Wireless

Wireless connections

BB Mobile Demo Seamless 3G/Wi-Fi Roaming With Nortel
Nortel NT and BB Mobile are chuffed to bits to have achieved what they claim is the world’s “first seamless handoff of voice and data services between a third generation (3G) cellular network operating on the 1.7 GHz radio frequency band and a wireless local area network (LAN)”.
What this means in English is that in the future users will be able roam securely between 3G wireless networks and Wi-Fi networks or wireless LANs while checking out websites, blasting out emails, downloading files and doing all the other things that connected cats get up to on a high-speed wireless broadband voice and data service.
The triumphant test calls were made on a live Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) 3G cellular network and an 802.11 wireless LAN, with Nortel’s smarty pants software making it all happen.
This latest test follows on from successful wireless data transmission trials by Nortel and BB Mobile earlier this month.
In those trials, boffins were able to notch up Japan’s first 14.4 million bits per second (Mbps) wireless data transmission via the 1.7 GHz radio frequency band for mobile communications and Nortel’s high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) technology.
This managed to ratchet up speeds 30 times faster than commercially deployed networks using UMTS.
Peter MacKinnon, president GSM/UMTS, Nortel, throbbed: “This second demonstration with BB Mobile is an important step in meeting the demand for ubiquitous wireless broadband voice and data services regardless of network or device”.
“The results of these tests with BB Mobile also highlight the level of technological innovation we will continue to bring to Japan’s wireless industry to help drive network convergence and bridge the gap between wireline and wireless 3G networks,” added Nick Vreugdenhil, country manager, Japan, Nortel.
As an aside, we have to commend Nortel on producing the longest disclaimer message we’ve ever seen.
A note at the end of the press announcement: “Certain information included in this press release is forward-looking and is subject to important risks and uncertainties. The results or events predicted in these statements may differ materially from actual results or events….”
Nortel then went on to cover every possible eventuality including – probably – an invasion of bug eye monsters, in a 700 word yawn-a-thon guaranteed to be ignored by anyone who sees it.
Oy! Company spokesperson! Shut it!
Nortel
Softbank
22 June, 2005
Hello? I’M ON THE PLANE!!!!
A survey by technology researchers IDC revealed that passengers aren’t too keen on the prospect of spending long flights listening to fellow passengers bellowing into their mobile phones.
The comprehensive survey was set up in response to reports that the US Federal Communications Commission was considering lifting its in-flight cellphone ban.
IDC discovered that a mere 11 percent of its 50,000 survey respondents wanted the ban lifted, but a hefty 64 percent approved of the use of mobile phones for purposes besides voice calls.
“While the passage of this proposal appears to offer solutions to the wireless industry, it has spawned disapproval among some consumer groups as the potential for in-flight usage would create disturbances to passengers,” IDC commented.
The growth of clever-clogs smartphones phones like the i-mate JAM and PalmOne Treo would allow connected passengers to check their email and surf the web during flights.
IDC’s survey aimed to identify which wireless services were most appealing and, not surprisingly, of the eleven activities offered, text messaging was the most popular activity.
As you might imagine, the market would love to see the in-flight ban lifted as it would provide a party pack of opportunities for wireless carriers and airlines to brand and market mobile commerce, provide new channels to squeeze more cash out of consumers and send smart phone manufacturers into mobile heaven.
“Whether a mobile-device vendor is interested in the in-flight market or not, the key finding from this survey remains the same: By comprehending the needs and criteria specific to the user segment and location, mobility companies can enhance their products to better serve and target the desired customers and market segments,” said Dana Thorat, IDA research manager/mobile users, in a suitably analytical manner.
IDC
21 June, 2005
Nokia And Wayfinder Introduces 6630 GPS Package
Nokia and Wayfinder Systems have proudly proclaimed the availability of the Nokia 6630 Navigation Pack, a compact smartphone-based navigation package for folks on the move.
The navigation package comes in three parts; the Nokia 6630 smartphone, a Nokia Wireless GPS Module and the Wayfinder Navigator application.
