Wireless Asia articles from September 2004

Wireless Asia archives from September 2004

Personalize this.(Unwired)
September 15, 2004... The mobile is a highly personal device, yet to date we have barely tapped the ability of a cell-phone to be tailored to fit a customer's needs and style. We're talking personalization. The handset stands uniquely at the intersection of...

Facing up to revenue leakage: Vincent Barry, director of Asia region at Azure, the telecoms revenue assurance company, highlights causes of revenue loss for Asian telecoms operators and how they can start reducing revenue leakage.(Advertorial)(Advertisement)
September 15, 2004... Revenue leakage, through either deliberate or unintentional means, is one of the biggest problems facing telecoms operators today, globally accounting for 10.7% of turnover (Analysys, 2004). This equates to billions of dollars. In Asia the...

Aussie 3G deals shift focus to brands.(News Analysis)
September 15, 2004... Australia's major telcos will be both partners and rivals in the 3G mobile market after two groundbreaking network sharing deals announced over the past two months. Telstra, which had' flirted with Vodafone, announced a A$450 deal to give...

Moving beyond personalization.(Insight: one month's wireless research)
September 15, 2004... Phone personalization will remain the most important form of mobile content revenue, but a report from Ovum says operators need to enrich existing services and grow new ones such as mastertones and ringback tones to gain a stake in the budding...

Early adopters.(Insight: one month's wireless research)
September 15, 2004... Mobile penetration among children and early teens is climbing across Asia. An estimated 30% of 13- to 15-year-olds in the region now own mobile phones while 7% share one with a family member, according to an annual survey by TNS Asia. In...

Optus to equal Telstra by 2005.(Insight: one month's wireless research)
September 15, 2004... The Australian mobile market grew by 10% over the past year ending June 30. Optus clearly has been the major winner, increasing its market share by 6.8% to 35.5% while Telstra's share dropped 8.1% to 39.7%. A report from BuddeComm forecasts...

ZigBee market explosion.(Insight: one month's wireless research)
September 15, 2004... ZigBee, the low-power, short-range wireless sensor and control technology, is barely a blip on the radar today. But the market for the devices is expected to jump from about 1 million units sold next year to more than 80 million units by the...

Nokia aims wide for multimedia niche.(News Analysis)
September 15, 2004... Moving away from its traditional mass-market focus, Nokia has its sights set on creating niche markets in the steadily growing mobile multimedia arena. The company is gearing up to roll out a range of multimedia handsets and services covering...

Nagoya cuts 2G coverage on subway.(News Analysis)
September 15, 2004... Starting this month, Nagoya city's transportation bureau will visit all 2G base stations in the concourses of its underground stations and ensure they are adjusted to prevent signal emissions from reaching the subway platforms and carriages....

Samsung knows cam-phones.(Metrics)
September 15, 2004... Nokia may be the market leader in handsets, but when it comes to handsets with integrated cameras and/or MMS functionality, it's Samsung who rules. The No.3 vendor currently has over 60 MMS-capable cam-phones commercially available,...

Unwired in the Philippines.(Metrics)
September 15, 2004... PLDT's first-half results announced early last month highlighted once again the significant role mobile has played in getting the country connected. PLDT's whopping 573% growth in HI net was attributed chiefly to its wireless arms, Smart and...

Ericsson pulls its plug on Bluetooth by shutting down its 125-worker Technology Licensing group and reshuffling employees into other divisions.(Movements)
September 15, 2004... Ericsson pulls its plug on Bluetooth by shutting down its 125-worker Technology Licensing group and reshuffling employees into other divisions. An Ericsson representative says the company doesn't plan to continue design and development around...

Canada's Ministry of Industry decides to lift the country's mobile spectrum cap policy.(Movements)
September 15, 2004... Canada's Ministry of Industry decides to lift the country's mobile spectrum cap policy as the market matures.

Nokia and Pointsec jointly develop a security solution for mobile devices, protecting enterprise customer's data such as email, text and multimedia messages, calendar and address book entries, and information stored on memory cards.(Movements)
September 15, 2004... Nokia and Pointsec jointly develop a security solution for mobile devices, protecting enterprise customer's data such as email, text and multimedia messages, calendar and address book entries, and information stored on memory cards. The...

Siemens Mobile finds a software-related defect in its 65 series models, which causes the phone to play loudly when the battery is drained.(Movements)
September 15, 2004... Siemens Mobile finds a software-related defect in its 65 series models, which causes the phone to play loudly when the battery is drained. The tune is loud enough to cause hearing loss in extreme cases. Siemens says it will release a software...

