3GPP Adopts SyncML For Third Generation Mobile Synchronization Services According to press release...
SyncML, an open industry initiative, is further strengthening its position as a universal data synchronization protocol. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the standardization forum for 3G mobile systems, has accepted a proposal by the SyncML initiative to adopt SyncML as the protocol for future mobile data synchronization services. This breakthrough agreement, which was approved in the 3GPP TSG-T plenary session in March, means that SyncML will replace IrMC as a sole wide area network synchronization solution in 3GPP release 4.
``We are delighted to see that this respected standardization forum has recognized the need for globally applicable open specifications and true interoperability for key services of 3G,'' said Douglas Heintzman, the chairman of the SyncML Initiative. ``We are constantly working together with various industry fora and bodies to secure the best future-proof technology for mobile data synchronization services.''
Founded in February 2000, the SyncML initiative recognized the worldwide need for a universal data synchronization protocol. With the industry-wide proliferation of mobile devices and the evolution of these devices into a major means of information exchange, synchronization of data will be of integral importance. Committed to solve the data synchronization problem, one year after it's launch, the SyncML Initiative and the whole industry are witnessing seamless global data synchronization becoming a reality.
SyncML-enabled products and services will offer consumers mobile freedom by synchronizing personal data and providing interoperability among all SyncML-compliant products and services. Consumers and business professionals alike will be able to synchronize their personal data, such as contacts and calendars, in mobile terminals with various applications and services including corporate personal information managers, Internet calendars, Internet address books, and more.
March 28, 2001
Mitsubishi Wireless Communications Inc. to Introduce Four New Trium Phones to North America in 2001 According to press release...
Mitsubishi Wireless Communications Inc. (MWCI) will introduce four new Trium GSM and TDMA phones to North America in 2001.
Trium, which has become one of the most recognized mobile phone brands in Europe since its launch in 1999, showcased its new phone line at the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association's Wireless 2001 show in Las Vegas on March 20.
The Trium T300 series, which will be commercially available in April, offers two-way short message service (SMS) capability, graphical display, a real-time clock and appointment calendar with alarm, contacts and to-do's. This model supports four languages, and features a fixed antenna, 17 user-selectable ringtones and alerts, and silent call alert. Like all Trium phones, it boasts predictive Tegic T9® intelligent text input.
The Trium G360, set to debut in July, features WAP and GPRS technology to connect to the Internet twice as fast as currently available wireless technology allows. The G360 includes infrared and serial data connection support, and two-way SMS capability.
In the latter half of 2001, Trium will roll out its T330 and G320 models, which feature graphical LCD displays, SMS, fixed antennas and user-changeable color top covers. The T330 has 300 phonebook memories and optional silent call alert, while the G320 offers WAP over CSD technology, 20 user-selectable ringtones, and a wide array of games.
One of the pioneers of mobile telecommunications, Mitsubishi Wireless Communications introduced its first wireless phone in 1981. Since that time it has been a leading developer of analog and digital wireless phones, WAP/Internet phones, and camera phones.
Palm slumps on outlook, Handspring follows According to report from ZDNet...
Shares of Palm took a hit Wednesday after the company predicted that sales would slump $250 million below estimates for its fourth quarter.
The news sent the Palm stock plunging 44 percent, down $6.88 to $8.63 in early morning trading. Other rivals also fell. Shares of Handspring, which makes a competing handheld using the Palm OS, were down $4.75 to $11.44, and Research in Motion, which makes two-way messaging devices, slumped $4.63 to $20.05.
Analyst reaction to the Palm news was mixed. While most reduced estimates based on the company’s outlook, some urged investors to stick it out, saying that the handheld market was not fading away, and that Palm’s market leading position should help the company recover from an economic slowdown.
But others questioned the company’s ability to maintain its dominance with competitors like Handspring and Pocket PC vendors.
On Tuesday, Palm reported a profit of $9.3 million, or 2 cents per share, on revenues of $470.8 million. That figure excludes amortization and goodwill charges. Analysts had been expecting the company to report a penny per share profit, on sales of $473 million, according to First Call.
For the fourth quarter, revenue is expected to be between $300 million and $315 million, below the $350 million reported in the year ago quarter, and far below the $572 million predicted by Wall Street. And the company expects to lose 8 cents per share for the quarter, despite cost-cutting measures that should trim 10 percent to 15 percent of operating costs.
Palm also announced plans to lay off 250 employees and contract workers and postpone construction on its new corporate headquarters in San Jose, Calif., where work was scheduled to begin this month.
Several analysts expressed concerns about “channel stuffing,” saying that there was far too much inventory sitting on retailers' shelves and at distributors at a time when consumer spending is decreasing. Channel stuffing refers to when companies ship their product to distributors and retailers, despite a demand slowdown.
“Clearly, the impact to Palm will be in the next quarter (May) where Palm will have to work off channel inventory by slashing production, reducing sales into the channel and providing incentives to stimulate sales out (of the channel),” wrote UBS Warburg analyst Don Young.
Young cut his price target on the stock from $14 to $10.50, and dropped earnings estimates for 2002 from 26 cents per share to 12 cents.
Even analysts who were upbeat on the stock noted that the company would have a tough time resolving its inventory issue as it rolls out new product lines.
Palm saw its cash levels drop from $743 million to $596 million during the quarter. Inventory increased from $34 million in the previous sequential quarter to $102 million, and accounts receivables rose to $274 million from $246 million, pointed out Bear Stearns analyst Andrew Neff.
Neff lowered his fourth-quarter earnings estimate to an 8 cent loss from a 4 cent loss, and dropped revenue estimates for the quarter from to $313 million from $596 million. He also lowered his price on the stock to $17 from $45, reflecting the reduced expectations, but maintained a “buy” rating “based on our view of the secular growth trend in the handheld market and Palm's position within it.”
But while Palm continues to dominate the field, it faces increased competition, both from the PocketPC platform, and from Handspring, which said it was confident with its fiscal 2001 estimates.
While some analysts argued that Palm’s position as both a hardware firm and a software company could help it, others said that its competition with Handspring could end up damaging the entire Palm OS market.
“Palm was pressured into announcing its m500/5 product line before it was ready to ship because of Handspring's launch of the Visor Edge, a product aimed squarely at the Vx, Palm's best selling product,” wrote Vik Mehta, an analyst at Goldman Sachs. “Palm counter-attacked by announcing the m500/5 and lowering the price point of the Vx to make way for the m500/5, even though the m500/5 will not be available until the end of the quarter. Had Handspring not launched the Visor Edge, it is possible that Palm may have maintained the Vx price and pushed back the m500/5 announcement until it was ready to ship.”
Mehta lowered his rating on Palm to “market outperformer.”
Others argued that Palm’s struggles could benefit the upstart competitor.