WayFinder isn’t unique in offering this application to the Nokia 6630, with other available including NaviCore, launched in the UK a few weeks ago. Having Nokia put their name to the Wayfinder Navigator will provide a sense of authority that competing products will find it hard to compete with.
Getting a little carried away, the announcement insists that the Nokia Navigation Pack “puts the world into people’s pockets”.
Although the idea of people flapping around with planet-threatening trousers amuses, all the package actually does is let users connected to the Nokia Wireless GPS Module access position and route information on their Nokia 6630 smartphone screens.
It’s a clever wee thing though, offering turn-by-turn voice instructions, searching for street addresses, restaurants and other points of interest with locations or points of interest shared by forwarding maps via MMS or email.
The Nokia 6630 Navigation Pack does not require fixed installations with the automatic settings configuration tool serving up maps from Wayfinder’s extensive catalogue, currently covering Western Europe, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Greece.
“Location based services are among the top consumer choices for new mobile applications,” asserted the wonderfully named Kirsi Kokko, Director, Smartphone and Business Solutions, Multimedia, Nokia.
“With the Nokia 6630 Navigation Pack, we wanted to address this demand with a highly advanced, portable package combining the benefits of a smartphone and navigation. When not using navigation based services, people can enjoy the same device for productivity purposes, taking pictures or video, surfing the Internet or listening to music.”
Never one to knowingly undersell his product, Jonas Sellergren, VP Product Management, Wayfinder Systems proclaimed “the Wayfinder Navigator application on the Nokia 6630 brings the ultimate navigation solution to the consumer.”
“The Wayfinder Navigator(TM) in a Nokia smartphone delivers a complete navigation experience that previously has been found primarily built into cars. Wayfinder Navigator is the perfect travel companion, the ideal tool for people on the move,” he continued, selling furiously.
The Wayfinder Navigator app comes on the Nokia 6630’s Reduced Size MultiMediaCard (MMC) with a 6-month freebie period of navigation including automatic map updates. After that date, users will have to dip in their pockets to extend the service.
The navigation pack will also be available with the Nokia 6670 smartphone in some areas.
MyWayfinder
Nokia
NaviCore
20 June, 2005
Samsung SGH-E620 Offers Bluetooth Voice Recognition
Emerging blinking from their underground laboratories, the overworked boffins at Samsung have announced the creation of the SGH-E620 Bluetooth voice recognition phone which is a Bluetooth mobile with – you guessed it! – voice recognition technology.
With the phone lurking in a bag or pocket and a Bluetooth headset slapped on their noggin, users can make and receive calls by simply barking names into the microphone.
This clever feat of jiggerypokery is achieved via the wonders of Samsung’s voice recognition system which claims to be easier to use than existing gadgets which require close proximity to the user.
Earlier voice recognition phones forced users to fiddle about with the handset to switch it over to stand-by mode before a call was placed, but Samsung’s system means that the phone can stay out of sight.
Their system allows the phone to be activated by voice and then set to automatically rummage through the mobile’s phone book to recognise the name and place a call.
This gives argumentative types the perfect opportunity to reproduce that ‘mad person shouting to themselves’ look in the street (although the Bluetooth headset might just give the game away).
The phone uses a “speaker-independent voice recognition” technology which does not limit voice recognition to voice type and supports English, French, Spanish, German and Italian.
A Samsung official added that the company intends to expand the range of languages supported by the Bluetooth voice recognition technology, incorporating languages such as Chinese, Russian and Korean. But not Welsh.
As well as the Bluetooth gadgetry, the phone comes with a “refined antenna design” (whassat?!), a 1-megapixel camera, video wallpaper, speaker phone and 64 polyphonic ringtones.
The phone also boasts Star Trek-sounding “silver nano anti-bacterial coating”. We’ve no idea what that is, but it sounds like the sort of thing that might have lined Spock’s underpants.
Samsung
16 June, 2005
Vodafone Cuts 3G Data Roaming Charges
Vodafone has made their service more alluring to international business travellers by cutting roaming charges on their 3G data networks.
Designed to suit the needs of business travellers, the new roaming tariff gives customers predictable data costs by introducing a flat rate of €75 (US$ 91) per month (£50 pounds for Vodafone UK customers) to send or receive up to 100 MB of data when using the Vodafone Mobile Connect service on participating Vodafone networks.