Samsung says it overtook Nokia as the No. 1 handset maker in the French mobile market in July and August in terms of shipments, with up to a 20% share, citing a survey of some 550 retail stores complied by market research firm Gfk.(Movements)
September 15, 2004... Samsung says it overtook Nokia as the No. 1 handset maker in the French mobile market in July and August in terms of shipments, with up to a 20% share, citing a survey of some 550 retail stores complied by market research firm Gfk. But the...

SK Telecom and US chipset marker SiRF Technology sign an agreement to jointly develop and market GPS solutions.(Movements)
September 15, 2004... Sk Telecom and US chipset marker SiRF Technology sign an agreement to jointly develop and market GPS solutions. The deal provides SKT exclusive rights to market network servers using SiRF's GPS technology in global CDMA markets.

Saudi Arabia awards a mobile license to Etisalat Telecommunications.(Movements)
September 15, 2004... Saudi Arabia awards a mobile license to Etisalat Telecommunications, a move expected to break the monopoly of Saudi Telecom Company.

The Ministry of Information Industry will announce the results of the ongoing 3G trials at a conference in early November.(Beijing)
September 15, 2004... The Ministry of Information Industry will announce the results of the ongoing 3G trials at a conference in early November. The announcement is expected to give some indication of China's 3G-related policies on licensing timing and standards.

China successfully develops its first indigenous chipset for 3G mobile phones.(Beijing)
September 15, 2004... China successfully develops its first indigenous chipset for 3G mobile phones. The chipset, developed by Spreadtrum Communications, is expected to decrease Chinese handset makers' dependence on foreign intellectual property and significantly...

China Mobile suspends Chinadotcom's Go2joy mobile messaging unit as part of a broad crackdown on aggressive marketing by it and 21 other companies.(Beijing)
September 15, 2004... China Mobile suspends Chinadotcom's Go2joy mobile messaging unit as part of a broad crackdown on aggressive marketing by it and 21 other companies. The action was taken after Go2joy inadvertently charged some inactive users, transferred users...

Tomson Li, chairman of TCL International Holdings, expects China's handset makers to face a period of consolidation over the next two years as the domestic market slows.(Shenzhen)
September 15, 2004... Tomson Li, chairman of TCL International Holdings, expects China's handset makers to face a period of consolidation over the next two y ears as the domestic market slows. He estimates that only between ten and 15 of the country's more than 40...

China Mobile sees its first half net profit rise 7.8% year-on-year to 18.83b yuan ($2.4b) on solid subscriber growth.(Hong Kong)
September 15, 2004... China Mobile sees its first half net profit rise 7.8% year-on-year to 18.83b yuan ($2.4b) on solid subscriber growth. The company says its low-cost mobile services boosted its subscriber base by 17.02m to 158.6m by the end of June.

China Unicom reports 18% growth in net profit for the first six months after the acquisition of nine provincial networks.(Hong Kong)
September 15, 2004... China Unicom reports 18% growth in net profit for the first six months after the acquisition of nine provincial networks. For the period ending June 30, net profit was 2.81b yuan ($339.3m), up from 2.39b yuan in the corresponding period last...

New World Mobility launches push-to-talk over cellular service to trucking and taxi companies and other frequent users of two-way radios.(Hong Kong)
September 15, 2004... New World Mobility launches push-to-talk over cellular service to trucking and taxi companies and other frequent users of two-way radios. The service, which is the first of its kind in the city, also targets the youth group. The service launch...

The Pakistan government abolishes custom duties and sales tax on imported mobile phones parts.(Islamabad)
September 15, 2004... The Pakistan government abolishes custom duties and sales tax on imported mobile phones parts in a bid to attract foreign investment in the nation's mobile phone sector.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority completes the bidding process.(Islamabad)
September 15, 2004... The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority completes the bidding process to grant wireless local loop licenses in 12 out of the 14 regions in the country.

Telekom Malaysia books a 9.9% increase in revenue to $853.6m for the second quarter to 30 June 2004.(Kuala Lumpur)
September 15, 2004... Telekom Malaysia books a 9.9% increase in revenue to $853.6m for the second quarter to 30 June 2004, driven by its cellular segment, Internet and multimedia services.

The Ministry of Trade proposes that the Ministry of Finance halve the current tax rate of 10% on imported mobile phones.(Hanoi)
September 15, 2004... The Ministry of Trade proposes that the Ministry of Finance halve the current tax rate of 10% on imported mobile phones, in an attempt to cut down on handset smuggling.