“Specifically, Hand (Handspring) has rising weighted ASPs (average selling prices) a lower revenue base, significant new channels being introduced in the quarter, stronger sell-through, market share in-roads with new products, and a more linear revenue stream,” wrote CS First Boston analyst Marc Cabi.
Cabi did lower estimates for Handspring based on Palm’s report, dropping revenue for 2001 from $575 million to $540 million, and earnings per share for 2001 from a 14 cent loss to a 25 cent loss, but maintained a “buy” rating on that stock.
However, there was some concern that Palm’s news could signal trouble for the entire sector, despite a statement from Handspring reiterating that company’s outlook.
CIBC Oppenheimer analyst Thomas Sepenzis lowered his target price on Handspring to $25, noting that “we feel it prudent, although we have seen no evidence of slowing growth at Handspring, to take numbers down a bit to reflect the current economic environment.”
His colleague at CIBC, Barry Richards, dropped his target price Research in Motion Limited from $115 to $50, citing similar concerns.
March 27, 2001
QUALCOMM to Hold Inaugural "BREW 2001: Developer and 3G Technology Conference" in San Diego May 8-10 According to press release...
QUALCOMM Incorporated, pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, today announced it will host the inaugural "BREW™ 2001: Developer and 3G Technology Conference," May 8-10, 2001, at the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina. The conference will provide application developers, device manufacturers and wireless Internet service providers insight into opportunities being created by QUALCOMM’s new Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless™ (BREW) platform and third-generation (3G) CDMA wireless technology. Individuals interested in attending the conference can register.
The BREW platform is a very thin applications environment for wireless devices. It provides applications developers with an open, standard platform upon which to develop their products.
Developers attending the conference will be the first to receive the commercial release of the BREW software development kit (SDK). QUALCOMM will be providing the BREW SDK to developers free of charge. The SDK includes a number of Windows®-based tools that will allow developers to create and test their applications in a standard development environment. At the conference, QUALCOMM also will provide training sessions to brief developers on how to create wireless applications using the SDK.
"The BREW 2001 conference is the next major milestone as we move toward the release of BREW-enabled commercial services later this year," said Peggy Johnson, senior vice president of QUALCOMM and general manager of QUALCOMM Internet Services. "We have received tremendous interest from developers eager to begin creating wireless applications for the BREW platform and this conference will provide them an excellent start."
In addition to platform technology presentations, industry perspectives, product demonstrations and break-out sessions, the BREW 2001 conference agenda includes keynote addresses from renowned technology writer and futurist George Gilder and Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, executive vice president, QUALCOMM Incorporated.
George Gilder is the president of Gilder Technology Group, a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute think-tank and author of several influential books and articles on the future of technology. At the conference, Gilder will share his vision for a genuinely useful wireless Internet. Dr. Paul E. Jacobs will begin the conference with a speech exploring the opportunities being created by 3G wireless technology and the BREW platform.
The conference will showcase three tracks dedicated to the business and technical aspects of the BREW platform and 3G market opportunities. The 3G Wireless Market Track will feature an update on 3G standards, capabilities and deployments, along with a look at the latest wireless data devices. The BREW Business Track will cover the business model and revenue opportunities, which QUALCOMM believes the BREW platform can create for developers, manufacturers and carriers. Verizon Communications will present a session on how the company is building its wireless data strategy around the BREW platform. The BREW Technical Track will provide training to technical managers and programmers on developing applications using the BREW SDK, designing for multiple devices and working with QUALCOMM to obtain TRUE BREW™ certification for applications.
Between sessions, Platinum Sponsor companies will demonstrate numerous BREW applications, including:
The Brodia Group – secure commerce applications
Eyematic – 3D avatar animation for the Web and wireless
MP3 – application for the wireless delivery of music
NetZero – targeted advertising system for m-commerce applications
Visto Corp. – Visto mLynx™ software and services for secure, cost-effective and centralized mobile and wireless access to time-critical corporate information
Wireless Knowledge – Workstyle™ and Anystyle™ software applications for secure mobile access to corporate e-mail, calendar and contact information with online and offline capabilities
QUALCOMM Incorporated is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on the Company’s CDMA digital technology. The Company’s business areas include CDMA integrated circuits and system software; technology licensing; the Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) applications development platform; Eudora® e-mail software; digital cinema systems; and satellite-based systems including portions of the Globalstar™ system and wireless fleet management systems, OmniTRACS® and OmniExpress™. QUALCOMM owns patents that are essential to all of the CDMA wireless telecommunications standards that have been adopted or proposed for adoption by standards-setting bodies worldwide. QUALCOMM has licensed its essential CDMA patent portfolio to more than 100 telecommunications equipment manufacturers worldwide. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., QUALCOMM is included in the S&P 500 Index and is a 2000 FORTUNE 500® company traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market® under the ticker symbol QCOM.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the Company’s ability to successfully design and have manufactured significant quantities of CDMA components on a timely and profitable basis, the extent and speed to which CDMA is deployed and the BREW platform is adopted, change in economic conditions of the various markets the Company serves, as well as the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company’s SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 24, 2000, and most recent Form 10-Q.
Wireless spammers come under attack According to report from ZDNet...
At first, Rodney Joffe figured that the message he had just received on his AT&T Wireless phone was meant for somebody else.
The text message pitched a Phoenix, Ariz., mortgage company, but looked like it appeared in Joffe's message basket by accident. When Joffe, a Phoenix resident, called the number in the message, the person on the other end said there must have been a mistake.
But then colleagues of Joffe's who also used AT&T Wireless phones reported receiving the same message. Joffe later was hit with another message from the same company. Annoyed, he realized that the unwanted messages were costing him money--as AT&T charges customers for every text message, or SMS (short message service), they receive.
Now Joffe is taking action. He's working the phones to round up other spam victims in Phoenix and is talking to lawyers about a class-action suit.
"I'm not just going to let this die," said Joffe, a veteran technologist who was a founder of network operator Genuity. He now runs CenterGate Research Group, a for-profit think tank and technology incubator.
He isn't the only one taking aim at the wireless spammers. The first battle on this new front may not be in the Phoenix courts, but rather in Congress.
On Wednesday, the House Commerce Committee will vote on an antispam bill authored by Reps. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., and Gene Green, D-Tex. That bill easily passed the Telecommunications Subcommittee on March 21.
A second bill to block wireless spam, introduced by Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., in January, is also moving through the halls of Congress. Until now, it had received little attention.
The spamming in Phoenix, however, "certainly gave Holt's wireless bill a boost," said privacy advocate Ray Everett-Church, founder of the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (CAUCE).
Simple to send
Although carriers have means to block junk mail, spamming has not until now been seen as a big problem, so few serious measures have been taken.
It's a relatively simple act to spam hundreds of wireless phone users at once. Many carriers use the approach that AT&T does to assign a customer's SMS address: phone-number name-of-carrier. Wireless companies get their phone numbers in blocks with the same prefix, so someone who knows one phone number can e-mail 10,000 names by cycling from 0000 to 9999 after the prefix.