The deal allows European subscribers to send or receive up to 100Mb of data while roaming on Vodafone 3G networks in Europe, Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
Heavy users soaring past the 100Mb limit will then be charged at a standard roaming rate.
According to analysts Gartner, the new prices demonstrate that operators are currently charging too much; “This is a sign that mobile operators are starting to recognise they charge too much for roaming data services,” they added, as your writer’s head nodded vigorously in agreement (while making snarling noises in the direction of T-Mobile).
“Current charges for data calls, especially while roaming, are much too high. Operators are starting to realise that high charges, coupled with unpredictable bills, are limiting use of data services,” Gartner added, commenting that the new roaming tariff, and greater availability of the flat-rate domestic tariff, should allow companies to predict data charges for travelling employees.
Gartner noted that with Vodafone only selling sold 300,000 3G data cards since launching the 3G data network in January 2004, the company is hoping that the reduced roaming charges will boost this figure.
In conclusion, Gartner advised that Vodafone customers regularly sending or receiving more than 10Mb of data per month while roaming should change to the Monthly Travel Tariff in double quick time.
They also recommended that European travellers on other networks should check out Vodafone’s new 3G data tariff if their current mobile service provider cannot match it, or use the figures as a benchmark to renegotiate for lower prices.
Vodfone
16 June, 2005
Ericsson And Napster Team Up For Mobile Music Service
After a long cuddle on the sofa, Napster and Ericsson have announced a global partnership to offer a fully integrated new digital music service aimed at mobile phone customers around the world.
The service – yet to be given a snappy name – will combine elements of Napster’s popular PC offering and Ericsson’s personalised music service and serve up iTunes-like song downloads with a monthly subscription plan.
Scheduled to go live in Europe over the next 12 months, the service “accommodates mobile operator participation in all revenue streams” and will initially be offered to operators in selected markets in Europe, Asia, Latin America and North America.
“Ericsson’s world-leading wireless and telecommunications solutions experience, along with their exceptional client base, make them the ideal partner to deepen Napster’s presence in the global mobile arena”, entoned Chris Gorog, Napster’s chairman and CEO.
“Ericsson and Napster are uniquely suited to offer mobile operators a simple, cohesive and personalised digital music experience for their consumers”, he added.
The new joint service will let users coordinate wireless and PC downloading of digital music (in both subscription and a la carte models) with songs downloaded via the phone playable on the user’s home PC.
The service works on most suitably equipped handset models and networks, with next-generation phones being able to support the digital rights management stuff.
The service is designed to deliver a “complete digital music solution under one brand”, with users benefiting from a consistent user interface and integrated billing from their mobile operator.
The two companies hope that their service will allow mobile operators to get their grubby mitts on the “growth opportunities for personalised digital entertainment on the mobile phone and PC” and will, no doubt, include the usual slew of lucrative, downloadable offerings like ringtones, master tones, images, wallpaper and video content.
With doe-like eyes, Ericsson CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg praised Napster as “the strongest digital music brand in the world”, adding: “With Napster we are uniquely positioned to deliver the easy to use, complete suite of music offerings our customers are asking for.”
It’s anticipated that the announcement could stir things up in the accelerating mobile music sector, driven ever-onwards and upwards by the growth of high-speed networks in Europe and Asia.
More and more mobile operators are already cutting themselves a slice of the mobile digital music services pie, with the largest Korean mobile phone operator recently purchasing a controlling stake in the country’s biggest record label.
Napster’s no stranger to the world of mobile music either, offering limited access to its service through selected US phone networks and operating a ringtone download store.
If the joint venture manages to persuade mobile phone operators that customers are going to lurve the integration between handsets and online services, the two companies could be on to a winner.
Sony Ericsson
Napster
15 June, 2005
T-Mobile Wi-Fi Usage Soars
T-Mobile USA today revealed that nearly half a million are currently signed up to access their hotspots with hourly, daily, monthly or yearly accounts
The company’s figures revealed that 450,000 people accessed their high-speed Internet access at locations such as Starbucks coffee shops, airports and hotels in the past twelve weeks.
