Picture This: Multimedia Messaging Approaches Critical Mass

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By Tim Bresien Wireless NewsFactor April 28, 2003 http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/21375.html Like many wireless data applications that seem inspired by the technology companies that create them and not necessarily by market demand, MMS (multimedia messaging service) is sometimes hard to assess. Has it truly arrived? With billions of SMS (short message service) messages flying across the globe, some educators now are expressing concern that students may have to unlearn their shortcut communications in order to properly absorb traditional instruction. The language of chat rooms and instant messaging is constantly being reinvented and condensed to minimize thumb strain on the part of phone-keypad typists. YKWIM? That is, "You know what I mean?"

LightSurf 5 is the brains behind Sprint's PCS Vision camera phones, such as the Sanyo 5300. The company's deals with mmO2 and Kodak prove the technology is at home in both CDMA and GSM environments and is compatible with leading digital-imaging technology.

Santa Cruz, California-based LightSurf Technologies was founded in 1998 in the belief that mobile-device users' appetite for sharing and consuming digital content would become universal once appropriate technology and business models were deployed. With the release of its new LightSurf 5 Multimedia Messaging Platform, the company feels that the time is now. Don't Shoot the Messager There has yet to be any global cultural metamorphosis surrounding MMS, however. Video clips, graphic images, sound and music files, and digital photography circulate among some early adopters of mobile technology but have not resulted in a sea change. There is one interesting exception: Camera phones now are starting to be banned in many of the venues that forbid traditional cameras, such as concerts, courtrooms, conferences, health clubs and other public facilities. This is a sure sign that the awareness level of at least one form of MMS has reached an inflection point. In order for the market to really heat up, though, the average consumer must embrace specific multimedia applications and feel comfortable that they are both equitably priced and responsibly managed by mobile operators. The New Kahn Game At LightSurf's helm is French entrepreneur Philippe Kahn, who founded Borland International and guided it during its rise to become a serious Microsoft competitor during the late 1980s. He later founded Starfish Software, a managed mobile synchronization company that was acquired by Motorola. "MMS is the next logical step in the evolution of global wireless communication," Kahn told NewsFactor. Predicting rapid growth, Kahn said consumers now are willing to pay for rich multimedia content, such as picture-messaging.

It is perhaps fitting that LightSurf makes its headquarters in Santa Cruz. Bombora, the Hook and Harbour's Mouth are just a few of the notable surf breaks off the coast, making the city popular with the northern California surfer crowd. But the water off Santa Cruz, about an hour south of San Jose, is cold. The shoreline is jagged and rocky. And the area is known to be a hangout for sharks. Only those who are in the company of an experienced guide who knows how to avoid the pitfalls and potential drawbacks of the region can experience the best waves that California has to offer. Smoother Sailing Ahead Likewise, mobile operators may need an experienced guide to help them attain high user-experience levels as their customers play with new MMS and picture-mail services. LightSurf's core technology proposes to keep the company off the rocks. Its multimedia messaging platform supports features that intelligently sense each target device and transcode media for optimal display. That is actually quite a technological hurdle to overcome. With an ever-increasing array of mobile handsets, each with different screen ratios, color capabilities and dimensions, major entertainment companies are not rushing to embrace MMS. They do not want their well-branded images and logos mangled on a handset that has a narrower than average screen, for example. Yessir, That's My Baby And users interested in handset photography will be disappointed by expensive new phones and data plans if a picture of a newborn baby, say, ends up having a green tint and a stretched face. That can be the result when images are arbitrarily manipulated to fit the wide variety of screens that a picture message might be viewed on. Anything that guarantees that multimedia content will be viewed "as intended" on all devices -- like LightSurf -- almost certainly will spur acceptance and growth. The LightSurf 5 platform is the brains behind Sprint's PCS Vision camera phones, such as the Sanyo 5300. The company also has deals with mmO2 in Europe and with Kodak, proving that the technology is equally at home in both CDMA and GSM environments and is compatible with leading digital-imaging technology. Sprint to the Finish Sprint's camera-phone subscribers get their own Web pages to archive and upload the camera phone's pictures. They can transmit images directly from their handsets or wait until they have access to a PC. Earlier industry attempts at MMS photography left disappointed users holding phones with limited storage capacity, meaning that the photographs they took sometimes deleted previously stored images. LightSurf's managed ASP (application service provider) model of operation and massive storage capability offer Sprint subscribers almost limitless archiving, which should lead to greater customer satisfaction and usage (and increased data revenue for Sprint). The new suite of LightSurf 5-enabled services, including custom user-interface designs, intelligent media optimization and premium-content delivery, will allow operators to compete for new customers and new revenue, and for the greater evolution of the MMS market.

PRODUCT PROFILE:

Does WLAN Billing App Signal New Industry Trend?

By Tim Bresien Wireless NewsFactor April 15, 2003 http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/21269.html Intec Telecom Systems recently launched a WLAN settlement and billing product. While this announcement may not seem like news to rock the WiFi world, it could signal the readiness of major telecom companies to embrace 802.11-enabled access as a paid service -- or, at the very least, a willingness to hedge bets as the industry takes shape. Intec already works with many of the world's traditional telecom powers. Now the company proposes to collect network-usage information and deliver pricing and billing systems for an entire spectrum of WLAN services that might be consumed someday by roaming WLAN users.

Some see the telecom giants as slow-moving latecomers to the market, but there has been no need for them to contribute to the mountains of hype surrounding Wi-Fi. There are very few paying customers today, so they can wait.

Future IP-based applications could include WLAN user authentication, simple Internet access, data-traffic management, VoWLAN (Voice over wireless LAN), messaging and content delivery. Intec also might integrate WLAN charging with roaming wholesale charging on 3G, GSM, CDMA and conventional networks. This would allow providers to engage a single revenue-generation machine operating across multiple access transport technologies. Evolving Business Case The business case for public WLAN access will continue to evolve, and early providers of 802.11 hot spots soon may feel encroached upon by the arrival of established telecommunications companies -- both wired and wireless. Joining the ranks of T-Mobile, NTT, British Telecom and AT&T will be just about every service provider that claims a substantial base of business customers. When they will support the technology with a dedicated sales force and an advertising campaign is anyone's guess. And the degree to which they will build out their own access point infrastructure is equally debatable. Some see the telecom giants as slow-moving latecomers to the market -- but there has been no need for them to contribute to the mountains of hype surrounding Wi-Fi. There are very few paying customers today, so they can wait. If and when the public WLAN opportunity matures into a billion-dollar industry, it will still represent only a small dot on the overall telecom-revenue landscape. Radio Silence Established carriers will not remain idle for long -- not with the prospect of top-tier business revenue flowing to upstart providers. But their relative state of "radio silence" has been in sharp contrast to the marketing drums being beaten by Intel, Toshiba, Ericsson and other technology vendors. What remains to be seen is just how the telecom giants go about integrating new WLAN offerings into their OSS (operations support systems) and how they propose to share revenue with the owners of access venues, with their fellow network operators and with credit-card companies, as well as with various aggregators and financial clearinghouses.

No Room To Roam "The issue of roaming is complex," Yankee Group analyst Sarah Kim told NewsFactor, "because it touches on multiple related processes, including network discovery, security (authentication and authorization) and revenue assurance. Needless to say, many schools of thought exist for each of these layers." With an established leadership position in the intercarrier billing-systems sector and a solid reputation as a supplier of convergent mediation software, Intec Telecom Systems sees public WLAN access as one of many services that its customers need to account for (and bill for) -- not all that different from VPNs, longdistance voice, SMS or traditional wireless roaming. Many of the hurdles that cloud current forecasts for public WLANs will be worked out as the market develops and service providers get a sense of what people are willing to pay for WLAN access on the go. Then There's Politics "Politics is yet another important issue," noted the Yankee Group's Kim. "Not all network operators want to necessarily open their networks to visiting users." While WLAN access belongs to the technology elite and "first movers" today, it may become a market that the big telcos and wireless operators seek to incorporate into a bundle of services for their business subscribers. And roaming issues will be key. UK-based Intec Telecom Systems, with the lion's share of the traditional telecom settlement business, may inherit some of the responsibility for WLAN settlement from telco customers. AT&T, BellSouth, Brazil Telecom, France Telecom, Hutchison 3G, Orange, Telecom Italia, SBC, Swisscom, T-Mobile, Telia, Vodafone and Verizon are among the more than 300 worldwide customers of Intec's traditional settlement solutions. Enter Intec Jason Andrews, Intec's North American implementation manager, told NewsFactor that the company's new WLAN offering "was created to generate revenue for WLAN network operators and the numerous RBOCs, cable operators, cellular carriers and others that offer end-users the capability of using hot spots." Intec's public WLAN technology is a natural extension of its current business, incorporating its established Inter-mediatE and InterconnecT product lines. The WLAN application is based on a combination of the company's convergent mediation, settlement, payment management and roaming technology, which is already familiar to many telecom network operators. The WLAN product collects and processes usage and traffic data from charging gateways, then interfaces with the operator's roaming and billing systems. Customer activity is then identified, rated and billed. The Intec WLAN Solution includes many of the same capabilities that initially were developed for more common telecom services, including roaming, prepaid, post-paid and current-paid models, balance management and authentication, rating and revenue sharing, and content and transaction identification. They Will Come As a part of the new WLAN package, Intec's convergent mediation system, Inter-mediatE, collects usage information from the WLAN login and transaction server, charging gateway or switch and then processes it according to user-defined business rules. Intec's Active Payment Mediation component takes care of any third-party authentication, balance management or payment validation that is necessary.