What makes wireless text-messaging spam more difficult to track than traditional junk mail is that when the message travels off the Internet and is converted to SMS code by the wireless carrier, the header of the e-mail is stripped away. There's no way to tell what Internet service provider the spam came from. Thus, there's no way to notify the ISP to ask it to go after the spammer.
AT&T Wireless says it is familiar with the SMS spam in Phoenix. The company is "looking to see what we can do to benefit all of our customers," said spokesman Rich Blasi.
"We do have filters in place that normally catch this stuff," said Blasi, adding that this was the first SMS spam attack he had heard of. AT&T is increasing its filtering to try to prevent future problems, he said, and the company also has a policy of contacting the spammer and asking them to cease.
Joffe says when he complained to AT&T, they offered to give him a new phone number.
"That's a completely unacceptable response," Everett-Church said.
But changing a phone number, Blasi said, "can be an immediate recourse" for a subscriber.
Minding the phones
The prevailing sentiment about Holt's bill had been that it probably was not necessary because everyone "had counted on carriers having an interest in keeping their systems from being hijacked" by spam, Everett-Church said. Carriers should be concerned because SMS revenues are based on use, and if consumers are flooded with junk mail, they will turn off the SMS receivers on their phones, he said.
For the moment, Holt's focus has been on the president's tax bill because the representative sits on the House Budget Committee, but he is looking into the wireless spamming in Phoenix, according to a spokesman.
A class-action suit, Joffe said, likely would hinge on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which outlaws calls to a number, including a cellular one, when the recipient has to pay for a call received without the recipient's authorization.
Everett-Church noted the law is more than 10 years old, however--an eternity in modern-day telecommunications.
"It was written without the contemplation of SMS," Everett-Church said. As a result, Holt's bill is "a very logical extension" of TCPA.
A number of carriers charge for SMS messages, but the approaches vary, with some plans offering a bucket of free SMS messages before incurring a per-message charge. Thus, the cost of wireless spam would vary significantly among consumers, Everett-Church said.
In the meantime Joffe is seeking out lawyers and has contacted the Arizona attorney general. In the talks he's had with people in Phoenix, he estimates spam was also sent to users of Verizon Wireless and NextLink Communications, at a minimum. At least 17 prefixes have been used, he said, "which is 170,000 potential recipients."
"The war is on," Joffe said. "I will not give up on this one."
Windows XP to offer wireless security According to report from CNet...
Microsoft has teamed up with Cisco Systems, Dell Computer, Intel and others to improve security for wireless Internet connections in businesses, homes and public places.
Microsoft on Monday announced it will support a new wireless security standard in its forthcoming Windows XP operating system that will make it easier and safer for people with PCs, laptops and handheld devices to connect to a wireless Net connection.
Other supporters of the standard, called 802.1x, include network equipment makers 3Com, Cisco and Enterasys Networks, PC makers Compaq Computer, IBM and Dell, as well as chipmakers Intel and Intersil.
Analysts and tech executives say the new security standard will fix many, but not all, of the security vulnerabilities that UC-Berkeley computer scientists recently found in wireless networks based on the wireless standard Wi-Fi, or 802.11B.
"This is important because business customers' single objection to deploying wireless technology is the fact that it's not secure," said Bill Rossi, vice president and general manager of Cisco's wireless networking operation.
In February, university researchers found holes in wireless networks that allow people to surf the Net while roaming around their homes, offices and public places, such as airports and cafes. The researchers said the security holes could let hackers intercept and alter transmissions passing through the wireless networks.
Analysts and tech executives believe the new wireless security standard will help increase the sale of wireless networking products when the standard is finalized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) during the second half of this year.
The tech companies sell wireless products that include notebook PC cards that have radio transmitters and receivers built in. They also sell a piece of hardware affixed to ceilings or walls that links the computers to a Net connection. That piece of hardware, called an "access point," links the wireless network to an office's wired network and has a range of several hundred feet.
Previously, network administrators would have to manually install a password on each laptop for an employee to connect to the wireless network, so that messages are encrypted, Rossi said. Those passwords rarely changed.
In addition, he said, the previous technology only allowed employees to connect to one access point, so if workers needed to wirelessly connect to the Net in another building on campus, the employees couldn't automatically connect to another access point.
Now with Microsoft and other tech companies supporting the new wireless security standard, people with laptops get a different password every time they connect to a wireless network, making the connections secure, he said. In addition, that same password can be used across multiple access points throughout the workplace.
"If you were using a notebook at work and went to the airport, it wouldn't automatically think you were back at the office. It will look to see where you are and log you onto the network," said Tom Laemmel, Microsoft's product manager for Windows. "It's easier on your users. It offers hands-off configuration to connect up to wireless networks."
Microsoft will ship Windows XP during the second half of this year. 3Com and Cisco executives say they have already been supporting an early version of the new security standard in its wireless networking products.
The only thing that the new wireless security standard doesn't resolve that UC-Berkeley researchers addressed is the need for advanced data scrambling for better security, Cisco's Rossi said.
Meta Group analyst Chris Kozup said people who want the best security while on a wireless network need to install a virtual private network. VPNs are secure high-speed connections to corporate networks over the Internet.
Handspring adopts Certicom security technology According to report from Reuters...
Certicom Corp. said on Tuesday that the popular Handspring palmtop computers will use its security technology for wireless communications in yet another step toward becoming the security standard for wireless devices.
Handspring will initially integrate Certicom's SSL plus security product, based on patented Elliptic Curve Cryptography, into its Blazer web browsing software used by Handspring users equipped with a VisorPhone, said Certicom in a statement that gave no financial figures.
Certicom's security software will enable safe transmission of sensitive information to financial institutions and allow for secure purchases using the Handspring device.
Certicom has licensed its security technology to a growing number of companies that specialize in wireless technologies including Motorola Inc., Nortel Networks Corp., Palm Inc., and Research In Motion Ltd.
March 26, 2001
She's back: Judy Estrin's latest venture According to report from ZDNet...
The first spinoff to come out of Silicon Valley veteran Judy Estrin's Packet Design venture will debut Monday with new technology for wireless networking.
Packet Design will spin off its initial company, called Vernier Networks. It plans to focus on a set of hardware and software for corporate wireless networks that provide a more sophisticated set of technology services, Estrin said.
Estrin's Packet Design is similar to other technology entrepreneurial efforts, sometimes known as "incubators." Packet Design intends to incubate technology ideas, then spin them off as companies while retaining equity in the ventures. As such, Estrin says Packet Design plays the role of a "perpetual start-up," something Estrin and her husband, Bill Carrico, were eager to do after departing prominent positions at Cisco Systems and returning to their start-up roots.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based Packet Design will likely announce two more spinoff companies in the next six to nine months, according to Estrin. Packet Design's overarching focus is to improve the performance of various parts of the Internet, with a particular focus on wireless, security and routing technologies, Estrin said. Estrin left Cisco in April of last year to start Packet Design.
