Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on the sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
Wireless internet use set to boom
CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J.-Wireless Internet users could increase by 300 percent by 2007, with demand on the rise from this year forward, according to the “Wireless Internet Year-End 2002 Review and User Forecast,” from Probe Research. Probe expects the Asia-Pacific region to make up more than half of all worldwide subscribers by 2007, with China alone accounting for 25 percent of those. The report predicts most subscriber growth through the end of this year will be on CDMA networks, but then GSM/GPRS/EDGE/W-CDMA technologies will take over. “The high percentage of prepaid customers was limiting the number of potential wireless Internet subscribers,” explained Probe analyst David Chamberlain. … Read more
430 billion mobile messages sent during 2002 (mostly SMS)
FALLS CHURCH, Va.-More than 430 billion mobile messages were sent worldwide during 2002, according to a new report from Telecom Trends International. More than 580 million users sent the messages. In 2002, 95 percent of messaging users used text-based messaging, 4 percent of users opted for enhanced messaging service and advanced short messaging service, while 1 percent used multimedia messaging service. TTI said by 2008, A-SMS will have the biggest share of the messaging market with 38 percent, followed by basic SMS with 34 percent and MMS with 28 percent of users. Globally, MMS will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 154.8 percent during the next six years, the company said. However, MMS will still lag behind SMS and advanced SMS during that timeframe. … Read more
UK cracks down on cell phone theft
DUBLIN, Ireland-Leading retailers and the police have teamed up in the United Kingdom to launch a crackdown on mobile-phone theft, with stolen phones being rendered unusable and those attempting to reprogram them facing stiff jail sentences. Cooperation among U.K. mobile operators has allowed details of stolen handsets to be exchanged, ensuring they cannot be used on any network. More than 400,000 phones have been disabled during the past five months. For its part, the U.K. government has pushed through new legislation that will allow the courts to impose sentences of up to five years for those found guilty of tampering with stolen phones. … Read more
Motorola looks ‘beyond phones’
SUNNYVALE, Calif.-As the initial boom of the wireless industry slows, mobile-phone makers are looking for the next major step for the industry, and are greatly expanding the definition of “wireless device” in their efforts. “How do you take a phone and have is disappear into people’s lifestyles?” asked Peter Aloumanis, vice president and general manager of Motorola Inc.’s U.S. iDEN Subscriber Group. “We need to look beyond phones.” And that’s just what Motorola and its iDEN design partner Frog Design Inc. have done. The companies unveiled a series of concept designs for advanced wireless devices, including a wireless-enabled pair of sunglasses, ear headsets, digital cameras, and wristbands. Aloumanis said Motorola is taking a page from the automotive industry, which regularly shows off concept cars during automotive industry events. Motorola will show off its line of concept wireless devices at industry events and trade shows in order to gauge interest. The company plans to release the devices sometime in 2005. “We’re releasing the product for comment by the general market,” Aloumanis said. Motorola teamed with Frog Design to develop the products. Although most of Motorola’s mobile-phone products are designed by the company, Motorola’s iDEN division (which makes phones for Nextel Communications Inc.) uses an outside designer to create its phones. Motorola’s iDEN group previously worked with Design Works to create iDEN phones, but recently swapped partners and now works with Frog Design. Founded in 1969, Frog Design has worked on the global design strategies for Sony, Louis Vuitton, NEC and Apple Computer. … Read more
Intel launches Centrino chips
HANNOVER, Germany-Intel Corp. finally launched its much-publicized set of wireless chips known as Centrino to enable end users to access the Internet through their notebooks. “We are unwiring the computer world,” said Mike Splinter, Intel head of sales and marketing at the annual CeBIT electronics show. “We want to move computing from the desk to the couch.”
Lawsuit to force carriers to provide headsets dismissed
WASHINGTON-U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake today dismissed five class-action lawsuits against the mobile-phone industry that sought to force wireless carriers to supply consumers with headsets to reduce radiation exposure and to compensate subscribers who already purchased such accessories. Blake, who last October dismissed an $800 million cancer lawsuit against Motorola Inc. and other wireless firms that is under appeal in the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Va., said she found implied federal preemption applied to the headset suits. “Despite the fact that the plaintiffs have not alleged any adverse health effects suffered as a result of their use of cell phones, they nonetheless seek to have the responsible federal agencies’ judgment overruled in several separate states by an individual judge or jury through compensatory and declaratory relief requiring the provisions of headsets, instructions and ‘reasons’ the headsets should be used,” Blake said. “Such a result is contrary to the congressional purposes of national uniformity, deference to agencies’ expertise, and striking an appropriate balance between wireless telecommunications development and public safety,” she added. … Read more
Check out the RCR Wireless News Archives for more stories from the past.
