RESTON, Va.-Nextel Communications Inc. launched the new Motorola Inc. i88s mobile phone, which includes support for location-based services with global positioning satellite technology, a move to meet the Federal Communications Commission Enhanced 911 mandate.
“This phone is the first Nextel handset that will provide technically capable emergency response centers with information that will assist in the location of someone who has called 911 from his or her GPS-enabled Nextel phone,” said Greg Santoro, vice president of Nextel Internet and Wireless Services. “The i88s also will support future location-based services for our wireless customers.”
The Motorola phone includes technology from location-services company SiRF Technology Inc. Motorola also announced it will integrate SiRF’s GPS chipsets, as well as its SiRFLoc Multimode location technology, into select Motorola third-generation mobile phones. Motorola said its 3G devices to be introduced in some European and Asian markets later this year will include the technology.
Separately, SiRF announced a deal with Traxsis Group, the research and development arm of Axiom Navigation Inc., to jointly develop and provide end-to-end location technology to wireless carriers and others in the industry.
The company also announced it is shipping its SiRFLoc Multimode product, which the company said is a wireless carrier-grade location technology that allows device users to determine their position with or without network aiding.