Vernier is developing a set of technologies that will allow a corporate network administrator to provide selective access to their networks over a wireless link. If a visitor to a company needs wireless Internet access, but a company does not want them to access the entire contents of its internal systems, an administrator could allow the visitor to access the Net only.
Analysts said Vernier enters a highly competitive market, ripe to move beyond basic wireless connections to more advanced technologies. "We'll definitely see a lot more competition among the (wireless) hardware players in terms of software integration and those higher-level things like security and management," said Yankee Group analyst Sarah Kim.
In focusing on wireless networking for corporations, Vernier is hoping to take a chunk out of a rapidly developing market. The corporate market for wireless networking kits alone is expected to grow from $1.3 billion in 2000 to about $3 billion in 2003, according to analyst firm Cahners In-Stat Group.
Initial funding for Vernier will come from Packet Design. By the third quarter of this year, it is expected that Vernier will look to outside investors for further funding as it closes in on the launch of its actual product, Estrin said. Vernier intends to sell systems as well as license its technology to third-party equipment providers.
Packet Design itself has thus far raised $24 million in venture funding.
Vernier's technology builds on both the 802.11 wireless technology standard as well as the emerging "Bluetooth" standard, allowing for selective access to wireless networks rather than the current "all or nothing" approach, Estrin said. Vernier supplies both access control and authentication technology, for example, so that a baggage handler at an airport using a wireless device could not access an airline reservation system by mistake.
Vernier's technology has been in tests at the University of Washington since January.
The company has been developing the technology for the past year. It hopes to have 20 employees by the end of 2001. It will operate initially out of Packet Design's headquarters and act as a subsidiary of Packet Design for the next three to four months, Estrin said. Tom Colson, previously a vice president at NuvoMedia before it was acquired by Gemstar, will serve as Vernier's general manager.
Despite tightening venture capital markets amid increasing economic uncertainty, Estrin said she remains confident in Packet Design's model to rely on third-party investors to take the funding lead once her company implements a technology idea.
"There's still funding out there," Estrin said. "It certainly has not changed our strategy at all."
March 21, 2001
Ericsson launches new, enhanced WAP gateway for business users According to press release...
Ericsson launches its Enterprise WAP Gateway/Proxy 2.0, a new version of its WAP Gateway for enterprise users. The new system supports the WAP June 2000 standard, providing easier service set-up and faster access to corporate information.
Enterprise WAP Gateway/Proxy 2.0 is the first WAP gateway for enterprise customers, which is compliant with the WAP June 2000 standard. It supports push technology and user agent profiling functionality, and runs on any Windows 2000 hardware platform, making it quick and easy to install.
"Enterprise WAP Gateway/Proxy 2.0 further strengthens Ericsson's Mobile Internet portfolio, which supports our customers and end-users in the emerging Mobile Internet market," said Staffan Pehrson, General Manager Mobile Internet Enablers. "It uses our proven WAP technology, already installed at 70 operators, to provide a secure and reliable solution for mobile businesses worldwide."
The simple installation and scalability of Enterprise WAP Gateway/Proxy 2.0 makes it suitable for enterprises wanting to offer WAP services in-house independent of network operators. It is also suitable for financial institutions that need a reliable gateway through which to offer secure services to customers, and for companies who want to give employees protected access to their intranet.
By using a WAP gateway within a corporate network, a secure end-to-end connection is established from a user's WAP phone directly to information on the company intranet. With this new version, users can get instant access to information from the intranet through new functionality that "pushes" data to the user.
The client configuration functionality included in Enterprise WAP Gateway/Proxy is based on a de-facto standard called OTA. The WAP Gateway automatically transmits an SMS to a new user's handset, detailing set-up information including IP addresses, relevant passwords and bookmarks. In this way, it is easy to set up new users and using WAP services are faster and more user friendly.
A developer's configuration of Enterprise WAP Gateway/Proxy 2.0 is downloadable free from the Ericsson Developers' Zone:
Ericsson, Motorola and Siemens to develop industry initiative for Universal Mobile Games Platform According to press release...
Ericsson, Motorola, Inc. and Siemens Information and Communication Mobile, today announced plans to develop an industry initiative to define a universal mobile games platform, using existing and emerging standards.
With this initiative, the three companies aim to help mobile operators offer a broad selection of games content and to provide developers with a standardized platform. Mobile consumers will benefit through a rich, interactive, multiplayer game experience.
Mobile operators and developers of mobile games are faced with an overwhelming array of choices for mobile game services and lack a platform that is open, standard and extensible. Without such a platform, operators face greater complexity and cost in offering a wide range of games that access their network functionality, such as billing, authentication and location services. The initiative will focus initial efforts on agreeing upon open Applications Programming Interfaces (APIs) and a Software Development Kit (SDK), which, once developed, will be available to software developers subject to license. The three companies expect to have specifications available in Q3 of this year.
Once the initiative is formally launched, Ericsson, Motorola and Siemens plan to work with other industry leaders and innovators to extend the benefits of this universal games platform, including mobile phone and infrastructure vendors, platform technology providers, games developers, mobile operators, games service providers and systems integrators. The objectives of the proposed initiative are to:
- Support mobile network operators and Application Service Providers (ASPs) to deliver the most compelling selection of applications - Attract games developers to create applications that can easily be deployed to reach the largest number of mobile consumers - Supply consumers worldwide with access to a wide variety of engaging interactive mobile games content - driving the demand for next generation networks and devices
``We believe that offering compelling mobile games will act as an effective catalyst for the Mobile Internet market as a whole, so we are convinced that operators, as well as the game developing community, will benefit greatly from this initiative,'' said Jan Lindgren, vice president of Ericsson Internet Applications. ``Our aim is to promote an open approach to the mobile games market by supporting current - and future - standards and by collaborating with all interested industry players. This co-operative approach clearly demonstrates Ericsson's strategy of supporting network operators wherever and whenever we can.''
``We're seeing that developers of mobile games are resorting to writing their own platforms or having to multiply the efforts to support many platforms,'' said Tim Krauskopf, vice president and general manager of Core Solutions for Motorola's Internet Software and Content Group. ``As a result, costs are increasing and distribution options are limited. As an industry we need to provide an integrated development environment that unites mobile networks, devices and game servers as a mass market games console.''
``One of the Siemens IC Mobile objectives is to make it possible for users in Tokyo to sit and play a multi-player game with some friends in Washington and Munich at the same time, on different networks and platforms, with various models of mobile phones,'' said Thorsten Heins, President of Solutions within the Siemens Information and Communication Mobile Group.