Validated usage records then are passed to InterconnecT, the company's flagship partner-to-partner billing system for rating, revenue allocation and billing. It is at this stage that the Intec WLAN Solution can incorporate roaming data provided by other WLAN access companies to ensure that customers are billed appropriately under terms of their agreements. This will lead to the seamless type of experience that most cellular phone customers experience today. Having announced vendor partnerships that include Transat Technologies and Nokia, Intec Telecom Systems appears ready to capitalize on the market for WLAN roaming, whenever it develops. The company is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and has a healthy OSS business, in addition to a large share of the packaged interconnect billing and settlement software business. Mostly likely, neither Intec nor its large telecom clients will have to chase the WLAN market. It will come to them.

Wireless Headset Lets Corporate Workers Cut the Cord

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By Tim Bresien Wireless NewsFactor March 20, 2003 http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/21050.html From the boardroom to the stockroom to the lunchroom, mobile accessibility increasingly is available and expected. So why are so many companies still tangled in a tether when it comes to their most basic and enduring business tool -- communications? Hands-free telephony is not a new concept in office environments, but past attempts to change the work routines of office jockeys and cubicle farmers have met with varying degrees of resistance. The Dilberts of the world have not embraced beltpacks and clumsy wired headphones in order to emancipate themselves from their desks -- not in meaningful numbers, at least.

GN Netcom hopes to add a new class of functionality to existing desktop telephones with the release of its GN 9120 Wireless Headset system.

Mobility for the working masses still means using a cell phone or an overhead paging system -- even when tracking down coworkers who are just down the hall or in a nearby conference room. GN Netcom hopes to change that situation. At the CTIA Wireless industry show that opened Monday in New Orleans, Louisiana, the company unveiled its 9120 wireless headset, which addresses many of the weaknesses of earlier systems. Desk Phones Slow To Evolve Headset advances and executive telephony products are targeted primarily toward stationary, serviceoriented professionals: call center operators, sales agents, help desk administrators and receptionists. Many of these users have found headsets add greatly to their comfort levels and productivity. Yet the early adopters in these occupations are using wired headsets for the most part, due to their custom sizing capabilities, voice quality and price. When it comes to wireless hands-free headsets, "there are three primary obstacles: battery life, range and voice quality," Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney told NewsFactor. GN Netcom claims to have made strides in all of those areas. Walk Away from Your Job In addition to an unprecedented working range of up to 300 feet from its charging station, the 9120 combines a customizable headset with conferencing capabilities and eight hours of talk time. (But Dulaney said he tends to divide battery life specifications in half until new devices are battle-tested.) Operating in the 2.4 GHz frequency, the system uses standard digital spread spectrum (DSS) frequency hopping; the signal hops frequencies 90 times per second. Additional provisions for privacy are handled at the base-station level, where the 64-bit encrypted signal is decoded. Arriving at the same time as new Wi-Fi networks, these new headsets are designed to ward off potential interference with 802.11 devices and each other.

Smart Power Management Battery life is conserved through a "smart power management" design, whereby the power is adjusted in relation to the headset's proximity to the base -- similar to the method used in a cellular network. When a user approaches the charging station, power is throttled down accordingly. As many as 50 headsets can be introduced into the same office setting. Weighing in at just an ounce, the headset itself is as light as anything seen in the mobile phone space. On-the-ear versus over-the-head configurations allow for personal preferences, as do the three different styles of boom microphones. Instant Conference Room The optional GN 1000 RHL remote handset lifter allows increased flexibility for users to answer and end calls while roaming away from their desks. And while they are away, users of the standard 9120 can simply insert their headset into a colleague's charging station to be verified and take advantage of the system's unique conferencing feature. This evolution in team conferencing is sure to attract attention and interest from a variety of office workers. It allows conference calls to occur just about anywhere, and dismisses the notion that people need to assemble around a table and yell into a centrally located speakerphone. Up to four conferencing coworkers can participate in this fashion, enabling creation of a "virtual conference room" whenever needed. "The GN 9120 was developed with the needs of the busy professional in mind," said Tobe Cohen, senior vice president of marketing at GN Netcom. "Its unique features -- including its unprecedented 300-foot range, stylish design and conferencing capabilities -- allow business professionals to continue working even when they are hundreds of feet away from their desk," he told NewsFactor. "It also works with an organization's existing telephone infrastructure, making it the obvious choice for decision makers looking to cut costs." The GN 9120 was launched with a list price of US$349 and should be available soon through HelloDirect! and other communications distributors, the company said.

IPWireless Offers 3G Alternative

By Tim Bresien Wireless NewsFactor March 12, 2003 http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/20977.html Data-only wireless broadband technology from startup IPWireless is designed to leverage the spectrum efficiencies of European universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) standards. The San Bruno, California-based company offers service providers a unique thirdgeneration data option: Functioning as an alternative to DSL and cable broadband for those who work from fixed-location home and small-office environments, it is equally suitable for laptop-toting road warriors.
While it may seem "retro" to compare the IPWireless modem to a transistor radio, its silvery enclosure and flip-up antenna will remind the 30+ crowd of their first experience with portable entertainment and information.

With speeds of up to 3 Mbps upstream and 6 Mbps downstream and a service range of three to five miles from each base station, the IPWireless system can be implemented as a data-overlay network in a 3G business case or used in a last-mile setting. It is currently under evaluation by fixed and wireless operators, particularly for markets that previously have been neglected by telcos and cable operators.

Not for Hot Spots With systems that blanket a territory with dense cellular-like coverage, companies like IPWireless and Bell Labs spinoff Flarion Technologies differ from the hot-spot business model springing up across the United States. They hope to serve the needs of license-holding service providers that are placing their bets on wireless data. IPWireless technology has been three years in the making, and it seems the timing for its rollout could not be better. Spending for expansion of DSL and cable broadband into new communities has slowed considerably as the world economy has sputtered, and license holders in Europe and Asia will continue to hemorrhage cash as they act on their 3G ambitions. Any technology that promises a cost-conscious alternative is likely to pique interest. The company's UK-based engineering team boasts a collection of talent from leading IP networking and wireless organizations, such as Cisco, Ericsson, Lucent and Motorola. But it is Alcatel that first put its stamp of approval on IPWireless. The French technology giant recently validated the company's work by announcing that it would begin marketing the IPWireless network to European mobile operators alongside its own frequency-division duplex (FDD) mobile network products. TDD Spells Mobile Data FDD systems are designed specifically for the new 3G mobile networks in Europe and are optimal for voice traffic, while time-division duplex (TDD) alternatives, such as those developed by IPWireless, can be used by service providers to offer their customers multi-megabit mobile data services. "The beauty of IPWireless mobile broadband technology is that it serves a variety of purposes," CEO Chris Gilbert told NewsFactor. "Whether providing mobile broadband services, DSL-type connectivity or new packet-based applications, we are seeing universal demand for our technology."