Although the company declined to provide year-on-year access figures, the figures showed that not only are there a lot more T-Mobile Hotspot users – they’re staying online longer too.
In the first quarter of 2005, users stayed logged on for an average of 64 minutes per login in 2005 – up from 45 minutes last year and just 23 minutes in 2003.
The total number of T-mobile Wi-Fi log-ins reached 3 million in the past three months against around 8 million for all of 2004. In this year’s first quarter alone, more people became customers than in all of 2003.
Although many early Wi-Fi adopters were laptop-toting business suits connecting in airports, hotel rooms and lobbies, the demographic is now far broader, with students, music fans, backpackers, silver surfers and others hitting the hotspots with their PDAs, smartphones and laptops.
T-Mobile’s figures show fast accelerating Wi-Fi usage, with 90 terabytes (i.e. 90 million megabytes) of Wi-Fi data flying across their network in 2004, with December accounting for 10 terabytes alone. By May 2005, 18 terabytes had swooshed across the ether.
T-Mobile dished out the stats as it announced an expansion in the provision of US and overseas hotspots.
New locations include the provision of roaming access throughout another 39 more airports in North America (making a total of 75 airports covered), with Wi-Fi guest room access being installed at 525 more hotels in the Marriott, Hilton, Ritz-Carlton, Doubletree and Renaissance chains.
In the US, every single Starbucks, FedEx, Kinko’s and Borders Books & Music store in the United States is covered by a T-Mobile hot spot, “unless they got built within the past five minutes,” quipped Joe Sims, VP and GM of the company’s hot-spot operations.
This brings T-Mobile’s hotspot tally to 5,700 locations in the US and 6,500 in Europe.
Roberta Wiggins, a senior research fellow with the Yankee Group was impressed with figures: “The numbers show that Wi-Fi is no longer an obscure, upstart technology. It’s gaining credibility.”
T-Mobile hotspot
14 June, 2005
Frontier Announce “World’s First” DMB and DVB-H Mobile Digital TV chip
Frontier Silicon have announced the “world’s first multi-standard, multi-band mobile digital TV chip set”.
The new device, called Kino 3, is a new multi-standard and multi-band MDTV chip set which supports both the Korean and European digital multimedia broadcast (DMB) as well as the DVB-H standard for mobile TV reception.
Kino3 will be world’s first thingamabob to combine a silicon tuner with broad tuning range and a baseband processor utilising software defined radio techniques to address multiple MDTV reception standards.
Frontier claims that the Kino 3 will be able to compete in terms of cost, size and power consumption with devices that just support a single standard.
In a fug of industry-speak, Anthony Sethill, CEO of Frontier Silicon, told the Broadcast Asia Conference in Singapore, “We strongly believe that regulatory, spectrum allocation and installed infrastructure issues could considerably slow down the deployment of MDTV worldwide. With our experience in developing pioneering semiconductor solutions for digital broadcasting, we recognised this as a company early on and deployed resources to develop multi-standard ICs. Our aim is therefore to remove this barrier by quickly introducing a solution, and we are on course to introduce our Kino 3 solution in 2006”.
And here – as they say on shampoo adverts – is the science bit:
DMB is an extension of the Eureka 147 specification commonly referred to as DAB and used for digital radio broadcasts in much of Europe. DVB-H has been developed as an extension to the existing DVB-T standard which is widely used across Europe for digital TV broadcasts. Both DMB and DVB-H have been developed to provide the robust and high bandwidth data channels required to enable the reliable reception of digital video on handheld devices.
Korea is expected to see commercial MDTV services based on DMB rolling out during 2005, with the UK and Germany following in 2006.
Commercial services based on DVB-H will begin broadcasting in America during 2006 with parts of Europe adopting this standard during 2006 and 2007.
Fans of obscure spec sheets will have to wait until 2006 to discover the thrilling details of Frontier Silicon’s Kino 3 chip set, but we can inform you that it comprises of a state-of-the-art multi-standard baseband demodulator/decoder and multi-band (Band II, III, IV, V and L-band) RF tuner IC, and incorporates integrated microcontroller and memory. And possibly an onboard rear view dipstick.