Ericsson, Motorola, and Siemens have agreed to work with Metrowerks, a leading development tools organization, to support this platform with the company's CodeWarrior® Integrated Development Environment (IDE). CodeWarrior, a leading IDE for the consumer and wireless markets, is used by the majority of developers for Sony Playstation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Palm OS, and also supports Java (J2ME for wireless) and Symbian. With more than 400,000 developers worldwide using CodeWarrior development tools, Metrowerks will play a major role in expanding the developer community for this platform.
Developer support, test facilities and application certification will be provided through Ericsson Mobility World, which includes Ericsson Developers' Zone, Motorola's Applications Global Network (MAGNET) Program, and Siemens' relevant program.
Ericsson Introduces the R300d, WAP-Enabled 3V Tri-Mode Phone for TDMA Systems
Ericsson today unveiled the R300d, the first Ericsson TDMA mobile phone to offer calendar and agenda (PIM) features with synchronization, downloadable ring tones, internal antenna, voice-activated dialing, and an integrated battery.
The R300d delivers up to 3.25 hours of talk time and up to 200+ hours of standby time with the standard 750 mAh NiMH battery, and up to 6 hours of talk time and up to 400 hours of standby time with the optional high-performance 1400 mAh Lithium Ion battery.
The R300d provides exceptional tri-mode coverage (analog 800 MHz, digital TDMA 800/1900 MHz) and ERS technology for extended range. Weighing under 5 oz. (138g) and molded in a sleek ergonomic design in four fashion colors, the R300d is positioned to appeal to value-minded consumers with busy lifestyles. The R300d measures 5 x 1.9 x 1.1 in. (129 x 48 x 27 mm) and comes in Flint Gray, Sea Green, Slate Blue and Topaz Blue.
Organization and Call Management Tools
The R300d is packed with personal organization and call management tools such as a calendar and to-do list with PC synchronization, a hierarchical phone book that holds up to 300 contacts with multiple entries per name, 18 voice dialing locations, an icon-based menu system, and a one-minute voice-memo recorder. Pop-up menu help functions and animated icons make the R300d's many features easy to navigate.
Personalization and Simplicity
The R300d's features can be customized for personal preferences and call environments in six languages. Phone book groups help organize contacts and musical ring tones announce who is calling. A built-in vibrating call alert and 7 POWERProfiles allow the user to quickly adjust phone settings for different situations. A clock, alarm, stopwatch, and calculator help keep track of time and money.
Data Capable, Web-enabled
The R300d is Ericsson's fourth Web-ready phone for the Americas, though some units will be manufactured without a browser to meet operator requirements. The Web version will feature a WAP 1.1 microbrowser to access a rapidly growing number of WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) Internet sites which can be viewed on the unit's large 101 x 54 pixel, 5-line monochrome screen. The R300d is Bluetooth compatible and, with an Ericsson Bluetooth adapter attached, provides wireless connection to Ericsson Bluetooth headsets and other devices.
The R300d also supports two-way text messaging and contains pre-programmed message templates, T9(c) predictive text input and works with the Ericsson Chatboard snap-on keyboard to make creating and sending text messages faster and easier.
Mobile Entertainment
To pass the time between important appointments, the R300d features five games: Tetris, Ballpop, Ripple, Erix and E-Maze. The R300d works with an array of Ericsson accessories, such as the MP3 Handsfree and FM Radio Handsfree, which deliver high-quality digital or broadcast music and convenient hands-free conversation in one device.
The R300d is scheduled to launch in the Americas in Q3, 2001 at an estimated street price of less than USD $199.
Ericsson's other current Internet-ready handsets for TDMA and CDMA air interface standards are the R289LX digital multinetwork phone with fast data access on CDPD systems; the R278d tri-mode phone with built-in WAP browser; and the A1228c CDMA handset with integrated WAP browser.
Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson and Siemens to Further Advance the Development of Personal Mobile Services Through XHTML According to press release....
Nokia, Motorola, Ericsson, Siemens and numerous other industry leaders in the mobile communications and content industries have today announced that they are supporting the XHTML markup language (Extensible Hyper Text Markup Language) as the format for the future evolution of mobile services. The companies also expressed their intention to develop products, content, and services based on the XHTML language. XHTML is the natural evolution of the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), which brings the WAP- and fixed Internet () worlds together. The group is also working within the WAP forum to support this technology evolution process.
In addition to handset manufacturers, a number of mobile operators have also announced support for XHTML. Vodafone Group, Orange, Radiolinja, Sonera, DNA, Telenor, Netcom, T-Mobil, TIM (Telecom Italia Group), RadioMobil and EuroTel Praha, have all announced plans to offer XHTML based services.
XHTML is the language that will be used to create all content, regardless of whether it is for the fixed Internet or the mobile phone world. By narrowing the gap between wired and wireless content, this technology greatly accelerates the pace at which services can be created and improves the usability of wireless services for consumers.
``XHTML presents us with tremendous opportunities to bring mobile services to the multimedia era. By converging the best of WAP and WEB, these technologies together will create the best visual user experience as well as a truly global and open market place for service creation. With XHTML, we now have a unique opportunity to start creating and implementing visually appealing, yet backward WAP-compatible services that will satisfy the requirements of the future as well as ensure a smooth evolution path for current services. Nokia is thrilled to participate in this effort,'' said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Nokia.
``By bringing together all the necessary components to provide top-notch solutions for our customers via XHTML, we'll be able to merge the best of the Internet and mobile worlds,'' said Leif Soderberg, senior vice president and head of strategy, Motorola's Personal Communications Sector. ``XHTML will bring an open and widely supported technology standard to the communications world; one which will provide new opportunities for all of us to provide a robust environment for application service creation while allowing for a graceful technology evolution for Motorola, our customers and our partners.''
``XHTML is a technology that will bring the mobile Internet and regular web together and open a vast pool of content and applications to consumers. Ericsson will support this evolution both in our handsets as well as in our infrastructure and service network offering. Widening the business opportunities in the new mobile internet world is key to Ericsson and we see XHTML is an important tool in doing that'', says Philip van Houtte, VP Strategic Market Development, Ericsson.
``The XHTML technology provides the convergence to the Internet for wireless services. This will enable us to accelerate the development and deployment of highly interesting content and applications for the consumers, which is a critical success factor of Mobile Internet'' said Georges Boulloy, Senior Vice President Product Operations, Siemens Mobile Phones, Germany.
Another important component to enhance mobile browsing experience with XHTML markup language are the cascading style sheets that will offer significant advances to how content is presented to consumers. The style sheets themselves are a major advantage as they will make it possible to easily tailor content specifically for different handsets and offer many of the elements necessary to create a graphical user interface for services.
