March 2007 Archives

RSI ID Tech Intros New RFID-enabled Retail Display Cases

March 27, 2007 3:59 PM |

So much news coming out of CTIA today is flooding the newswires that I’m gonna do something unimaginable—blog about a news item I received today that’s not connected with the wireless show. Gasp!

Don’t worry, I’ll definitely be blogging about CTIA this week. Just not this second.

Okay, here goes…

RSI ID Technologies, which was founded in 1991, is primarily a manufacturer of RFID antennas, inlays and tags; it also offers a line of HF and UHF RFID labels, readers and software. The company’s self-described mission is to “deliver complete, innovative solutions to complex RFID problems across global markets.”

Today’s announcement from RSI ID Technologies targets the retail market: the company is now offering two RFID-enabled display cases, under the brand name Pressica, designed specifically for eyewear and jewelry.

CTIA Wireless News Starts Now

March 26, 2007 9:18 AM |

0 Comments

The CTIA Wireless 2007 show kicks off tomorrow in Orlando, Florida. Already the newswires are starting to get flooded with announcements from wireless industry companies promoting their latest products, services and achievements. A quick search on Google News for “ctia” turned up the following:

Announcement that the creator of BlackBerry (Mike Lazaridis) has replaced Motorola’s CEO (Ed Zander) as the CTIA keynoter.
Announcement from TCS that it has been selected as a CTIA Wireless 2007 E-Tech Award finalist.
Announcements from Pantech and Nokia about their displays at the show.

I’m bracing for continued deluge of news as the show gets underway, and will be blogging, albeit from afar, on events and news that catch my eye.

Chinese Government Embraces RFID

March 13, 2007 1:03 PM |

1 Comment

Asia generally, and China in particular, tends to get a lot of play in wireless/mobile technology news, because often the latest, coolest products originate from there. Usually, in this context, China is discussed regarding cell phones. But there are other wireless technologies out there for which the Chinese market is of interest.

Take radio frequency ID (RFID), for example. In a recent report, RNCOS (an India-based research and consultancy firm) examined the outlook for RFID in China, including government policies.

How to Quit Your Cell Phone Contract--Without Termination Fee

March 12, 2007 12:36 PM |

1 Comment

Okay, so you’ve decided to switch cell phone providers. Now, how to get out of your current contract without having to pay a hefty termination fee? A Dallas Morning News article Monday offered these techniques (obviously some more practical than others):

Pretend to die. Probably won’t work for Sprint, Verizon, or Cingular (AT&T); these companies may ask for a death certificate.
Join the military and get stationed overseas.
Move to a location where your provider doesn’t offer service.

Sony's Cybershot G1 Camera: 6 Megapixels with WiFi

March 8, 2007 10:28 AM |

1 Comment

The buzz is just starting to take off this morning about Sony’s new Cybershot G1 digital camera, featuring built-in WiFi capabilities. Rumors have been circulating for weeks, apparently, about this new camera—evidently the result of details regarding Sony’s new digital camera lineup that were leaked to the Web on Feb. 20.

Now, it seems, the new is official.

Arthur D. Little: Telcos Failing to Capitalize on Mobile Web 2.0

March 7, 2007 12:06 PM |

5 Comments

The phrase, “build it and they will come” has been used to justify the creation of everything from shopping malls to communications services. Yet, if a new report from consultancy Arthur D. Little is correct, many telecom companies are unwilling or unable to go out on a perhaps not-so-thin limb when it comes to mobile information-sharing services that fall under the “Web 2.0” umbrella.

Arthur D. Little analyst Martyn Roetter said in the report that Web 2.0 services—which enable the creation and distribution of content instantaneously and globally in a way not previously imagined—are a key driver of today’s Internet growth, yet telcos are not jumping on board.

“In order to harness and monetize Web 2.0 the Telcos will have to rapidly address the needs of this community,” Roetter said in the report.

Roetter included this example of why telcos should be capitalizing on Web 2.0: “Younger Europeans are already showing their readiness to interact on the move, with 38 percent of them accessing e-mail from mobile devices, while Google launched Gmail for mobile in November last year.

New from Mayo Clinic: Health Info on Cell Phones

March 6, 2007 3:52 PM |

1 Comment

Here’s good news for cell phone addicts who also happen to be hypochondriacs: this week The Mayo Clinic rolled out a health information service available on through most mobile phone service providers. The service, InTouch, costs $2.99 per month; for that, you got access to information (such as first-aid tips, health videos, and emergency room listings) from MayoClinic.com—on your cell phone.

By the way, I was just kidding about the hypochondriac part. While I’m sure some people will use the service to “confirm” that something is terribly wrong with them when it isn’t, it likely will be utilized mostly by busy folks who need to quickly confirm how to deal with illnesses, or find an emergency room when immediate help is needed.

A DallasNews.com report today noted that, “Although Mayo is not the first to offer health information on cellphones, it's the highest-profile player to do so.”

Currently, DallasNews.com said, InTouch is available to roughly 180 million mobile subscribers who use services from Sprint Nextel, Cingular (AT&T), Verizon, and Alltel. Of course, you’ll need Web capabilities on your phone to use the service.

Mayo Clinic’s new service is just another symptom, I guess, of the increasing utility of mobile phones as tools for accessing information while on the go.

Meraki Networks Aims to Bring WiFi to the Masses, Starting in San Francisco

March 5, 2007 3:28 PM |

1 Comment

Meraki Networks—a Mountain View, California-based provider of wireless networking devices—is on a mission: bring WiFi to the masses. Or, as the company put its, “to bring affordable Internet access to the next billion people.”

