and device manufacturers.AOL's Mobile Messenger service is designed to extend access...
SAN FRANCISCO-According to a survey by Yankelovich Partners, almost 70 percent of people surveyed said they expect in the future to use wireless phones to send and receive e-mail and to use global positioning system location-based services.The survey, commissioned by LetsTalk.com, also showed that...
NEW ORLEANS-Amazon.com Inc. intensified its wireless presence last week, announcing a new Web address exclusively for mobile e-commerce customers as well as alliances with Bell Atlantic Mobile and Motorola Inc.The new site, located at www.amazon.com/phone/, is accessible from any Wireless Application Protocol-enabled phone and...
Corsair Communications Inc. introduced this week its PrePay Open billing system, as well as its PhoneFuel mobile commerce application, both of which allow carriers to add Internet access to their prepaid wireless offerings.PrePay Open is capable of supporting the functionality of the Wireless Intelligent...
With the Federal Communications Commission's Phase II enhanced 911 compliance deadline quickly approaching, U.S. cellular and personal communications services carriers actively are evaluating systems for locating 911 callers. Because they also need to increase customer loyalty and revenue per subscriber, carriers are assessing whether...
Most conversations regarding the wireless Internet in the industry today revolve around Wireless Application Protocol technology, but several companies are bucking this trend-aiming to extend Internet content to wireless phones using alternative means to WAP.Providing them the opportunity to do so is WAP itself....
DENVER-U S West will introduce its Total Package, a communications plan that combines the most popular home telephone features, U S West Wireless telephone service and Internet access in one package with one monthly bill at a discounted price.The package will include, for $79.95...
PALM SPRINGS, Calif.-Speaking at a Goldman Sachs Technology Symposium, the head of Texas Instruments Inc.'s wireless business unit said the company expects last year's accelerated pace in the market for wireless phones to continue into this year.Gilles Delfassy, vice president and manager of TI's...
CANNES, France-At odds with some in the wireless industry, the keynote speaker at the GSM World Congress 2000 is not a proponent of convergence. In fact, Keith McCurdy, chief executive officer of Experts-Exchange.com, said convergence is not happening and wireless professionals should promote moving...
SAN DIEGO-China United Telecommunications Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. announced an agreement outlining guidelines for Chinese manufacturers to license Qualcomm's intellectual property to manufacture and sell Code Division Multiple Access wireless equipment.The deal stipulates that Chinese manufacturers that enter into such licenses with Qualcomm will...
NEW YORK-Smart cards must overcome a chicken-and-egg problem before they can expand their use in wireless devices beyond their established role as subscriber identification modules in Global System for Mobile communications products.The vision for smart cards is that they will become the tiny pocket...
This holiday season heralded the beginning of the e-commerce revolution, and wireless operators have the opportunity to cash in on it with the growing proliferation of Internet-enabled wireless phones and handheld computers.Optimism among the analyst community is rampant. Most recently, Strategy Analytics predicted the...
Did you see Virginia Tech freshman quarterback Michael Vick play last week in the Nokia Sugar Bowl? Wow! I don't follow college ball so I had never heard of this freshman standout. One ABC announcer dubbed him the Holy Grail of new football players.He's...
SINGAPORE-Motorola Inc. took another step in providing Internet capabilities for wireless phones with the first demonstration in Asia of General Packet Radio Service using the Wireless Application Protocol over Global System for Mobile communications networks.The demonstrations took place in Singapore using test frequencies from...
RESTON, Va.-Ztango.com Inc. introduced software solutions that enable the delivery of Internet-based services to digital wireless phones and Wireless Application Protocol-based smart phones.Ztango.com's software delivers custom information and news, e-mail, fax and other mobile office services. It supports Global Standard for Mobile communications, Time...
WASHINGTON-The wireless industry will enter the third millennium A.D. as the envy of the telecommunications industry. It is arguably the most competitive sector. It is innovative, with three different digital standards and third-generation wireless becoming reality. And it has conquered a huge nemesis: cloning."Cloning is...
Microsoft Corp. introduced its long-awaited dual-mode microbrowser last week, which allows wireless phones to access Internet content written in both Wireless Application Protocol language and traditional Hypertext Markup Language.Kevin Dallas, group product manager for Microsoft's Wireless Telephony unit, said the Mobile Internet Explorer browser...
WASHINGTON-In the continuing saga that is the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, telecom and privacy groups have appealed the technical standards the Federal Communications Commission set out in August claiming the rules are "contrary to law."The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association joined with the...
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Furthering its goal of becoming a complete communications provider, Metrocall Inc. announced an alliance with Covad Communications as the first step in providing high-speed Internet services through the newly formed Metrocall.net division.Through Covad, Metrocall will provide digital line subscriber services to those customers...
The International Vision Calls Foundation, based in Toronto, has launched its "Phones for Sight" program, an initiative calling on wireless phone consumers and vendors to reinvest their old phones in the international blind and visually impaired community.Plans call for the "Phones for Sight" initiative,...
LAS VEGAS-While the growing convergence between the computer and wireless industries has made headlines in wireless industry press and generated great excitement at wireless trade shows, the issue remains somewhat of a footnote within the computer industry.At last week's fall Comdex show here, some...
As the wireless industry continues its journey toward the convergence of wireless and Internet, many have kept a wary eye on Microsoft Corp. to determine where wireless concerns can fit in a paradigm held by computer interests.After all, competing in the same space as...
WASHINGTON-Competition in the local loop does not need to come from wireline competitive local exchange carriers, it can come from wireless carriers, a high-level executive told the Senate communications subcommittee last week."We truly do fulfill the intent of the in the markets where...