``Orange supports the development of XHTML and recognises its importance to the convergence of the fixed and wirefree(TM) internets, providing a common standard for the future,'' said Richard Brennan, Vice President OrangeWorld and Brands. ``It will enable operators to deliver the vast content of the internet to mobile devices, allowing them to offer a wide range of visually appealing services. ''Orange intends to offer a seamless approach to wirefree data access and we welcome any standard that assists us in the delivery of services to our customers whenever and wherever they are.``
``The success of Mobile Internet will largely depend on the availability of suitable content and applications. Flexible and open standards like XHTML that offer compatibility between the fixed internet and the mobile world will greatly help operators, content providers and application developers in creating visually rich and easy-to-use mobile applications,'' said Anni Vepsalainen, Senior Vice President of Sonera Mobile Operations.
``As a multichannel e-services provider, DNA Finland Ltd is excited about this development and is looking forward to implementing the standard on its platform. XHMTL will give us the opportunity to seamlessly and efficiently move between various access methods. This development will speed up the migration of the content to all networks more easily. This will result in the entire industry being able to achieve the vision and dream of 3G,'' said the Managing Director Reijo Syrjalainen DNA Finland Ltd.
``T-Mobil welcomes the wide support of XHTML. The format is an important step towards the convergence of WAP and WEB and will give new impulses to innovative mobile multimedia services,'' said Rene Obermann, CEO of T-Mobil.
``TIM strongly supports the development of data transmission on mobile networks,'' said Mauro Sentinelli, TIM Managing Director. - ``In compliance with the company strategy, aimed at maximizing data transmission services, from the server where all the contents lies through the radio- mobile network to finally reach mobile phones. In this regard XHTML technology represents a fundamental step in the evolution of mobile telephony.''
``XHTML will give us the opportunity to merge content from the fixed internet world with the mobile phone world in an easy way. The challenge, based on use of standard style sheets, will be to tailor content specifically for different handsets from the huge amount of content from the fixed internet,'' said Trond Wiborg, Vice President of Telenor Mobil, Norway.
``NetCom believes that XHTML is an important step forward to combine all competing markup languages in a common standard,'' said Sondre Aarrestad, Director Interactive, NetCom GSM AS. ``Consequently, we will see a convergence of the mobile markup languages around XHTML. The introduction of XHTML will enable us to rapidly deploy new services in multiple channels (e.g. WEB, WAP, PDA) and at the same time reduce the cost of maintaining these services.''
In addition to handset manufacturers and mobile phone operators, a number of other companies have announced plans to launch XHTML services, application technology and content creation tools. Accenture, Adobe, AOL, CNN, Macromedia, Sabre, and Sun Microsystems and others are expected to support XHTML with their products and services.
``CNN continues to remain in the forefront of wireless content services by distributing CNN Mobile in a variety of formats to our partners worldwide,'' said Mitch Lazar, Vice President Wireless, Turner Broadcasting System. ``Adopting this new, open standard, reinforces our commitment to deliver CNN's news and information service to people anywhere, anytime and on any device.''
``We commend these industry leaders for making this commitment to XHTML, which is the next step in making the broader web available wirelessly,'' said Richard Siber, Accenture - partner, Communications & High Tech. ``In order for the wireless industry to realize the true benefits of content, the entire power of the web needs to be unleashed to the developer community. Ultimately, this platform begins to eliminate the challenges that the burgeoning mobile data industry has experienced to date.''
Alex Felker, Senior Vice President for AOL Mobile said, ``The industry's move to provide support for XHTML in their browsers allows content and applications vendors to publish in more robust formats while maintaining back-compatibility with current WAP content. Vendors can use this capability as a bridge to the creation and dissemination of next generation interactive content in the wireless world.''
``More and more travelers are looking to the Internet for their travel information and planning. In addition, they want the convenience that wireless devices offer to keep them informed of changes to their flights or other travel plans,'' said Cindy Groner, director of Mobile Travel Services at Sabre. ``Sabre is committed to leveraging technology to provide these and other services to enhance the travel experience. We believe XHTML is key to these efforts.''
``Adobe, a leading provider of web content creation tools, is committed to enabling next generation web applications that deliver rich content to customers, anytime, anywhere, on any device,'' said Bryan Lamkin, senior vice president of product marketing at Adobe. ``It's critical that the technology industry supports open standards -- such as XHTML -- as we move from traditional web publishing to a network publishing environment.''
``The Macromedia Dreamweaver platform is built on Web standards, so we are always working to ensure our developers can extend their products to leverage new and emerging standards such as WAP and XHTML,'' said Tom Hale, vice president of marketing for Macromedia. ``With the jointly developed Nokia WML Studio for Dreamweaver, we have already been working with Nokia to make authoring of WAP and Web content seamless, and we plan to ensure developers have an intuitive way to deliver their content to both Web and wireless audiences.''
``The adoption of XHTML by the wireless industry further demonstrates that open, standards based protocols are critical to accelerate the growth of advanced mobile applications,'' said Rich Green, vice president and general manager, Java Software, Sun Microsystems. ``Together with Java technology, XHTML provides developers, carriers and manufacturers a robust, flexible platform for wireless content and services.''
Ericsson and Microsoft Demonstrate Windows Media Handset Support at CeBIT According to press release...
Microsoft Corp. and Ericsson today announced they will unveil their first step in integrating Microsoft Windows Media Audio and Video support on Ericsson handsets tomorrow at the CeBIT trade fair in Hanover, Germany. Ericsson will demonstrate for the first time an Ericsson prototype, which when added to the R520 handset can play back personal music collections and streamed Internet radio using Windows Media Audio. The prototype is being demonstrated at Ericsson's exhibition area at CeBIT (hall 26, stand 68) and illustrates the rapid progress both companies have made in collaborating to bring richer media experiences for consumers to the mobile Internet.
"Multimedia and streaming services are key mobile Internet applications that will further strengthen Ericsson's mobile Internet offering," said Anders Torstensson, vice president and general manager for the GSM and UMTS business unit at Ericsson. "This collaboration as well as our ongoing standardization efforts carried out in the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) around wireless multimedia, illustrates Ericsson's commitment to offering richer digital multimedia experiences for our mobile phone customers."
"Microsoft and Ericsson share a vision of delivering digital media to our customers any time, any place and on any device," said Will Poole, vice president of the Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft. "Ericsson's selection of the high-quality audio and integrated Digital Rights Management of Windows Media will give Ericsson customers access to vast amounts of existing Internet digital media content already available from some of the leading content providers worldwide."
Ericsson has a history of driving industry standards, such as Bluetooth, and is active in the ongoing standardization efforts carried out in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) regarding wireless multimedia. The collaboration around Windows Media will bring a vast amount of information and entertainment content to Ericsson phone users and also offer operators the opportunity to generate traffic in their high-capacity networks.
As wireless networks throughout the world are upgraded to enable the delivery of high-speed, two-way data, customers will be able to access new wireless digital media services using wireless handsets. These new mobile Internet-based services will enable consumers to send and receive personal digital audio and video, access downloaded and streamed digital music, Internet radio, and short-subject video clips such as movie trailers, news clips, financial information and even weather reports. Japanese consumers connected to 2G networks are already using Windows Media for watching and sharing video today.