The Silver Surfer Customers of service providers employing the IPWireless technology can access the network in two ways: In home or office environments, customers plug the silver, transistor radio-size IPWireless modem into their computers using traditional USB or Ethernet connections. In the field, laptop users rely on the company's advanced 3G PCMCIA card. Walker Wireless of New Zealand has been very proactive in rolling out IPWireless technology over the last year and soon may expand into other markets. In the United States, 2003 should be a watershed year for the company. Maui Sky Fiber in Hawaii has six sites deployed on the island. In Missoula, Montana -- a textbook example of a market overlooked by incumbent providers -- ISP OneWest has leapfrogged most of the country by offering 3G mobile broadband for just US$44.95 per month. Dallas-based Clearwire recently launched service in Jacksonville, Florida, taking the IPWireless vision into a larger market. "Our ability to deliver profitable wireless networks has won the support of key strategic partners," Gilbert said. "We are on track to ramp to hundreds of thousands of users within the next year." Retro Benefits? While it may seem "retro" to compare the IPWireless modem to a transistor radio, its silvery enclosure and flip-up antenna will remind the 30+ crowd of their first experience with portable entertainment and information. And while it might be far-fetched to suggest that IPWireless will have the same influence on the communications landscape that the transistor had, its dual-market technology for fixed and mobile broadband suggests new possibilities for telecom service providers at a time when many lack a clear plan of action.

PowerSwipe Aims To Thwart Wireless Crimes

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By Tim Bresien Wireless NewsFactor March 05, 2003 http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/20914.html Technicians at Los Angeles-based Creditel have spent nearly three years developing a mobile-security system that they believe will stymie a great many would-be wireless crooks. The company's soon-to-be-launched PowerSwipe device, expected to sell for less than US$300, attaches to a Java phone and transforms it into a handheld commerce enabler. Though the hype surrounding the always-imminent union of the financial and mobile industries has died down somewhat, the foremost obstacle preventing the full bloom of a wireless, cashless society still remains: security. No amount of marketing rhetoric will create a universal, secure experience at the Coke machine, the retail shop, the restaurant, the bank - and your front door.

By securing data locally, and not depending on a carrier's own encryption methods or Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol, Creditel may have developed a wireless security solution for a whole host of vertical markets.

Criminal Element Earlier rosy projections for m-commerce might just as easily have applied to a looming surge in organized cybercrime -- wireless fraud could represent a huge growth market for that industry. Consumers and businesses need to know that their credit-card or other financial information is protected and transmitted securely across wireless networks before they are likely to embrace mobile payment options en masse. But it is doubtful that there ever will be a single universal solution to reassure all users. Nevertheless, new converged voice and data devices are hitting the market as 3G services gradually roll out, and enterprises are transmitting customer data and other sensitive information over wireless networks at an increasing -- some say alarming -- rate. Effective encryption and access restrictions are therefore crucial, and Creditel wants to meet at least some of that need. Built-In Encryption Yankee Group analyst Adam Zawel told NewsFactor that one of the big problems with achieving wireless security "is that power-constrained devices can't fulfill the encryption responsibilities for highly secure transactions. "A common solution is for the mobile user to enter a personal ID number," he explained, "which, in conjunction with the device ID, serves as a two-factor scheme. The remote service provider, having authenticated the user, can then forward the previously stored credit card number to a merchant." Creditel takes a different approach. Although PowerSwipe will leverage sophisticated Internet-capable phones and robust wireless data networks, it relies on neither for the protection of credit-card information or other sensitive data. Creditel's security technology is built in; any information read by PowerSwipe is processed and encrypted before it ever makes its way over the phone to the mobile operator's network.

Getting Attached to Java By securing data locally, and not depending on a carrier's own encryption methods or Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol, Creditel may have developed a solution for a whole host of vertical markets. A Java phone acts as a host for the PowerSwipe attachment, but only has access to non-sensitive data like the cardholder's name and the transaction amount. The embedded security application on the PowerSwipe employs a 128-bit key Triple DES encryption algorithm. Creditel has partnered with VPN kingpin SafeNet using its FIPS-140-1 approved CGX security platform to ensure a rock-solid path from the phone to the Creditel Server and back again. CEO Georges Elias told NewsFactor that "Creditel developed its PowerSwipe device and Mobile Transaction Exchange (MTx) to satisfy a previously unmet need for businesses to process credit card and check card payments wirelessly, quickly, easily and, most importantly, securely." Think Wirelessly, Act Locally A PowerSwipe unit has the ability to quickly read and securely transmit all types of data, whether it comes from a magnetic stripe card, smart chip, MICR line check, bar code or fingerprint. It is also able to interface with a variety of portable infrared printers. You may soon see them in use by pizza delivery personnel, plumbers, electricians, tow truck operators and many other small businesses that have been mired in performing time-consuming check authorizations and making manual credit card calls to the home office. Three years ago, Creditel saw its future among thousands of these small to medium-size businesses. And it still does. But the company said the buzz surrounding its mobile security technology is beginning to draw the attention of government agencies and Fortune 500 firms as well. Elias said, "The system was created with the flexibility and scalability to enable the delivery of other realtime turnkey business services, including credit decisioning, ID verification, access control, location tracking and other field enterprise automation tools." Hurdles To Clear With the Creditel approach and other security measures, wireless networks have the potential to be secure. But even as stronger technological solutions emerge, greater risk factors become apparent. Truth be told, though the world relies heavily on banking institutions and credit-card companies for their secure payment and debit processing methodologies today, the industry is still a multibillion-dollar haven for creative thieves. Add wireless to the equation, and the opportunities for abuse increase dramatically. Right now, some of the brightest minds in the tech sphere are hard at work perfecting new strategies to perpetrate identity theft and financial fraud. They are excited about the prospects for mobile commerce too.

Wi-Fi Watchdog Bares Teeth

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By Tim Bresien Wireless NewsFactor March 03, 2003 http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/20887.html With a new generation of Madison Avenue television commercials eloquently overstating the risks of IT espionage and compromised corporate data, the salespersons hawking the latest in network-access gear are more likely than ever to play upon those fears in their presentations to executive-suite check signers. How else can a business protect itself from the legions of body-pierced, tattooed sport hackers who break into networks just for the fun of it?
Newbury Networks aims to deliver ferocious Watchdog functionality with its suite of wireless LAN security products that advance the concept of location-enabled network technology.

But as wireless LANs (local area networks) become more of an expectation than a novelty in corporate IT infrastructures, both security strategies and value-added features for enterprise network managers are sure to evolve. Beyond simply stonewalling unwanted users and warchalking opportunists, businesses will seek to provide clear thresholds for distinct levels of network access. Let the Dogs Out Boston-based startup Newbury Networks does claim that its Wi-Fi Watchdog application can handle intruders. But the company wants to carve out a piece of the 802.11 market for itself by specializing in applications that also enable hot-spot management, mobile monitoring and analysis, and digital tours. The Wi-Fi Watchdog features a dashboard element that allows administrators to upload floor plans and area maps in order to visually display user locations and device traffic. They can see user identification, location, and duration statistics and histories. Visitors to a company might be authenticated and permitted to check their e-mail on a laptop computer while waiting in the lobby, for example, but would be preempted from establishing a network connection once they moved outside a predetermined zone. In addition to preventing unwanted access to the LAN and alerting network administrators when an intruder attempts to log in, the Newbury Watchdog can pinpoint a user's location in a network to within about five feet. At this point, you can send out the Dobermans or the German shepherds if you choose. Who Goes There? To ease their fears about security breaches and facilitate the management of "hundreds of disparate wireless connections," corporations need to have a system that monitors the location of all 802.11 traffic, Newbury Networks president and CEO Michael Maggio told NewsFactor.