KT Corp plans to invest 18 trillion won ($15.5b) by 2010 to boost its total revenue to 27 trillion won.(Seoul)
September 15, 2004... KT Corp plans to invest 18 trillion won ($15.5b) by 2010 to boost its total revenue to 27 trillion won. The company will spend 3 trillion won a year over the next six years in its five "new" businesses--next-generation mobile communications,...

SK Telecom and Samsung Card agree to jointly sell mobile payment service nationwide.(Seoul)
September 15, 2004... SK Telecom and Samsung Card agree to jointly sell mobile payment service nationwide. Under the deal, Samsung Card will Issue its new credit cards with SK Telecom's mobile payment chips, which let customers pay for items such as bus fares.

Vibo Telecom gears up for its 3G rollout in Taiwan.(Taipei)
September 15, 2004... Vibo Telecom gears up for its 3G rollout in Taiwan by securing a bank loan of NT$7b ($204.83m).

NTT DoCoMo and Motorola will jointly develop a PDA-style 3G handset for business users.(Tokyo)
September 15, 2004... NTT DoCoMo and Motorola will jointly develop a PDA-style 3G handset for business users. The companies say the phone would be Motorola's first for DoCoMo and will be suitable for use outside Japan.

Vodafone Holdings.(Tokyo)
September 15, 2004... Vodafone Holdings appoints Shim Tsuda, a former senior executive of NTT DoCoMo, to head the company. Tsuda will replace Brian Clark, the interim president and chief executive, on December 1.

Telstra will add between 1,000 and 2,000 new Wi-Fi hotspots over the next two years as part of its plan to create a nationwide Wi-Fi network.(Sydney)
September 15, 2004... Telstra will add between 1,000 and 2,000 new Wi-Fi hotspots over the next two years as part of its plan to create a nationwide Wi-Fi network. At present Telstra has 116 hotspots, which are mainly in Qantas airport lounges and business hotels.

"3" Australia secures a five-year loan facility of $A1.5b ($1.07b).(Sydney)
September 15, 2004... "3" Australia secures a five-year loan facility of $A1.5b ($1.07b) from a syndicate of major local and international banks.

Optus and Vodafone sign a deal to jointly build and operate a nationwide 3G network, three weeks after rival Telstra agreed buy a 50% stake in "3" Australia for A$450 million ($315m).(Sydney)
September 15, 2004... Optus and Vodafone sign a deal to jointly build and operate a nationwide 3G network, three weeks after rival Telstra agreed buy a 50% stake in "3" Australia for A$450 million ($315m). Allen Lew, managing director of Optus Mobile, says the...

New Zealand passes a Gambling Act.(Wellington)
September 15, 2004... New Zealand passes a Gambling Act that bans almost all forms of gambling using mobile phones.

The Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) bars the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) from intervening in disputes between operators on the terms and conditions of interconnection.(New Delhi)
September 15, 2004... The Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) bars the Telecom Regulatory India (TRAI) from intervening in disputes between operators on the terms and conditions of interconnection. TDSAT, which dismissed a review petition filed...

Tata Teleservices launches a Wi-Fi service at both the domestic and international airports in Delhi.(New Delhi)
September 15, 2004... Tata Teleservices launches a Wi-Fi service at both the domestic and international airports in Delhi. The company plans to launch similar services at the Bangalore and Chennai airports.

MTNL will float a tender for one million GSM connections each in Delhi and Mumbai by the end of this month.(New Delhi)
September 15, 2004... MTNL will float a tender for one million GSM connections each in Delhi and Mumbai by the end of this month, and aims to have a total of 1.5m GSM lines by the end of 2005.

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) signs an agreement with Motorola Electronics and local start-up DNA Communications to develop commercial wireless applications.(Singapore)
September 15, 2004... Nanyang Technological University (NTU) signs an agreement with Motorola Electronics and local startup DNA Communications to develop commercial wireless applications. Under the deal students from NTU's School of Computer Engineering will develop...

Home on the range: advanced roaming in the modern age: roaming has always been a key revenue generator for GSM. These days, however, roaming is not just about providing voice, but also providing continuity of a growing number of non-voice services beyond the home network--which may be driven by preferred partnerships, packet technology, or possibly both.(Cover Story)
September 15, 2004... Whether you own a mobile phone or not, if you've ever flown on an airplane in the last year or so you've witnessed the post-flight ritual of people turning their phones back on before the plane has finished taxiing to the gate. If you've...

