Mobile Phones

First, let’s start with the premise that at the moment you were assigned a social-security number, all privacy rights went to hell. But if that were the extent of it, we’d be lucky. Privacy’s slippery slope is getting steeper and …

WASHINGTON-In some respects, the Main Event was a non-event. Wireless stocks did not go into free fall. Major dailies did not go wild with follow-up stories on ABC’s “20/20” broadcast on mobile-phone health concerns last Wednesday evening. Congress did not …

Harris Harris Corp. previewed its ClearBurst 2.5/3.4/10.5 GHz point-to-multipoint system, the newest addition to the Harris broadband wireless access product line, which is intended for deployment by public service providers as well as private network operators. The ClearBurst product offers …

GENEVA – Sonera SmartTrust and L.M. Ericsson announced a digital signature solution for secure wireless e-commerce using Wireless Application Protocol-enabled phones. Sonera SmartTrust developed wireless security solutions based on Public Key Infrastructure, digital signatures and 1024 bit RSA data encryption. …

GENEVA-Sonera, the Finnish telecommunications operator, announced it plans to enter the wireless portal business. The company said it initially will focus its efforts on Western Europe and the United States, competing head to head with U.S. firms such as Phone.com. …

GENEVA-Finnish personal communications services carrier Sonera said it bought the business activities of ByeDesk from TeamWare Group of San Jose, Calif., for an undisclosed sum. TeamWare is a subsidiary of Fujitsu Software Corp. and operates the ByeDesk service in collaboration …

WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association last week attempted to delay ABC’s “20/20” broadcast on mobile phones and attacked the credibility of the man who led CTIA-funded health research. ABC said it plans to air the segment on mobile phone health …

WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration last week urged the European Union to permit licensing of all third-generation mobile phone standards approved by the International Telecommunication Union. In addition, according to a source familiar with the contents of the U.S.-EU letter, the administration …

Nokia Corp. and Palm Computing Inc. have entered into a joint development agreement under which the two will cross-license their respective technologies to create a new category of wireless phones featuring Palm’s pen-based user input method and personal information management …

At precisely what moment did Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association President Tom Wheeler realize he’d created a monster? Was it after the first lawsuit? The second? The third? Or did it finally hit home this past summer when Dr. George Carlo …

Nordic Mobile Telephone 450 MHz operators can choose to deploy Global System for Mobile communications or Code Division Multiple Access technology as the NMT MOU voted to give NMT 450 operators a choice in migrating to digital technology. Terrestrial trunked …

GENEVA-The GSM Association announced it plans to establish a roaming forum to address roaming issues among wireless protocols. Approval of the World Roaming Forum will be discussed at a GSM Association meeting in Montreal next week, said Michael Stocks, chairman …

NEW YORK-Clariti Telecommunications International Ltd., Philadelphia, said Oct. 11 it had received commitments for $27 million in a private placement to European investors. These funds should provide enough capital through June to develop Clariti’s global Internet Protocol network for voice, …

British Telecommunications plc and Microsoft Corp. announced they have agreed to work together in developing mobile Internet and multimedia applications and equipment. Specifically, the two said they intend to develop handheld interactive wireless devices based on Microsoft’s Windows CE platform, …

VAIL, Colo.-Gearworks.com, a strategic Internet services consultant group, said it has dedicated a team to create enterprise-wide applications for wireless devices such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants. Gearworks.com already has data warehousing capabilities. The new wireless applications group …

WASHINGTON-The Clinton administration may have misled American telecom firms by suggesting that problems created by Beijing’s ouster of wireless and wireline investors in China Unicom could be ironed out by year’s end as part of negotiations over China’s membership in …

Motorola Inc. released a new communications platform last week called Mobile Internet Exchange, or MIX, with the goal of giving users the ability to access Internet information by either voice or data on a mobile basis. “Motorola expects that by …

WASHINGTON-With only eight months before the World Radiocommunication Conference in Turkey, U.S. spectrum policy for third-generation wireless systems is on the verge of meltdown as the Clinton administration and industry continue to clash without a resolution in sight. “The interests …

WASHINGTON-A top wireless safety expert has taken umbrage at Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association President Thomas Wheeler’s call for speedier work on the development of a standard to measure mobile-phone radiation absorbed by the head. “We know that the committee has …

LONDON-British Telecommunications plc and Microsoft Corp. announced a wireless Internet trial with about 1,000 mobile phone users in the United Kingdom and Norway. Users will be able to access Microsoft Exchange-based calendaring, address lists, Web content and online information services …

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission is close to awarding a contract for a turnkey measurement system that tests mobile-phone compliance with radio-frequency radiation exposure guidelines, according to government sources. The test equipment will help the FCC ensure mobile phones meet specific …

Italy Olivetti plans to split Telecom Italia, which it won in a takeover bid in May, into two operating companies under its Tecnost acquisition arm. Telecom Italia Mobile, TI’s mobile phone company, will transfer to Tecnost. The deal will help …

NEW ORLEANS-GTE Telecommunication Services Inc., Tampa, Fla., announced at PCS ’99 it has developed a universal roaming services agreement to help wireless carriers simplify and expedite their launch of international roaming. GTE TSI said its offering is unique in that …

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa-Six cellular phone companies, including a consortium led by South Africa’s MTN, have been prequalified by Kenya’s Communications Commission to bid for a second mobile phone license in the country. However, mixed signals about deregulation are being conveyed …

NEW YORK-Cellular terminals have come a long way in the quarter century since Motorola introduced its handheld Dyna TAC mobile phone, a clunky device that weighed nearly 0.9 kilograms and measured 0.09 cubic meters (35 cubic inches). To be sure, …