The intrinsic value for the IT department, he said, is in "pinpointing the whereabouts of authorized and unauthorized wireless users, alerting them to the presence and exact location of rogue access points, and detecting the myriads of unique scenarios that can lead to the hijacking of the wireless network." The Wi-Fi Watchdog determines a user's position by processing signal-strength information and calculating timing data from the physical location of the access points. In other words, it triangulates a person's location in much the same way that a cellular or satellite-based network does. But the location data is much more precise. By combining access control, security and device-monitoring functionality in a single suite of WLAN products, Newbury hopes to see its location-enabled network solutions open a wide range of new possibilities and services for the enterprise -- and for wireless ISPs. Work of Art Newbury's LocalServer 3.0 is an application management platform designed to support the creation of new software that relies on specific location information from 802.11-based WLANs. The Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts, found that it could use the technology to educate visitors as they toured a large artwork collection housed on two floors of the property. 802.11-enabled iPAQ handhelds are used by guests and visitors as they walk among the sculptures and paintings in the hotel's public areas, and detailed information on each piece is "pushed" to the users as they approach a viewing location. This type of vertical-market functionality is just the beginning of what Newbury can expect from creative IT departments as they discover the value of knowing who is where on the network. The company is attracting the attention of museums, universities and hospitality businesses in addition to traditional enterprise customers. "Authenticating the user and the device is the most basic component of a security strategy," said Eric Ogren, a senior analyst with the Yankee Group's security solutions and services practice. "With that fundamental foundation in place, other content-filtering and bandwidth-management functions become appropriate and can be enforced," he told NewsFactor. "And then you can build upon that." Startups Charge Forward Armed with venture-capital dollars, highly focused new companies like Newbury Networks are likely to challenge established LAN equipment vendors in terms of innovation. Finland's Ekahau, for example, is integrating location information into its 802.11 products as new hardware- and software-based WLAN security products hit the market. Also in the fray are such startups as Vernier Networks, NetMotion Wireless, Bluesocket, ReefEdge, AirDefense and others. The Newbury Networks Wi-Fi Watchdog system is available for US$20,000 and runs on top of the company's LocalServer 3.0.

Cingular, Computer Associates Team for Mobile Field Support

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By Tim Bresien Wireless NewsFactor February 24, 2003

http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/20887.html

Computer Associates and Cingular Wireless have come together to extend help-desk functionality to mobile personnel and field-service technicians. The marriage of Computer Associates' Unicenter ServicePlus service desk to Cingular's wireless enterprise platform might seem like a natural evolution to some industry observers. But IT professionals who have stumbled along the way to wireless nirvana may herald the new technology as a guiding light that is long overdue.
In the field and across the campus, when technicians are armed with a wireless solution that allows them to react to service tickets and quickly complete their assigned missions -- just as they might do in an office environment -- everyone benefits.

For large companies attempting to migrate their IT applications across the various wireless communications channels available today, it has become painfully apparent that a high degree of integration is required.

Information travels from corporate mainframes and distributed architectures to the desktop, to the laptop and, increasingly, to handheld mobile devices. Software vendors, wireless operators, systems integrators and device manufacturers all play important roles in mobilizing existing infrastructures. With multiple forks in the road, figuring out the best path to enterprise mobility is a daunting challenge for IT groups. It is all about service. Great service. Timely service. And that service must mesh with existing information architectures. Many companies have deployed help-desk solutions that allow smooth handling of IT problems and upgrades. And there has been no shortage of wireless middleware that promises to link corporate data with service technicians in the field. Mobile Potential on a Giant Scale As one of the largest software companies around, Islandia, New York-based Computer Associates counts thousands of large enterprises and institutions among its customers. They depend on the company's Unicenter enterprise-management solution for the operation of vast computer networks and for everything from automated operations to Web, database and application management. Cingular Wireless boasts an impressive roster of corporate customers as well, and with service in 43 out of the top 50 markets in the United States, the company has been able to offer many corporate data solutions on its GPRS network, and on the data-only Mobitex network that powers Research In Motion's (Nasdaq: RIMM) BlackBerry and Good Technology's G100 devices. Follow the Leaders "The ability to access corporate data and information systems from mobile devices has proven to increase productivity, reduce overhead and expedite critical decisions for hundreds of Cingular clients,"

Tom Langan, executive director of Cingular's business product-marketing group, told NewsFactor, "and we believe this capability will become increasingly important as employees become more mobile." Langan added that partnering with CA makes sense, because by combining their core competencies, the two companies can deliver to customers the means to wirelessly enable their workforce without reengineering. This approach is sure to keep costs down while providing quality service, the companies say. "It's no secret that the cost of support has increased by way of a greater number of service requests and the complexity of problems," Arlen Beylerian, vice president of CA's Unicenter brand-management division, told NewsFactor. "Today, many service desks react to break-fix issues, but increased value of the enterprise service desk is achieved by mature 'service-centric' operations that align their services to the needs of the business." Remote Access: The Final Frontier In the field and across the campus, when technicians are armed with a wireless solution that allows them to react to service tickets and quickly complete their assigned missions -- just as they might do in an office environment -- everyone benefits. Problems are handled faster, service tickets are closed out quickly, reporting accuracy is improved, and service-level agreement compliance is optimized. For those technicians and service managers that already rely on the Unicenter ServicePlus service-desk application, the ability to have real-time mobile access to their data will be very empowering. "CA's 'Service Aware' capabilities incorporate this philosophy by making business applications aware of their business relevancy to initiate automated workflow and to ultimately resolve problems quickly -- and at a reduced cost to the business," added CA's Beylerian. Large-Scale Pilot Customers The first customers for the new program should provide mission-critical validation. The U.S. government's General Services Administration (GSA) and investment house Morgan Keegan, with 140 offices in 14 states, are the first two organizations that could realize significant value in being "mobilized" by the new joint venture. The Yankee Group's Roger Entner, program manager for the firm's Wireless/Mobile Service practice, said Cingular's customers who are large-scale Unicenter users will be among the first to see the benefits. It is all about "extending their enterprise information-technology investments," he told NewsFactor. "Computer Associates has a large penetration in the wired world, and this program provides a standardized approach to integrate Mobitex and GPRS." The CA-Cingular partnership is yet another line in the sand in the continuing march toward the new-world mobile enterprise.

Traq-Wireless Reins In Mobile-Enterprise Costs

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By Tim Bresien Wireless NewsFactor February 20, 2003 http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/20804.html Traq-Wireless offers a complete software and support package designed to help clients get a handle on corporate wireless service costs while juggling multicarrier relationships. The Traq solution is akin to a continuous audit that maximizes all facets of wireless spending and seeks out the lowest TCO for mobile devices and services. TCO, or total cost of ownership, is one of those acronyms that can only truly be appreciated by the people in the accounting department. But like ROI, or return on investment, the concept sometimes gets hijacked by the people in the marketing department. Lately, TCO has become the basis for promoting products and services to an overwhelmed mobile workforce.

Traq-Wireless offers software and professional support services for companies to organize, analyze and optimize their mobile communities.

How else can you explain the proliferation of cell phones, mobile service plans, two-way pagers, data services, toll-free numbers, e-mail devices, calling cards, Wi-Fi access, PDAs, broadband offerings, notebook computers, remote-access services and other enterprise-communications saviors? They are all sold in the name of improving productivity. A noble goal indeed. Stuff of Nightmares But you might be surprised to hear the horror stories that Traq-Wireless uncovers on a daily basis. One case the company likes to recount involves a Fortune 100 organization whose financial department determined that yearly expenditures on wireless services and equipment totaled US$4 million. After conducting in-depth research, a financial task force upped the estimate to $10 million. Only after a complex audit and analysis of expense reports and accounts payable records did the company uncover its true wireless spending: $25 million! Mid-size enterprises with highly mobile service personnel or salespeople also are exposing themselves to blind spending in their wireless endeavors, Traq-Wireless claims. "Companies readily overspend by 25 percent with their wireless carriers today -- even after corporate discounts and contracted rates," said Traq-Wireless vice president Greg Fitzgerald. "Realizing savings of $150,000 to $1.5 million annually is possible through proper organization, analysis and optimization of employee mobile communications," he told Newsfactor. "Just like the computer evolution, mobile technologies require appropriate monitoring and management to capture the true competitive advantage wireless provides." Dead Phones Tell No Tales A leased delivery van or copy machine that is never used would become readily apparent to most financial departments after a short time, and it is unlikely that former employees would walk off with those