Technical advantages of R4 networking.(Advertorial)(Advertisement)
September 15, 2004... Release 4 is the second of a of protocol standards stipulated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) for the evolution from GSM to an all-IP UMTS network. An advanced version of 3GPP R99, R4 introduces hierarchical architecture...

Unlocking the supply chain with RFID: RFID is getting a big push in the supply chain thanks to retail and government mandates in the US and Europe. The momentum is growing, but enterprises are trying to make sense of the technology, which has plenty of hurdles to overcome before reaching the mainstream.(Wireless Tech)
September 15, 2004... Driven by aggressive initiatives launched by retail and government organizations in the US and Europe, RFID is set to gain momentum in the supply chain. US retail giant Wal-Mart mandated last June that its top 100 suppliers begin using...

Ringing in incremental revenue: as the debate intensifies over how well mobile personalization applications travel, Thailand's leading cellco aims to rack up $24 million in revenue from ringback tones this year.(Applications)
September 15, 2004... Many analysts and mobile operators, first enamored by the staggering popularity of ringback tones in South Korea, are starting to question how broad the appeal of the service is outside of Korea. After tepid starts in Japan (NTT DoCoMo) and...

Betting on CDMA450.
September 15, 2004... Cambodia's meager fixed-line market has been left behind by the growing popularity of mobile. This month, No. 2 GSM cellco Cambodia Shinawatra brings CDMA450 into the mix--but not as a mobile service (yet). CamShin VP and GM Trairat Kaewkerd...

Philippine cellcos thrive in open environment.(Wireless Forum)
September 15, 2004... The mobile telecommunications sector is one of the few in the Philippines that have been allowed to develop within a relatively fair and competitive environment. The two main players, Smart and Globe (with Sun on the way), have created a...

File encryption for mobiles.(tools)
September 15, 2004... Nokia and Pointsec Mobile Technologies say they have jointly developed a file encryption solution designed to protect enterprise customers' data on mobile devices. The new Pointsec solution enables the encryption of any user data such as email,...

Mobile apps development center.(tools)
September 15, 2004... Spice Communications launches Cellebrum, its mobile applications development center in Himachal Pradesh. The company will develop mission-critical mobile applications and market its solutions to telecom operators.

Development template.(tools)
September 15, 2004... Syware announces Northwind Mobile Traders, a software template that allows quick and easy creation of data-driven mobile applications like mobile order entry, sales tracking and inventory management for Windows Mobile Pocket PCs. Northwind...

EZiTap v2.0.(tools)
September 15, 2004... Zi Corporation announces an updated and advanced version of its eZiTap Front End Processor (FEP), a downloadable version of Zi's embedded eZiTap predictive text software. Version 2, which works on Sony Ericsson P800 and P900 smart phones,...

GPS SDK.(tools)
September 15, 2004... GPS software component vendor StormSource Software releases a new version of its "GPS.NET Global Positioning SDK" software, which it says is designed to minimize development time for writing commercial-grade, location-based services. The...

Bitfone buys Mobile Diagnostix.(deals)
September 15, 2004... Bitfone acquires Canadian software company Mobile Diagnostix. Bitfone says the merger will expand its value proposition, as operators will be able to use Mobile Diagnostix's SmartCare product to remotely diagnose mobile device problems, and...

Discovery goes mobile.(deals)
September 15, 2004... StarHub and Discovery Networks announce plans to expand their existing pay-TV/broadband partnership to StarHub's mobile platform. StarHub will support access to Discovery's new WAP portal, allowing StarHub Mobile customers to browse the portal...

Mobileway/InphoMatch merger.(deals)
September 15, 2004... Mobileway and InphoMatch announce plans for a merger, uniting InphoMatch's mobile carrier business with Mobileway's wireless marketing and entertainment services. The company will complete a re-branding process and unveil a new name and...

Mobile email.(out now)
September 15, 2004... StarHub and mobile email and office solutions provider Smartner announce StarHub's deployment of the Smartner Duality Always-on Mail Solution to extend its suite of PushMail services and provide instant email connectivity to a variety of...

3G video channel.(out now)
September 15, 2004... Mind Works launches its new 3G channel "MW", exclusively for "3" users in Hong Kong. MW content includes four individual sub-channels: V-Mail (animated video mail), comic language lessons, a video showcase for new local talent, and...