Frontier Silicon
14 June, 2005
Nokia And Apple Develop Series 60 Browser
Finnish mobile phone giants Nokia have launched a new Web browser for their Series 60 smartphones.
The browser was developed in partnership with Apple and uses the same open source components – WebCore and JavaScriptCore – that are used in Apple’s well-regarded Safari Internet browser.
The new Series 60 browser, based on KHTML and KJS from KDE’s “Konqueror” open source project, will let ambling Nokia mobile users enjoy “a rich Web browsing experience that takes full advantage of today’s fast wireless networks and advanced mobile devices”.
“Nokia is excited to enrich Series 60 with optimised mobile Web browsing. Open source software is an ideal basis for development since it enables Nokia to leverage and contribute to speedy software innovation and development. As a result, the entire Series 60 value chain, from manufacturers and operators to end-users, will benefit from the flexible architecture, full Web compliance and a truly enjoyable user experience,” enthused Pertti Korhonen, Chief Technology Officer, Nokia.
Web browsing on mobiles is a key money-spinner both for handset manufacturers, who need to keep producing punter-tempting feature-rich handsets, and for telecom operators who rely on revenues from mobile browsing.
With a Nokia-backed study among consumers declaring that over 50 percent of data traffic was generated by web browsing on mobiles, the quality of the handset’s browsing experience could become a critical purchasing factor.
Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing reckons the new browser is the dog’s nadgers: “The Safari Web Kit’s blazing performance, efficient code base and support for open standards make it an ideal open source technology for projects like Nokia’s new Series 60 browser.”
It seems that both Nokia and Apple enjoyed their mutual browser-based love in, with Nokia indicating that they intend to continue their collaboration and actively participate in the open source community.
The new Series 60 browser will be available to all Series 60 licensees during the first half of 2006.
Nokia
Series 60
13 June, 2005
Nokia Announce Seven New Phones
In a veritable orgy of mobile manufacturing, Nokia has launched a grand total of seven new handsets, including a dual camera 3G device and their most feature-rich CDMA phone yet.
Four of the models use the ‘Matrix-style’ sliding design, which features a keyboard which slides out from under the display.
The phones are powered by the somewhat elderly Series 40 user interface, although the latest version of the O/S cranks up the eye candy, adds a new “Active Standby” home screen and bundles in support for applications written in Macromedia Flash Lite.
The 3G multimedia-tastic 6280 is a compact WCDMA/EDGE sliding handset sporting a 320 x 240 pixel screen, a 2 megapixel camera (with a VGA front camera for video calls), a removable mini-SD card and a built-in FM radio. It’s expected to appear on the shelves in the fourth quarter 2005 for EUR375.
Next up is the 6270, a quadband 2.5G slide phone with a 2-megapixel camera. The phone has similar specs to its more expensive cousin, with the same size screen, music playback and a built-in FM radio. Price is estimated at EUR300.
The 6265 is Nokia’s most feature-rich CDMA phone, with a 2 megapixel camera – complete with flash – and 176×144 pixel resolution video recording. The Nokia 6265 can play streaming video of up to 15 frames per second, and offers music layback, Bluetooth and miniSD memory storage (up to 1 gigabyte).
CDMA (code division multiple access) is the world’s second most common mobile phone technology after GSM and Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia’s executive VP and GM for mobile phones, said the company were committed to growing its CDMA mobile business, particularly in Asia Pacific and China
“The growth prospects on the CDMA front are extremely encouraging. The CDMA market is expected to grow at pace with the overall handset market and the global CDMA handset volume is expected to increase by 10 to 15 percent year-on-year in 2005,” he said.
The last of the slider phones is the 6111, which has more than a passing resemblance to the hugely successful i-mate JAM phone, although the screen is much smaller at 128×160 pixels. The camera contains a 1-megapixel camera and 6x digital zoom and retails for around EUR270.
All of the slider phones are expected to ship in the fourth quarter.
Nokia have also announced two entry-level CDMA designs, the folding 2255 and the compact 2125 (due to ship in the fourth the third quarters, respectively) and the Nokia 6060, a GSM clamshell model for basic voice functions.
Nokia
13 June, 2005