assets for their personal use. But when it comes to communications devices and service plans, there are untold numbers of zero-use phones and corporate alumni whose whereabouts are mostly unknown. "As more enterprises adopt mobile voice services, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage these services," Gartner research director Phillip Redman told NewsFactor. "Adding and subtracting users is a critical application. If not overseen, it can end up costing thousands of dollars to subsidize service for exemployees. Also, someone must oversee what users spend monthly to make sure they're not going over their limits. Users are often not best-matched to the right service plan." Kicking the Bucket Mobile service plans are traditionally tied to "buckets" of minutes at a fixed monthly cost. When users exceed these predetermined thresholds, the overage fees can cost two to three times more than the negotiated minutes do. And at the end of the month, department heads are handed phone bills with generic sums for their departments and asked to sign off on them as being accurate and acceptable. Mobile operators are beginning to offer electronic data reporting to their corporate customers, although these reports sometimes arrive quarterly and can be difficult to interpret. It is highly unlikely that they will summarize where individual service plans can be replaced by more cost-effective offerings, or crossreference better rates from competing carriers. Analyze, Then Optimize Enter Traq-Wireless and its mobile-communications management suite. Traq-Wireless' Web-based management software features an "Analyze" component that allows users to organize and gain insight into an employee's mobile communications. The "Optimize" component creates and assesses individual wireless-usage profiles and can recommend the best rate plan to fit each employee's unique requirements. A new feature integrates with existing PBX phone systems and sends a text message to a mobile worker when a voice mail is recorded, saving time and 800-number costs associated with checking voice mail. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company's customer base includes such enterprise giants as FedEx Freight, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, Siemens, Westinghouse, Getronics and Convergys. Turf Wars Ahead? The Traq-Wireless product is an early winner in this new service industry, but other vendors, such as Denver, Colorado-based Digital Reliance and San Francisco's Let's Talk Enterprise Solutions, also have recognized the need for enterprise management of wireless spending. "New applications have been devised that are much more user-friendly and can track users over any period of time," said Gartner's Redman. "Traq-Wireless has the most momentum so far, in the early stages of the adoption of this service. More enterprises, especially large companies with thousands of users, will be evaluating and adopting these types of services that can prove actual hard dollars and time saved."

Customers Stop Killing Time with iGenie Webpad

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By Tim Bresien Wireless NewsFactor February 6, 2003 http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/20804.html Traq-Wireless offers a complete software and support package designed to help clients get a handle on corporate wireless service costs while juggling multicarrier relationships. The Traq solution is akin to a continuous audit that maximizes all facets of wireless spending and seeks out the lowest TCO for mobile devices and services. TCO, or total cost of ownership, is one of those acronyms that can only truly be appreciated by the people in the accounting department. But like ROI, or return on investment, the concept sometimes gets hijacked by the people in the marketing department. Lately, TCO has become the basis for promoting products and services to an overwhelmed mobile workforce.

Through surveys on the iGenie, an automobile brake shop was able to determine that more than 70 percent of its customers listened to the same local radio station. That type of customer data is invaluable, especially for small businesses.

The iGenie Webpad from Alpharetta, Georgia-based Access Data Technologies is not a solution in search of a problem. It is a proactive tool for increasing customer satisfaction and developing new revenue streams. Ross McKee, president of Access Data Technologies, dreamed up the wireless Webpad while waiting for more than an hour for his car to be serviced. As an antidote for lost productivity, he imagined a rugged, tablet-size device that would not only allow customers to wirelessly access the Internet from the waiting room, but also provide value-added services to the owner of the business. "iGenie is a total wireless (Wi-Fi) solution including an access point, an iGenie wireless Internet Webpad with embedded iGenie software, security and content filtering," McKee told NewsFactor. With just a few taps, the iGenie lets users "take a trip around the World Wide Web for just pennies," he said, "even if you have never used the Internet." Survey Says Through surveys on the iGenie, one business -- an automobile brake shop in Charlotte, North Carolina -was able to determine that more than 70 percent of its customers listened to the same local radio station. That type of customer data is invaluable when making decisions on advertising budgets and media purchases, especially for small businesses. The iGenie wireless Webpad is integrated into point-of-sale and customer billing systems. The heart of this new product is the iGenie software, which handles all aspects of activation, billing, customer surveys, remote management and streaming advertisements.

Because Access Data is a software integrator specializing in traditional client/server application deployments, thin-client deployment and outsourced IT, the new product offering has become a natural extension of its core competencies. Digging Deeper Doctor's offices, auto service centers, hotels, sports bars and casual restaurants are among the first to integrate the units into their daily operations. iGenie can offer child-protected access to games and casual entertainment, or full access to the Internet. The iGenie devices usually are purchased as part of a multi-unit package. Some early customers have bought systems with half a dozen Webpads, but others start out with a single unit. The Webpad device features a soft rubber jacket and moisture-proof enclosure. Each unit integrates a 10-inch TFT LCD and touchscreen with a custom user menu and comes with its own recharging station. Billing customers for access can be controlled at each location, and Access Data's consultants will integrate the solution into existing point-of-sale systems to provide a one-bill offering for the patrons of each establishment. Pricing of each system varies depending on configuration and volume. What's the Problem? One way to design a product is to seek out all of the potential uses for a standard technology. Another is to identify a hole in the market and develop a solution with the most suitable technology. The latter tends to have a higher success rate since the customer base has been clearly identified. Technology for technology's sake tends to be a harder sell. In the telecom and networking industries, standards are hard to come by. Usually years in the making and hard-won by the various vendors and service providers that participate in the process, standards allow manufacturers to operate in an environment where certain compatibility concerns have been removed. Barriers to entry for new companies and solutions are often lessened as well. Such is the case with many new wireless LAN (local area network) ventures. As a result, 2003 may be a year in which hundreds of "me-too" companies try to squeeze 802.11-based wireless LAN solutions into every conceivable product they can dream up. But do they really solve a problem or fill a need? The Internet Is Not the Solution The market for fixed Internet access terminals in public venues has had few success stories. Each new concept tends to be summarized as yet "another in a long line of Internet Appliance products in a category that most have given up for dead," Giga Information Group mobile enterprise analyst Ken Smiley told NewsFactor. How many Internet kiosks have you seen lately? New varieties of public Internet access stations seem to appear on the public landscape year after year. But they tend to die out from abuse, high maintenance costs or just plain apathy. Access Data thinks it can buck that tide by making Internet access a customer-satisfaction tool for its business customers. "The best bet for a company like this would be to convince someone like AT&T that iGenie should be the de facto device on the end of an AT&T offering," Smiley said.

Granting Value-Added Wishes As the rollout of iGenie progresses, Access Data may add new channel partners. The company already has cultivated a relationship with Houston's G-TEL Enterprises, one of the largest payphone operators in the United States. G-TEL will be offering the iGenie product line as a new service to its customers, which include a wide variety of businesses, ranging from hospitals to hair salons. Based on initial customer response, the Access Data solution may be the one of the best ways for small businesses to leverage the cost-effectiveness of Wi-Fi networking. The product's customer satisfaction mission is clear. Once the Webpads are integrated with product promotions, advertising and intelligencegathering mechanisms, iGenie may be able to grant a few more wishes.

Recharging Kiosk Empowers Mobile Gadget Users

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By Tim Bresien Wireless NewsFactor January 29, 2003 http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/20601.html Startup Charge Me, part of the Near Telecom group of companies in the United Kingdom, was founded just last year by entrepreneurs from the mobile telecom and manufacturing industries for the purpose of addressing a growing mobile power problem. The company says its first product, the CM1 Recharge Kiosk, is designed to promote wireless operator and handset manufacturer brands while enhancing the experience of the mobile subscriber. Additional products are in development.
London-based Charge Me aims to give power to the people through the public placement of its mobile device charging stations.

The cylindrical kiosk, measuring about 5 feet tall and 24 inches in depth, features 12 padded bays that allow users of many of today's popular handsets and PDAs to plug in and receive a power boost. It also can be built to incorporate advertising concepts and signage.

"It's quite simple. Public power charging has never properly been addressed with a product," Charge Me director Dr. Janko Mrsic-Flogel said in a conversation with NewsFactor. "The Charge Me CM1 kiosk allows travelers and passersby to recharge their mobile devices when they are low on power or have run out of juice entirely." Power Struggle There is a growing awareness in the wireless industry that robust applications like mobile gaming and MMS (multimedia messaging service) are creating a power crisis. Talk time and standby time are still the standards handset manufacturers use to gauge battery endurance -- but at the same time, they are touting their multimedia-optimized screens and polyphonic sound capabilities. It is a safe bet that game time falls far short of talk time. The more time subscribers put into hunting invaders from outer space, viewing e-mail attachments and monitoring the latest swings in their investment portfolios, the more likely it is that they will put themselves at risk of running their devices down or out. Smartphones, many of which add the full functionality of PDAs and MP3 players, are still at the mercy of one onboard power source. Running Behind Battery technology and power engineering always seem to be a half generation behind the favorable applications of the day. Otherwise, electric cars would be more than just golf cart-size curiosities, and the battery displays at your local drug store would be getting smaller instead of taking up half an aisle.

