Birdstep Technology (fka Birdstep)

[tainaor]

Birdstep brings Mobile IP client to Symbian OS
Written by Richard Bloor

Monday, 24 May 2004
Birdstep announced in April that it was opening a new technology centre in Cambridge, UK, to support the development of its Mobile IP solution for Symbian OS. Mobile IP clients have been aiding enterprise to cope with a mixed environment of LAN and WLAN, but what does it mean for smart phones?
The Nokia 9500 enterprise device is one of the first but there will be more. We are talking about smart phones which have both high speed wide area wireless, GPRS and EDGE in the case of the Nokia 9500, and wireless LAN access (IEEE 802.11b or WiFi). The challenge with these devices is how to seamlessly or intelligently make the optimal or best use of the available networks.

Birdstep’s Mobile IP client is a solution to this problem.

The Mobile IP client is one of three main elements in a mobile IP solution. The elements are:

the home agent, which manages the information from the application servers to the client, and usually resides at the home network.
the foreign agent (not a necessary component, but a very helpful element for seamless mobility) which resides on the foreign networks, and negotiates the connection and communication to the home agent while mobile.
the Mobile IP client, residing on the device, which selects and switches between networks.

The home and foreign agents are part of the existing network infrastructure which is why, according to Stefano Holguin, VP Marketing at Birdstep Technology ASA, "we work closely with network vendors such as Cisco, Nortel, Alcatel and others to make sure that our Mobile IP client works with their infrastructure components."

The Mobile IP client therefore is responsible for finding the optimal network to connect to. Within this role the Birdstep Mobile IP client also looks after security issues. "A customer may want to use SIM authentication and then protect traffic with a VPN," says Stefano. "The Birdstep client makes sure that, as the user moves from one network to another, the security elements move with them, so the user does not need to re-authenticate as the VPN tunnel moves from GPRS to CDMA or wireless LAN."

"The goal of our client is that the user should be able to work without needing to consider the available networks, the system will find the best, whether that be the fastest or the cheapest or the best signal," says Stefano. "Then as the user moves they are switched transparently between the networks."

However while seamless connectivity may be highly desirable the ability to modify application functionality based on the capabilities of the connected network is also a valuable tool. "Imagine a user taking part in a conference call, they are in a hotspot and have video access," says Stefano. "Now the user moves out of the Hotspot into an area where they have less bandwidth, say on a GPRS connection. They would want to stay on the voice call but would be happy to drop video to keep their access. Our Mobile IP client provides the necessary information for developers to build applications which make these intelligent decisions." This is achieved through an open API supplied with the Mobile IP client that allows third party developers to access information on network connectivity and network attributes such as speed, signal strength and costs.

This technology is however not yet available on Symbian OS, but Birdstep’s announcement that they are opening a technology site in Cambridge focusing on Symbian OS deployment means it will be available soon. Birdstep are looking at three distribution channels, operators, handset manufacturers and Symbian. "Our Mobile IP technology could easily be added as an aftermarket addition, by an Operator who wants to offer an additional mobility service to their customers," says Stefano. "But our focus at present with the Symbian initiative is on the handset manufacturers." Even so it is operators and enterprise users who are currently most familiar with the technology. Birdstep’s technology has been available though its infrastructure partners for some time and as a result there have been numerous trials based on laptop and PDA deployments. The majority of current commercial deployments are within the enterprise where the Mobile IP client has been found to address some of the issues encountered in moving from LAN to WLAN. "A number of operators also test our technology in house with their own staff," says Stefano. "As a precursor, we think, to offering it to their enterprise customers."

The reason for moving the technology to Symbian OS is based on the way Birdstep believe users, particularly enterprise users, will be deploying mobile technology. "We believe that the enterprise user will use the laptop as their workhorse and compliment it with a smart phone not a PDA," says Stefano. "As the PDAs simply has not proved itself as the complementary device. And Symbian OS is clearly the predominant smart phone platform."