Windows Media delivers the highest-quality audio and video at any bandwidth and hits critical thresholds for wireless delivery. The Windows Media Audio 8 beta release, announced in December 2000, delivers FM-quality audio and can achieve near-CD-quality downloaded music in files nearly one- third the size of an MP3 file. The Windows Media Video 8 beta version, also announced in December, will enable delivery of the highest-quality mobile video experience, offering the same high-quality video in a file or bandwidth that is nearly 50 percent smaller than other video compression technologies. This is ideally suited for the GPRS networks being built today in Europe, Asia and the United States as well as networks upgraded to the third-generation (i.e., UMTS) standard. The Windows Media Video 8 beta delivers near-VHS-quality video at rates as low as 250 Kbps and near-DVD-quality video at rates as low as 500 Kbps.
March 20, 2001
NetMorf Falls After Financing Fails According to report from MBizCentral...
Netmorf is no more.
The Boston-based Web-to-wireless content and application conversion firm officially threw in the towel on March 16, after a lead investor in the company's next round of financing unexpectedly withdrew, said an e-mail sent out by NetMorf's public relations firm Chen PR.
The e-mail was confirmed by a source inside the company who characterized the halt of business as "very sudden." NetMorf's demise left 85 people out of work, said the source, who did not want to be identified.
"It was all pretty shocking considering that the company was doing pretty well," the source said of the closure. There was not sufficient time to secure an alternate investor in time to save the company, the source added.
NetMorf provided its flagship product, SiteMorfer, to transform e-business content and transactions for delivery to wireless devices. Book giant Barnes & Noble recently signed on as a NetMorf customer, and the company has partnerships in place with several wireless firms including EnvoyWorldWide, SignalSoft and Intercede.
The company closed a $10.9 million venture round in February lead by VantagePoint Venture Partners. However, the source would not comment on whether it was VantagePoint or another investor that pulled out of this last round.
In spite of the company's lack of funding, its technology lives on, and it is unclear at this point if a new investor might revitalize the firm, according to the source.
"There's no sort of finality," the source said.
The Motorola Mobile Platform System --MPS-- Realizes the Promise of Wireless Internet According to press release...
Motorola, Inc. today introduced its Mobile Platform System (MPS), an integrated hardware and software platform offering Internet access, e-mail access and Personal Information Management (PIM) synchronization. With the MPS, the newest edition to Motorola's Data Server product portfolio, WAP services are faster, easier, more secure, and more fun for mobile users. Motorola's MPS provides access to services via WAP enabled devices and PC's with a web browser. Using your mobile device as an information tool has never been easier.
Scheduled for shipment in the second quarter of this year, the MPS gives cellular carriers, service providers, and enterprises an integrated software and hardware solution that can offer new applications and services, increase customer loyalty, generate additional revenue and enhance the user experience. MPS sets people free by providing mobile access to Internet-based information when and where you need it to make life simpler, smarter, safer and synchronized.
"Our Mobile Platform System represents the most sophisticated communication software and hardware available for mobile devices," said Yvonne Verse, vice president and director, data solutions platform technology & 3rd party developer support, in the Internet Software and Content Group (ISCG), which developed the system. "We are bringing to wireless Internet products the convenience, reliability and functionality that end-users want to help make their lives better."
The Mobile Platform System (MPS) is a comprehensive suite of three award winning software solutions made up of Motorola's WAP Server, VoxSurf email, and Starfish TrueSync® PIM Sync, coupled with highly available hardware and software architecture. This combination of hardware and software creates a completely integrated turnkey solution, providing users a tremendous amount of benefits including easy access to multiple applications and services, authentication, provisioning, transaction logging, system management, database access and secure access to information. The MPS is designed to meet the high performance needs of today's demanding environments, with the flexibility to be easily upgraded with new application servers as a customer's requirements expand.
MPS deploys a common and integrated architecture across all systems to provide the following key components that benefit customers:
--Scalability and High Availability --Database Architecture --Wireless Billing API --SNMP System Management --Automated Provisioning System --Authentication --Extensible User Views
The core component of the MPS is Motorola's WAP Server, which allows users to access Internet applications and content from a WAP enabled device. Key features of Motorola's WAP Server include:
WAP 1.2 compliance
Interoperability of WAP compliant devices
Encryption - WTLS Class 1 and 2 Level encryption for e-commerce transactions
Open architecture -ideal environment for application development
Wireless Telephony Application (WTA) Server - enables LDAP directory servers
Supports bookmarks and cookies
Operator controlled services
Multiple methods of security implemented
Gartner sees stronger cellphone market than most According to report from Reuters...
Market research firm Gartner Dataquest gave the mobile phone industry a fillip on Tuesday when it said it expected worldwide sales of 507 million cellphones in 2001, well over the industry's own expectations.
The forecast comes two days before Europe's largest technology trade show, CeBIT, starts in Hanover, Germany, where investors will be anxiously looking for clues to where the technology industry is heading.
Gartner's estimate, which means a 23 percent increase over the 412 million cellphones sold in 2000, comes in the wake of a series of downgraded expectations by the industry itself.
Finland's Nokia , the world's largest cellphone maker, recently cut its forecast to 450-500 million units from 500-550 million units.
Number two Motorola sees sales below 500 million from previous estimates of 525-575 million. Number three, Germany's Siemens , said last week that global handset sales could be less than 450 million units this year.
Gartner acknowledged it held a relatively bullish view despite the U.S. economy having come to a grinding halt and mobile operators cutting back spending plans due to financing problems and falling profit margins.
"This is our reasoned view," said Gartner telecom analyst Peter Richardson. "It's certainly not our best case scenario."
He said the wireless industry warranted upbeat expectations, because the only soft market is in the United States.
"Europe is still pulling quite strongly and Asia is going like a train," he said.
Gartner Dataquest, one of the leading technology research groups, said it expects Asia to become the largest market for mobile phones in 2001.
Of the forecast 507 million phones, some 170 million will be sold in Asia, a rise of 31 percent over 2000.
In Western Europe Gartner saw demand for 167 million cellphones, up 19 percent. North America will be the number three region, with shipments forecast to reach 90 million units, an 18 percent increase over 2000.
Latin America will grow 17 percent, with sales expected to top 42 million units. The rest of Europe, Middle East and Africa is on track to have sales of 38.2 million units, up 23 percent.
Gartner said its outlook is based on sales to end-users, excluding inventories, and also assumes that mobile phone makers will be able to meet demand.
There was a real possibility that demand could not be met, despite the softer overall growth of the cellphone market.
Some phones are in much higher demand than others: Nokia cannot build enough of its 3310 phones to satisfy customers, Richardson said.