How’s the company intend to do that? By making available what it calls “the first consumer wireless mesh Internet network designed to ‘unwire the world.’” First stop, San Francisco.

Meraki today announced that, during the next several weeks, it will be working with official in San Francisco to deploy a WiFi mesh network that’ll provide free access to 15,000 residents.

Okay, let’s back up here a little. What exactly is a mesh WiFi network? According to a definition provided on SearchNetworking.com, mesh WiFi is kind of like a high-tech version of the old bucket brigade: “A wireless mesh network is a mesh network created through the connection of wireless access points installed at each network user's locale.

ABI: Wireless Connectivity Technologies Converging in Computer Chips

March 5, 2007 10:51 AM |

2 Comments

Among manufacturers that make chips and other components found in wireless consumer electronics products like cellphones and PDAs, there is a definite trend toward trying to cram more and more functionality into smaller and smaller spaces.

One way to do this, ABI Research noted in a new report out today, is to create wireless integrated circuits (ICs, also known as computer chips) that truly are integrated in the sense that they bring together multiple wireless connectivity technologies—such as WiFi, GPS, and FM radio.

In other words, the convergence of different wireless communications technologies is being applied to the very chips that power handheld device applications.

ABI predicts that by 2011, 32 percent of all ICs with Bluetooth, WiFi, WiMedia, GPS and FM radio functionality will be “integrated products that are either incorporated into a connectivity package combining two or more solutions, or will be integrated with a host processor or baseband processor.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, ABI predicts that the two equipment sectors to see the majority of this integration will be cellular handsets and mobile computing.

The change is happening already, ABI said. Analyst Stuart Carlaw used two examples to illustrate this point:

Broadcom’s recently launched BCM4325, which integrates Bluetooth, FM radio and WiFi in a single IC

CSR’s recent acquisitions of NordNav and Cambridge Positioning Systems, in line with the company’s goal to begin producing ICs that combine GPS and Bluetooth

“We are on the cusp of a high level of integration activity, as silicon vendors look to add value to their offerings, diversify, and differentiate themselves in what are increasingly competitive markets,” Carlaw said in a statement.

Art Thieves, Beware of Cellphones

March 2, 2007 6:52 PM |

0 Comments

Would-be art thieves may find their career goals stymied by innovative new uses for cell phone technology. In particular, according to a report today on TechnologyNewsDaily.com, camera phones are enabling the international database of lost and stolen art to be more quickly updated.

“Thanks to a new development from the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK, the investigator can now simply take a photo of the art object with his cell phone and send it instantly to a central server,” TechnologyNewsDaily reports.

An image analysis system compares the picture submitted to the database, helping to identify objects on the basis of features like shape, outline, color and texture.

Ovum: Fixed-Mobile Convergence is More Than Just Dual-Mode

March 1, 2007 10:19 AM |

0 Comments

Two terms that are tossed around very frequently in the telecommunications industry are “dual-mode” and “fixed-mobile convergence.” Both refer to the idea that, someday, there may be phone services and handsets available that let users seamlessly switch between different types of networks. Most often, the idea is that those will be cellular and WiFi networks.

Dual-mode services promise to improve the end-user experience when using next-generation telephony—saving money on minutes and getting access to better bandwidth when within range of WiFi network, but retaining connectivity via cellular in virtually all locations.

A new report out this week from Ovum, though, says that the industry of late has been much too focused on the development of dual-mode phones. All this hype, the research firm claims, is creating unrealistic expectations surrounding the viability of dual-mode telephony anytime in the foreseeable future.

« February 2007 | Main Index | Archives | April 2007 »

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

sex shop: he MS fanboys need to step back and realise that read more
Georg: Fantastic or Foolhardy - or both at the same time? read more
Mirko: As you already mentioned: some methods are more practical than read more
Anniversary gift: Based on your article, it seems that the only significant read more
oil portraits: I also noticed the same trend here in our place. read more
G. Aasen: Interesting indeed. Let's hope they are more successful in Japan read more
Bahamut: If earthlink is going into difficulty, it will certainly affect read more
Free Flash Clock: Earthlink restructuring will definitely affect the wifi market. But wifi read more
Polin Armsley: niceSecond, the amount Li is suing Apple for seems rather read more
www.r10.net kÃ¼resel seo yarismasi: obviously still no iPhone nano around, but plenty of iPods. read more

March 2007 Archives

RSI ID Tech Intros New RFID-enabled Retail Display Cases

CTIA Wireless News Starts Now

Chinese Government Embraces RFID

How to Quit Your Cell Phone Contract--Without Termination Fee

Sony's Cybershot G1 Camera: 6 Megapixels with WiFi

Arthur D. Little: Telcos Failing to Capitalize on Mobile Web 2.0

New from Mayo Clinic: Health Info on Cell Phones

Meraki Networks Aims to Bring WiFi to the Masses, Starting in San Francisco

ABI: Wireless Connectivity Technologies Converging in Computer Chips

Art Thieves, Beware of Cellphones

Ovum: Fixed-Mobile Convergence is More Than Just Dual-Mode

Search

December 2011

About this Archive

Blogroll

Recent Entries

Recent Comments

Around TMCnet Blogs

Latest Whitepapers

TMCnet Videos

March 2007 Archives

Search

Subscribe to Blog

December 2011

About this Archive

Blogroll

Recent Entries

Recent Comments

Around TMCnet Blogs

Latest Whitepapers

TMCnet Videos