David Haskin

Despite its enormous long-term potential, vendors are over-hyping mobile e-commerce to consumers who don’t yet want it, a new study concludes. "It’s debatable whether ordinary consumers are actually demanding mobile e-commerce services right now," said Duncan Brown, senior consultant for Ovum, a research and consulting firm that conducted the study. "It’s more a case of […]

Ericsson is has started demonstrating a third-generation (3G) WCDMA phone system, but says it is unimpressed with current demand for Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) phones and won’t move into that market quickly. At the CeBIT technology fair, the Swedish telecom company staged what it claims is the first live public demonstration of higher-bandwidth mobile technology. […]

MyWeb Inc.com Wednesday said it is expanding its Internet access service, based on set-top boxes, into Thailand. The company, which has been making inroads in the Chinese Internet market, said it will enter Thailand via an alliance with Asia Infonet, a subsidiary of Telecom Holdings. As in other Asian countries, MyWeb Internet access in Thailand […]

Phone.com, Inc. Monday acquired Onebox.com, a communications application service provider (ASP) for $850 million in stock. Phone.com (PHCM) is a vendor of Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)-related infrastructure products. Onebox.com is a communications application service provider providing unified e-mail, voice mail, fax, and wireless-enabled communication applications. Onebox.com aims its carrier-grade products at wireless telecom operators and […]

Finnish smart phone vendor Benefon this week unveiled its Benefon Q smart phone, the first device based on Microsoft’s Mobile Explorer platform. The phone incorporates a microbrowser that supports both Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and HTML content; most smart phones support only WAP. It has a built-in e-mail client that supports standard e-mail protocols. In […]

Symbian and Motorola Monday agreed to develop a range of wireless Net devices based on the next generation of Symbian’s EPOC platform. The devices will be designed for use on European, North American and Asian wireless networks. The companies are staffing a joint development team and expect the products to start launching in the first […]

Geoworks is claiming patents on parts of the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and is saying it wants to collect royalties from those who develop and sell WAP-compliant devices and applications. The company notified the forum last May that it believed its U.S. patent for the invention of a flexible user interface was an essential part […]

Two new studies indicate that Asia and Western Europe are two years ahead of the U.S. in deployment of broader-band third-generation (3G) wireless capabilities. The Strategis Group studies say that several countries within those regions could deploy full 3G networks by 2002 while 3G won’t be seen in the U.S. until 2004.  "Finland, Japan, and […]

Access Co. Ltd. has made a free demonstration version of its NetFront browser for Linux-based embedded applications available to developers. Access, a Japanese company, claims that NetFront owns 80 percent of the embedded browser market in that country. The browser is used in devices such as handhelds, smart phones and video game consoles in Japan. […]

Asia and Western Europe are leading the way to third-generation (3G) wireless technology with the U.S. lagging far behind, two new studies claim. According to the studies by the Strategis Group, several Asian and European markets will deploy 3G networks in 2002. By contrast, similar services won’t roll out in the U.S. until 2004, according […]

Casio and Siemens’ Communication Devices division announced that they will co-develop a wireless, multimedia- and telephone-capable palm-sized handheld based on Windows CE. The device initially is aimed at the European GSM market, but can be adapted to CDMA technology, which is more commonly used in North America, the companies say. They also say that the […]

Motorola says it expects commercial launch in Japan in early January of 64Kbps wireless Internet access. Currently, the fastest widely-available speeds for wireless Internet access by phones is 19.2Kbps. The technology, which was demonstrated for the first time in October, will be available via the company’s cdmaOne networks. Two Japanese wireless operators, DDI Corp. and […]