"In general, trends are to increased power consumption, particularly video on 2.5G and 3G," Aberdeen Group research director Russ Craig told NewsFactor. "The other thing that is happening is the use of nonvolatile memory in cell phones and PDAs, so if the battery goes dead you don't lose your data or phone numbers or ringtones." Power to the People Charge Me sees two types of venues for the CM1. In public transportation hubs and public gathering places, the CM1 will be a coin- or bill-operated vending machine that typically will dispense power boosts in 5- or 10-minute increments. In UK trials, a British pound (about US$1.50) bought a 10-minute charge. The second type of venue will feature the CM1 in a corporate or complimentary retail setting. Businesses may find value in placing the Charge Me kiosk in convenient locations for their employees who are heavy mobile users, while retailers and hospitality managers may find that free charges lead to impulse buys of their primary products. After all, they will have a captive audience for at least 5 or 10 minutes. Positive Reactions "Charge Me expects positive reaction to its first installations in Q1 this year," said Mrsic-Flogal. "Following the pilot installation findings, we aim to step up production and deploy nationwide (UK) with our pilot partners, such as Railtrack, which manage most of the main railway stations in England." Charge Me's kiosk is designed to be accessible to a very broad range of users, who operate a variety of wireless devices. Currently, the 12 bays of the initial CM1 product can recharge more than 50 popular mobile phone and PDA models. From Spare Batteries to Power Stations Power solution vendors are attacking the problem from different angles. For example, Aberdeen's Craig mentioned two heavily funded startups, MobileWise and Splashpower, that are designing power transfer stations. They look like desktop pads and can charge devices just by being in contact with them. Simpler strategies are being employed by companies like IST, whose Sidewinder product is a manual charger that can give up to 5 minutes of emergency power when its rotary crank is turned for 2 minutes. And you can also find PDA solar panels on the market, along with more traditional backups like spare batteries and universal AC adapters. The CM1 will be charging into dozens of UK locations early this year, with an elegant and user-friendly design that is also an advertising trojan horse for its owner. If today's wireless multimedia and mobile data applications really catch on, you may find yourself looking for a kiosk soon.

New WLAN Card Boosts PDA Power

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By Tim Bresien Wireless NewsFactor January 23, 2003 http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/20554.html Combining Wi-Fi and handheld devices seems like a can't-miss proposition. Until now, visions of high-speed access on the go have been obscured by the sobering reality of heavy power consumption. The advent of the SyChip Secure Digital WLAN Card may change that. Users of handheld devices, such as PDAs, can imagine a time when speedy wireless connections will enable all sorts of new mobile entertainment and productivity applications. Well, the time has come. It came last year, actually. And the year before. But today's mobile connectivity options -- such as plugging 802.11 cards into a PDA or buying an integrated Wi-Fi model -- can be mind-numbingly ineffective for one simple reason: power.

The SyChip technology "enables significantly longer battery life and is a key factor in making a wireless SD card for a PDA a useful accessory rather than just a toy," said Aberdeen Group research director Russ Craig.

Watching Life Drain It does not seem that 802.11 connectivity can be hyped any more than it currently is. Unfortunately, Wi-Fi seems to be sapping the life from most of the small consumer and business devices that it could benefit the most. When your PDA is switched on and connected to an 802.11 network, you can almost watch the battery life drain at double or triple the rate of loss for non-wireless endeavors. With a Bell Labs pedigree, Plano, Texas-based SyChip is a startup with the right mix of experience in RFIC (radio frequency integration circuit) and CSM (chip scale module) design to combat this issue. Founded in January 2000 as Lucent's sixteenth venture company, SyChip's core competency is in RF design for portable devices. This degree of focus has allowed the company to rise to the top of an emerging market for SD (secure digital) cards that are wirelessly enabled. Validation from SanDisk During a press conference at the recent International Consumer Electrics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, SanDisk announced that it will use SyChip's WLAN6060SDNIC design in its new SanDisk Connect product line. The tiny, low power-consumption cards are removable and will be shipped in both non-memory and 256 MB flash memory versions. "The Wi-Fi revolution is becoming a handheld experience," Navi Miglani, product marketing manager at SyChip, told NewsFactor, "and the SyChip WLAN6060SDIO card enables PDA users to take advantage of longer battery life and a smaller form factor." He noted that his company has received tremendous channel support from partners, including SanDisk and Socket, as well as from manufacturers and integrators.

PDAs and More SyChip's SDIO (secure digital input/output) products will enable a new generation of PDAs to participate in the Wi-Fi revolution without being prematurely robbed of their battery lives. SDIO standardized technology is likely to gain adoption by quite a few manufacturers of mobile phones, digital cameras, Point of Sale (POS) terminals and other Internet appliances in years to come. In addition to providing a plum endorsement of SyChip's technology, SanDisk, the world's largest supplier of flash data storage products, will leverage its distribution channels to see that SyChip products reach store shelves later this year. "One of the biggest problems with wireless and small form-factor battery-powered devices is battery life, both in standby and in use," Aberdeen Group research director Russ Craig told NewsFactor. "SyChip is the only company that I am aware of that has systematically modified the 802.11b chipset to significantly reduce power consumption via software control of the MAC (media access control) layer.... This enables significantly longer battery life and is a key factor in making a wireless SD card for a PDA a useful accessory rather than just a toy."

Will Magis Air5 Chip Usher In HDTV Era?

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By Tim Bresien Wireless NewsFactor January 20, 2003 http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/20508.html At the recent International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, Magis Networks proudly hosted live demonstrations of wireless high-definition television (HDTV) networks powered by its Air5 chipset. Many of the large consumer electronics companies are hoping to support wireless video as adoption of home wireless networks takes hold. And after many years of false starts and exaggerated promises, it appears that high-quality digital video will play a significant role in consumer environments.

The market for next-generation consumer devices that can distribute cable and satellite video over the same wireless network that supports Internet access and file-sharing could be huge.

Magis sits at the intersection of these two growth areas, arriving well before standards. Using the same unlicensed 5 GHz spectrum that is the foundation for the 802.11a wireless LAN (local area network) standard, Magis Networks has its own wild card in the form of a proprietary MAC (media access control) layer that is optimized for wireless delivery of high-quality video, TCP/IP data and audio throughout the home. Although there is not yet a standard for 802.11 QoS (quality of service), many CES attendees felt that Magis could be holding a winning hand. The San Diego startup is backed by key strategic investors, including AOL Time Warner, Hitachi, Motorola, Sanyo and Panasonic. Show Time With claims that Air5-based networks can support several simultaneous streams of high-quality video, audio and TCP/IP data at ranges of up to 250 feet, the company has created a groundswell of interest. And with throughput of up to 40 Mbps, the company's 5 GHz solution should continue to draw attention from video-oriented electronics manufacturers. Samsung used an Air5-enabled wireless network to show off its high-end video displays at CES, with one of its set-top boxes wirelessly distributing an HDTV broadcast to a Samsung plasma display panel (PDP). Similarly, Sanyo showed off one of its newest wireless 5.5-inch OLED (organic light-emitting diode) televisions, running on the Air5. Putting Some Hi-Fi into Wi-Fi The hype surrounding Wi-Fi has a lot to do with its ability to offer new industry solutions for end users of Internet-oriented content and e-mail.

"Unfortunately, standard 802.11 a, b and g protocols are data-centric, and bandwidth cannot be guaranteed," Aberdeen Group research director Russ Craig told NewsFactor. This can cause such problems as visual artifacts and interruptions in the video display, he explained. The Magis chipset uses a novel seven-antenna radio that operates in the 802.11a band, extending the useful range of the device, Craig said, adding that its MAC layer, which uses time domain multiplexing, guarantees continuity of the video stream. What all this might mean for consumers someday is that their Internet data and video content will be seamlessly transmitted throughout the home on a continuous basis, with no apparent disruption in visual or audio quality. The market for next-generation consumer devices that can distribute cable and satellite video over the same wireless network that supports Internet access and file-sharing could be huge -- and appears to be a goal for many in the business. Will Manufacturers Wait? "We developed the Air5 chipset to enable a single network in the home to serve up HDTV video, Internet data and audio," Pete Fowler, executive vice president of Magis Networks, told NewsFactor. "Coming out at the Consumer Electronics Show with highly visible, successful demos with Samsung and Sanyo has shown the industry that it can be done, and with Air5." Aberdeen's Craig said a standard wireless offering satisfactory for video is likely to evolve in the industry so that products can interoperate. "Magis is out front in that horse race," he noted. Arguably, there will be other technological approaches to achieve a similar solution. It may not be long before this type of technology is actually available to consumers. The market should only heat up from here.