Conqueror worms.(out now)
September 15, 2004... Nokia and THQ Wireless announce Worms World Party for the N-Gage platform. Worms World Party is an action strategy game where teams of worms battle for control of the world. The game, which will be available in November, features co-op and...

Mobile biz apps.(out now)
September 15, 2004... New World Telecommunications launches Biz@nywhere wireless solutions for business executives and mobile workers in Hong Kong. Biz@nywhere provides executives with secure wireless access to various business applications from virtually any...

Barclays football deals.(deals)
September 15, 2004... 3 Hong Kong and CSL acquire the rights to deliver video highlights of Barclays English Premier League matches in separate agreements with Sportev Limited, a London-based provider of multi-media sports content.

Media streaming deal.(deals)
September 15, 2004... China Unicom selects Siemens to equip its CDMA network for media streaming. Siemens mobile will supply a complete solution for audio and video services, including a video portal and charging system, enabling Unicorn customers to transfer video...

Monstermob buys 9 Squared.(deals)
September 15, 2004... Mobile content provider 9 Squared is acquired by British company Monstermob Group for $2.9 million in cash. 9 Squared provides mobile entertainment products and services to various CDMA operators worldwide under the RingTone JukeBox, mTat2 and...

FOMA Java team-up.(deals)
September 15, 2004... Aptix and NTT DoCoMo team up to jointly develop a DoJa/Java platform prototype for FOMA devices based on Aplix's JBlend platform technology. DoJa/Java is the application execution environment for NTT DoCoMo's i-appli.

SMS office.(out now)
September 15, 2004... DiGi Telecommunications of Malaysia launches DiGi SMS Office, a wireless email tool developed by ZIM that uses SMS text messaging to give any mobile phone Microsoft Outlook email and calendar capabilities.

Disaster BBS in English.(out now)
September 15, 2004... NTT DoCoMo adds English language capability to the i-mode Disaster Message Board service, an electronic bulletin board service to be activated in the event of a major disaster that will enable i-mode subscribers within the disaster area to post...

Remote monitoring.(out now)
September 15, 2004... Inetcam releases iMViewer for J2ME-enabled mobile handsets. iMViewer allows users of J2ME and BREW-enabled handsets to remotely monitor their business or home from their handset. When combined with systems powered by Inetcam's iVista software,...

3G support for roaming client.(out now)
September 15, 2004... PCTEL's Mobility Solutions Group releases the latest version of its Roaming Client, which now includes support for 3G standards and networks. The client allows users to establish EDGE or UMTS data sessions through compatible cellular phones or...

Dating the phone.(this month's model)
September 15, 2004... Hong Kong-based Artificial Life is preparing to release what is already one of the most talked-about 3G apps this year: Virtual Girlfriend. The Virtual Girlfriend game, due for commercial release this December, featured intelligent...

The rush toward megapixel phones.(Street Wise)
September 15, 2004... While camera phones have only been around for the last year or so (outside Japan and Korea at least), they have already gone through some drastic evolutionary changes. The first camera phones were pretty chunky and offered low-resolution...

Bluetooth still in the crosshairs.(Short message: around the wireless industry)
September 15, 2004... More signs Bluetooth's security issues are getting out of hand: Bluetooth hacks like Bluesnarfing and Bluebugging were among the hot demos at the Black Hat and DefCon security and hacker conferences in Las Vegas last month. One of the more...

Wi-Fi goes for distance.(Short message: around the wireless industry)
September 15, 2004... Critics of Wi-Fi's alleged potential as a 3G killer often point to its puny loom coverage, but a group of teenagers recently demonstrated that Wi-Fi can go a little further than previously thought--almost 89 km, to be precise. Such was the...

Don't bet on SMS.(Short message: around the wireless industry)
September 15, 2004... SMS and gambling do not mix at least not in Malaysia and New Zealand, where various authorities issued rulings last month regarding SMS games involving elements of luck or chance In Malaysia, the National Fatwa Council declared such...

Viral marketing gone bad.(Short message: around the wireless industry)
September 15, 2004... CE Europe recently came up with a nifty campaign idea to promote a new video game, Resident Evil: Outbreak--send SMS spam from the game's Web site to mobile users saying their phone's been infected with a fictitious computer virus. The...

Wi-Fi security through paperwork.(Short message: around the wireless industry)
September 15, 2004... Worried about Wi-Fi signals leaking out of your corporate environment where any kid with a laptop can hack into your network? Try wallpapering your office. BAE Systems has developed wallpaper made of copper and plastic, which it claims"...