But the 507 million figure is conservative in that it contains no end-of-year boost through sales of new, faster GPRS phones, he added.
Although the new GPRS network for ``always-on'' Internet phones is currently being rolled out in Europe and phone makers have high hopes it will boost Christmas sales for 2001, Gartner spoke to very few people expecting to use the new service.
"End users have hardly any visibility of GPRS. If you ask them about it, they'll look blankly, said Richardson.
Handspring gaining toehold in Palm market According to report from ZDNet...
Handspring made small gains on Palm during February, according to PC Data.
Handspring, which licenses the Palm operating system, ended February with 28 percent of the U.S. retail handheld market, up from 26 percent the month before. Palm accounted for 59 percent of the market in February, down from 61 percent in January.
Sony, which also uses the Palm OS, controlled 2 percent of the market last month.
Altogether, handhelds that use the Palm OS accounted for 89 percent of the U.S. retail market in February.
Meanwhile, the companies that license Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system held steady last month with a combined 9 percent of the market.
Hewlett-Packard had 4 percent market share; Compaq Computer had 3 percent; and Casio had 2 percent.
All other handheld makers made up the remaining 2 percent.
Pocket PC-based devices are doing better overseas, gaining ground on Palm in Europe.
A recent study by the England-based market researcher Context Integration, showed Palm's European market share had dipped from 59 percent in January 2000 to 55 percent in December.
By contrast, Hewlett-Packard and Compaq, the two largest manufacturers of Pocket PC devices, combined for 31 percent of the European market at year's end, up from 18 percent at the start of 2000.
Monday didn't bring all good news for Handspring. Samuel May, an analyst at US Bancorp Piper Jaffray, downgraded the company from "strong buy" to "buy" on concerns that a slowdown in corporate purchasing could impact the company's revenue.
Handheld computer manufacturers have been engaging in a fierce battle to gain more market share and compete with better products.
On Monday, Palm unveiled two new handheld computers with slimmer bodies and a postage stamp-sized expansion slot. Handspring last week introduced its slimmed-down Visor Edge.
Hewlett-Packard plans to introduce a cheaper color version of its Jornada handheld on Wednesday.
March 19, 2001
Synch This: Jakob, Meet Peter Remember the Jakob Nielsen vs. WAP incident? Well, Susan Kuchinskas from MBizCentral does...
Jakob Nielsen, the Madonna of the Web design community, is making moves on extending his brand to the mobile industry. Is it his newfound recognition as a WAP-basher or the promotion of his rockstar "World Tour" that got him a slot in the current Newsweek?
Nielsen, a usability expert and partner of the Nielsen Norman Group, is probably the best-known UI consultant in the world. He's revered for his no-nonsense, user-centric approach to Web design, something the mobile data industry could take a page from, so to speak.
There are signs, though, that Nielsen might be carrying this celebrity business too far. Or, if not too far, too often. There's long been a sort of IP cargo cult devoted to the use-meister, with fans creating homages like Dancing Nielsen and Nielsen wallpaper.
Lately, though, it's turned a bit ugly. An Nielsen anti-cult has sprung up, promulgated by disgruntled Websters like content consultant Joe Clark, who asks in his Weblog NUblog "When Will Jakob Nielsen Shut Up?" XeroxPARC researcher Paul Dourish even accused him of inventing spam. Like Madonna circa 1995, Nielsen seems to be everywhere: quoted constantly, on the speakers list for every Internet conference there is.
But too much attention to personal appearances at the expense of actual work can also lead to a creeping sameness in those presentations, as pointed out by Steve Champeon and Jeff Veen in the Jakob Nielsen Drinking Game: "Every time his reasoning relies on having solved 'the bandwidth problem,' take one drink. If he mentions scrolling, take one drink."
Now Nielsen, like so many others, has hopped on the wireless bandwagon. Will his roadshow play in this town, in an industry with more consultants than customers? Or is he about to find the level of his competence?
The desire to bust a move can lead to less-than-stellar research methodology, such as publishing a high-profile report based on a survey of 20 users. This was the case with Nielsen's "WAP Usability," which was widely reported as "WAP is CWAP." Among the reports was MbizCentral editor Monica Peck. Her take: "As a firm believer in Every Vote Counts, I think the study has some merit." (Peck went on to say that the report's statistics were misleading and that the results were old news.)
In their 1969 book The Peter Principle, Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull opined that in every organization, staffers who do a good job rise in the hierarchy until they exceed their capabilities, at which time they stall. Meanwhile, the work gets done by those employees who haven't yet reached their level of incompetence.
I'm certainly not suggesting that Nielsen is incompetent. But until he discovers, like the rest of us have, that mobile is not the Internet all over again, perhaps he should stop, listen and learn before he speaks.
Palm Believes NCR Suit Has No Merit According to press release...
Palm, Inc. believes the lawsuit filed March 14, 2001, by NCR Corporation against Palm and Handspring Inc. has no merit. NCR alleged that Palm's and Handspring's handheld computers infringe two NCR-owned patents for a type of "portable personal terminal." Palm was not approached by NCR about the patents prior to filing its suit.
"Palm will defend itself vigorously," said Stephen Yu, Palm's general counsel.
March 16, 2001
BT owns "i-mode" in the UK Originally published in 3G:america (02/2001)...
A wholly-owned subsidiary of British Telecom has apparently shored up the UK trademark for NTT DoCoMo's i-mode brand.
According to sources in the industry and subsequent investigation by telecomasia.net, the trademark for 12 versions of i-mode is owned by Telecom Securicor Cellular Radio Limited, a 100% owned company under BT.
The trademark, number 2215951A, gives TSCRL the rights to, I-MODE, i-mode, i-MODE, I-mode, I.MODE, i.mode, I.mode, i.MODE, I MODE, i mode, i MODE, and I mode in the UK for use to deliver a number of services including telecommunications as well as information services.
The trademark was registered in December 1999, according to the UK Patent Office, the body responsible for Intellectual Property (Copyright, Designs, Patents and Trademarks) in the country.
According to the Patent Office, "A trademark is any sign which can distinguish the goods and services of one trader from those of another. A sign includes, for example, words, logos, pictures, or a combination of these."
"A trademark is used as a marketing tool so that customers can recognize the product of a particular trader," the Patent Office explains.
The evidence could have a profound impact for NTT DoCoMo in the UK, where it has already spent $1.5 billion in a joint-venture with Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa group to develop third-generation services in the market.
DoCoMo has made no secret that it wants to export its i-mode platform overseas. Most recently, it paid $9.8 billion for 16% of AT&T Wireless with the specific intention of bringing the i-mode platform to the US.
While DoCoMo has unveiled another brand, FOMA, for its 3G service, i-mode is known worldwide in the telecoms industry as the successful platform and brand for its wireless data service. In addition, DoCoMo often uses "i-mode" when promoting its success to the industry outside Japan.