Wi-Fi in the Workplace

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By Tim Bresien Wireless NewsFactor January 6, 2003 http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/20373.html

At the recent International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, Magis Networks proudly hosted live demonstrations of wireless high-definition television (HDTV) networks powered by its Air5 chipset. Many of the large consumer electronics companies are hoping to support wireless video as adoption of home wireless networks takes hold. And after many years of false starts and exaggerated promises, it appears that high-quality digital video will play a significant role in consumer environments.

Since inbound calls can be answered with voice acknowledgement, the Vocera product enables hands-free responses from otherwise-engaged workers. Hospitals have been early adopters of the Vocera Communications System.

The Vocera Communications System is a product suite that shares in the gathering momentum accompanying the introduction of 802.11 wireless networking technology, known as Wi-Fi , in the enterprise. As an early entrant in the nascent VoWLAN (voice over wireless local area network) market, Vocera's new system is a conversation starter, for sure. Vocera adds voice over IP (VoIP) functionality in buildings or campus environments equipped with 802.11b wireless LAN networks, through a unique flyweight voice communicator that provides new flexibility for intraoffice communications. Employees are always within reach of each other as they wander throughout the work day, and they are no longer married to individual phone extensions. The highly scalable system from Cupertino, California-based Vocera Communications promises to increase the productivity levels of mobile workers within the LAN and to leverage 802.11 investments. Solution Speaks to Many With Vocera's ultralight badge communicators, new users can simply log on to the system and carry on as they usually do, without any drastic changes in workplace procedure. The badge weighs less than 2 ounces, and at only 4 inches tall, it resembles the small digital voice recorders marketed by Olympus or Sony. It clips to a shirt pocket in much the same way or can be worn around the neck on a lanyard. The device serves as an 802.11 wireless transceiver within the corporate LAN and features an LCD screen for text messages in addition to its built-in microphone and speaker.

Unlike traditional PBX phone systems, the Vocera technology does not require that badge users be assigned specific extensions. Rather, their owners are identified throughout the system by name or job responsibility, and can be summoned individually or as members of specific groups that can be set up on the fly. One-to-one or one-to-many. Hey, You -"The Vocera Communications system allows users to instantly connect and speak with the person they need," Brent Lang, vice president of marketing for Vocera Communications, told NewsFactor. "This immediate voice communication can lead to improved quality of care and patient safety in hospitals and increased response times for customers in retail environments." At the heart of the offering is the Vocera Server Software, which runs on a standard Windows 2000 server and provides all of the centralized system intelligence -- such as the user manager, call manager and connection manager programs. The embedded Nuance 8.0 speech recognition software allows each badge wearer to simply ask for a person by name, or to request a generic title, such as "manager on duty." Positive Feedback Since inbound calls can be answered with voice acknowledgement, the Vocera product enables handsfree responses from otherwise-engaged workers. Hospitals have been early adopters of the Vocera Communications System. With doctors, nurses and technical service personnel in a seemingly constant state of mission-critical mobility, the healthcare industry may provide the textbook example of a vertical market in need of forward-looking solutions. In one hospital installation, the charge nurse stated that the Vocera badge system allowed her to save 30 minutes a day -- time that used to be spent hunting down staff members. To 802.11b and Beyond Market-defining technology often arrives before its corresponding industry standards do, and that is the case with the Vocera system. Along with the task of designing the product, the company has assumed the responsibility of educating potential customers. "When we have true interoperability among vendors, VoIP in the wireless LAN stands a reasonable chance of success," Kenneth L. Dulaney, vice president of mobile computing at Gartner, told NewsFactor, "and not just in vertical markets, but also in large enterprise settings." The future ratification of an IEEE 802.11e standard (yet another alphabetical suffix for Wi-Fi) will clarify quality of service (QoS) issues for VoWLAN applications, as well as for videoconferencing, media stream distribution and enhanced security. Until then, Vocera is joined by Symbol Technologies and SpectraLink Corporation as pioneers in this loosely defined sector. Both Symbol and SpectraLink have been marketing their own VoWLAN solutions featuring more traditional phone-size handsets that can be integrated into PBX systems from such vendors as Mitel, Cisco and Nortel. Speak Freely I first saw the Vocera Communications Badge and Server in action at the DEMOmobile conference in October, where I got a private demonstration from CEO Julie Shimer. She said at the time that we are

likely to see the badge design evolve into other form factors for specific markets -- perhaps a securityenabled communications device that would double as an employee-access card. It is not difficult to imagine a Vocera-like solution finding its way into vertical markets beyond hospitals and retail stores. This technology seems to be a natural fit for any operation that involves multiple dayand night-shift workers, disruptive overhead-paging systems, in-building wireless phones, mobile radios and walkie-talkies. Put a Lid on It Cost savings and convenience are great interest generators in this day and age. Chasing down company personnel by making unnecessary cell phone calls is a waste of financial resources that is hard to quantify. With wireless LAN and wired VoIP products being evaluated and deployed by a growing number of businesses, it is only natural that wireless IP voice applications will enter the mix in the next few years. Plans call for the Vocera Communications System to be sold through select value-added resellers across the country. System pricing is based on purchases of Vocera Server Software, Vocera Communications Badges and a software maintenance agreement. Server software licenses start at a list price of US$20,000 for a 75-seat user license. A Vocera Communications Badge, which can be shared by shift workers, carries a list price of $400.

Kyocera Smartphone Is a Rare Breed

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By Tim Bresien Wireless NewsFactor December 23, 2002 http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/20317.html Call them communicators, hybrids or even smartphones, as both Kyocera and Microsoft do; just call them often. Hope springs eternal in the industry's converged voice-data development labs, and Kyocera aims to answer the call for a full-featured Palm smartphone with the evolutionary 7135. Successful combination of the best features of a PDA, cell phone and entertainment gadgets is the brass ring that many wireless manufacturers still reach for, even though the market has yet to see its first runaway success. No company wants to miss out on the perceived demand -especially among enterprise customers -- for the one device that can do it all.

The Kyocera 7135 is a breed apart. It is not a brick-size block or a standard PDA that you press against your face to talk into -- and it is not a traditional handset with a tiny screen for its multimedia endeavors. It is truly unique.

Coming Sooner to America Microsoft's Smartphone platform will not find its way into a U.S. production phone until 2003, but a Siemens-branded device built on its PocketPC Phone Edition is the centerpiece of the recent MicrosoftAT&T Wireless alliance aimed at enterprise users. The Sony Ericsson P-800, a device built on the Symbian 7.0 platform with an integrated camera and removable memory card, has been a hit on the trade show circuit, although it will not be released in the United States until early 2003. Equally compelling is Kyocera's newest Palm OS v4.1 smartphone, the 7135, which should be released within a few weeks. It will be priced competitively at US$500, on a par with similar Palm-based communicator devices, such as Handspring's Treo 300 from Sprint PCS. Building on Tradition Kyocera has been a trailblazer in the pursuit of a killer smartphone, having released previous Palm-based hybrids, such as the QCP-6035 and its predecessor, the PDQ-800. Who wears the pants in this marriage of voice and data is an important question in the design of hybrid communicators. Smart devices tend to be designed either as phones that feature PDA functionality or PDAs that are voice-enabled. This one is harder to define.

The Kyocera 7135 is a breed apart from what you have seen in the market so far. It is not a brick-size block or a standard PDA that you press against your face to talk into -- and it is not a traditional handset with a tiny screen for its multimedia endeavors. It is truly unique. "The 7135 builds on the standard-setting Kyocera smartphone legacy with a comfortable phone-first design, easy-to-use Palm OS, and seamless wireless connectivity to e-mail and [surf] the Internet," Richard Goetter, senior product marketing manager at Kyocera Wireless Corporation, told NewsFactor. Multimedia Possibilities According to the company, the 7135 will ship with voice-activated dialing features, a speakerphone, twoway SMS (short message service) text messaging, Eudora e-mail, silent vibrating alert and three modes of Web access (HTML, Web Clipping and WAP, or wireless application protocol). It also acts as a data fax/modem for notebook computers, continuing the tradition of earlier Kyocera models, but now leveraging faster CDMA2000 1X (code division multiple access) networks. The 65,000color high-resolution screen is one of the best you will see on any Palm device other than the top Sony Clie PDAs. An expansion card slot, compatible with both multimedia card (MMC) and SD (secure digital) card standards, hints at all kinds of possibilities for map storage, presentation graphics and video files. A business performer for sure, the 7135 also seeks to entertain its owner by incorporating an MP3 player and 16 MB of onboard memory. Itchy Palms "This is an excellent implementation of integrated functionality that optimizes for both phone and PDA function," Forrester Research senior analyst Charles Golvin told NewsFactor. "It provides the fixed 12button keypad necessary for one-handed operation, and it maximizes display space by intelligently locating the Graffiti input pad on the lower half of the clamshell. However, this remains a niche audience device." Make no mistake: If you put the 7135 in your pocket, you will not forget it is there. At 6.6 ounces, with its large color screen, it is not a lightweight device in any matter of speaking compared with the smallest phones at your local retailer. But it is a leap forward in Kyocera's evolutionary smartphone campaign. I used working models of the 7135 at CTIA's Wireless IT conference in October and again at the San Diego Telecom Council's Gadgetfest program this month. At each event, Kyocera staff were approached numerous times by loyal owners of QCP-6035s who cannot wait to get their palms on the new model. How many sales that will translate into remains to be seen, but Kyocera's highly anticipated 7135 certainly will generate significant interest from IT departments and Palm power users.

PRODUCT PROFILE:

Big Screen Colors Sprint's Vision

By Tim Bresien Wireless NewsFactor December 20, 2002 http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/20306.html Despite the rollout of the Sprint PCS Vision network and heavy doses of accompanying advertising, it will still take several years before wireless photography, MMS (multimedia messaging system) images, mobile games and polyphonic ringtones become familiar and comfortable options for most U.S. consumers. But the introduction of Hitachi's first U.S. phone is a clear indication that the market for these services is ripening. Sprint's Vision campaign is among the more progressive attempts to increase awareness and demand for the types of advanced multimedia services that have been all the rage in Japanese and Korean markets. And Hitachi's new P300 mobile phone is easy on the eyes.

The dynamic colors produced by the P300's large screen are likely to catch the eyes of potential business and consumer shoppers who evaluate full-featured phones and are interested in taking advantage of the newest data services.

The company's P300 has been available in Sprint stores since October and sells for US$299. The Tokyo manufacturing giant has joined the ranks of other high-profile Asian vendors in Sprint's PCS Vision lineup, including Sanyo, Samsung, LG and Kyocera. Lessons learned overseas have been applied in the design of the new Hitachi phone, which is built specifically to enable some of the more robust capabilities available through PCS Vision in America. "The Hitachi P300 mobile phone is an ideal handset for Sprint PCS Vision customers," Kenny Hasegawa, manager of Hitachi's Digital Media Systems Sales Division, told NewsFactor. "The device's advanced functions -- such as POP3 e-mail, Web browsing capabilities and full-color TFD screen -- take full advantage of the Vision service." He said the handset's speakerphone, 7-color LED caller-ID and environment-switch "separate Hitachi from the masses." Big Screen Debut The dynamic colors produced by the large screen are likely to catch the eyes of potential business and consumer shoppers who evaluate full-featured phones and are interested in taking advantage of the newest data services. Accommodating eight lines of text, the visual appeal of the Hitachi screen is best appreciated when moving through the icon-driven user interface, experimenting with CMX-MIDI v2.2 animated ringtones, viewing JPEG images or playing games. Voice-activated dialing, an internal 200-entry phonebook, customizable photo caller ID, a USB (universal serial bus) interface, built-in speaker phone and many of the other high-end features available on U.S. handsets are standard in the P300. A light sensor built into the device automatically increases the ringer volume when the phone is stored in a purse or briefcase. Weighing in at 3.6 ounces, the P300 is a lightweight full-size phone (5.12" x 1.73" x .87") that fits comfortably even in larger hands. It provides 3.5 hours (201 minutes) of talk time and a full 10 days on standby. Like many phones that ship with GPS (global positioning system) capability, it may be some time before there are compelling location-based services that take advantage of its full functionality.

Targeted Focus for U.S. Launch Charles Golvin, a senior analyst with Forrester Research, applauds the design. "The optical sensor for automatic ring volume adjustment is a nice innovation," he told NewsFactor. "Hitachi appears to have taken a very targeted focus, using CDMA2000 (code division multiple access) technology -- common to at least one Japanese carrier -- and aiming for enterprise customers with a high-resolution display, built-in POP3 mail client, USB connector, and assisted GPS for location detection." Golvin said he expects Hitachi's product line will evolve slowly in the United States as the company gauges response, "and that other Japanese vendors, such as NEC, may then follow suit." The Hitachi P300 compares well with other full-size phones in its price range and will provide its owners with the opportunity to delve into all of the offerings of the new Sprint network.

Headset Offers Bluetooth Experience for All

- PRODUCT PROFILE

By Tim Bresien Wireless NewsFactor December 19, 2002 http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/20290.html You may have noticed fewer technophiles sporting wired headgear in recent months. Personal connectivity enthusiasts have been applauding the arrival of Bluetooth technology that allows wireless networking between mobile devices and headsets. It was not very long ago that the vast majority of tech professionals -especially Gen Xers -- seemed to have a black wire running down their shirts or into their pockets connecting an array of earpieces and headsets to mobile phones. A few spilled cups of coffee or inappropriately timed tugs on a short tether proved to be the downfall for many of these gadgets, while comfort and sound quality seemed an afterthought in all but the highest-priced models.

Equal parts intuitive, aerodynamic design and ergonomic flexibility ("eargonomic" in Jabra-speak) seem to have gone into FreeSpeak's creation, which checks in at just under an ounce.

Tom Hanson, director of channel marketing for headset manufacturer Jabra, told NewsFactor that "the real solution that people have been waiting for is the one that doesn't require a wire." Sweet Spot for U.S. Bluetooth Headsets European handset giants Ericsson, Siemens and Nokia have taken the lead in bringing new phones with Bluetooth functionality to market over the last year. But it could be the FreeSpeak Bluetooth headset line from Jabra that will jump-start the adoption of Bluetooth technology in the largely untapped U.S. market over the next several years. The San Diego, California-based company simultaneously released a US$99 version of its headset for Bluetooth-enabled handsets and a $179 version that enables non-Bluetooth phone users to experience the cord-free lifestyle. An adapter that plugs into a 2.5mm audio jack should motivate owners of high-end phones that lack onboard Bluetooth capability to give the technology a try. Blue Yonder "Bluetooth headsets will receive an important boost from price-point declines down to $100," IDC smart handheld device analyst Alex Slawsby told NewsFactor, but he predicted that it will be closer to 2004 or 2005 when "the whole concept of 'Bluetooth' enters into the consumer consciousness and opens up the broad base of mobile phone users to buying such headsets." Web purchases of FreeSpeak products have been brisk since the line's September launch, and it is likely that more retailers will add FreeSpeak offerings to their shelves. Incorporating Bluetooth capability in ear-mounted headsets to enable hands-free and wire-free communications is the textbook example of the technology's use. With connection ranges of up to 30 feet, users can speak, take notes, drive or otherwise move about while their handset remains in a purse, on a desk or inside a briefcase.

Price and Performance Equal parts intuitive, aerodynamic design and ergonomic flexibility ("eargonomic" in Jabra-speak) seem to have gone into FreeSpeak's creation, which checks in at just under an ounce. The tiny boom microphone on the smooth silver-and-black headset extends only to mid-jaw and can be attached to either ear. The location of the answer/end button, volume controller and LED status indicator, as well as the interpretation of the audible beep alerts, will take a few minutes to get accustomed to but should easily become routine. The FreeSpeak unit ships with three bright blue MiniGel ear inserts, designed specifically to funnel sound directly to the user's ear while filtering distractions from such noisy environments as shopping malls or airports. Sound quality and price are the dual claims to fame for Jabra's wired headset products, and the company's reputation should remain intact with FreeSpeak. Included with every headset is a multi-adapter/charging cradle that typically fires up the rechargeable lithium polymer battery in about two hours, allowing talk times approaching three hours and standby time of nearly 100 hours. Mobile phone manufacturers have marketed headsets as accessories for specific Bluetooth-enabled phones with more success in Asia and European markets than in the United States, where it looks like 2003 will be the year that both Bluetooth phones and headsets finally gain some traction. The Jabra product should compete well against accessories from Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Hong Kong's Bluetrek.