Stefano expects that the Cambridge office will be staffed with its initial complement of four technical staff by June with additional support and business development staff joining later as the technology nears deployment. When we see Birdstep’s Mobile IP client deployed will depend largely on the availability of devices to run it. Several devices, along with the Nokia 9500, with multiple network support are due for release before the end of this year.

Web: www.birdstep.com

[tainaor]

Vicepresident in Ericsson will be the new chairman of the board in Birdstep:

BIRD - EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING



The Board of Directors of Birdstep Technology ASA has today
decided on holding an extraordinary general meeting on June
17, 2004 at 15:00 in Oslo. The formal Notice of Meeting
will be sent to all shareholders registered in the
Norwegian Central Securities Depository as of 1 June 2004.
The Notice of Meeting will also be available from the
company`s offices at Bryggegata 7, 0250 OSLO, from Thursday
3 June 2004, and will also be notified to the Oslo Stock
Exchange.

The agenda for the meeting will be to elect a new Chairman
of the Board of Directors.

Mr. Per-Arne Sandström is suggested to be elected as the
Chairman of the Board.

Per-Arne Sandström is First Executive Vice President and
Deputy CEO of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson. Mr.
Sandström joined Ericsson in 1988. He has worked as a top
manager within several different units worldwide. From
September 2001 to April 2003, Mr. Sandström held the
position as the COO of Ericsson. From 1999 to 2001, he was
President of the North America Market Area for Ericsson
Inc. (USA). He also served on the Board of Directors of
the Cellular Telephone Industry Association. Between 1993
and 1999, Mr. Sandström served as head of Business Unit GSM
Systems. Until then, he had been Executive Vice President
in the United Kingdom, and the Director of Market
Operations Western Europe. His first position with
Ericsson was at Ericsson Radar Electronics Unit, and he
soon became Vice president and General Manager for the
Airborne Radar division in 1990. Mr. Sandström was born in
Nynäsheim, Sweden, in 1947. He holds an engineering degree
in telecommunications. He graduated 1967 in Stockholm.

Mr. Richard Faber, today`s Chairman of the Board, is
suggested to continue as a member of the board.


Contact name:
Jørgen Bredesen, CEO of Birdstep Technology ASA, phone no.
[phone].

[tainaor]

Birdstep can be involved in this project from British Telecom. They are allready involved with several companies involved in this project. They have offical agreements with Alcatel and Ericsson, and they have also confirmed talks with Motorola.

BT teams up with Vodafone in mobiles
Tue 18 May, 2004 17:16



RELATED ARTICLES
MmO2 makes first pre-tax profit


By Santosh Menon

LONDON (Reuters) - BT is to launch a new fixed-to-mobile service that will use Vodafone's cellphone network and target 1.0 billion pounds in annual revenue in five years.

BT said on Tuesday it will offer customers a handset which will hook on to its own fixed-line system when used at home or in the office but elsewhere would switch automatically to Vodafone's wireless network.

The service, dubbed "Project Bluephone", could help the former monopoly re-enter a high-growth area after years of falling revenue at its core fixed-line business.

BT spun off its mobile arm in November 2001 but returned to the consumer mobile market last June and has around 170,000 mobile customers, two thirds of them business subscribers.

It has so far relied on offspring mmo2's network for its business mobile user base, while regular customers have piggy-backed Deutsche Telekom unit T-Mobile's UK network.

BT's Bluephone handsets would use Bluetooth chip technology, which creates a high-speed wireless link between cellphones, computers and other devices over short distances.

"It removes the need to own more than one phone, as customers will be able to use a single device that can switch seamlessly between networks, giving more convenience, a better service with more guaranteed coverage and lower overall costs," BT said.

BT's retail arm chief Pierre Danon said the link-up with Vodafone, the world's top mobile service provider by revenue, was the "first relationship of its kind" in the world.

Vodafone said the tie-up would help it "maximise its network and service assets while generating additional revenue from a new source".

Analysts said BT's move was aimed at stemming the loss of its fixed-line user base.

"It is a classic example of innovation to defend market share," said Andrew Darley, analyst at ING Financial Markets.

"What they ultimately want you to have is a wireless broadband phone line at home, which means you're going to end up with broadband from BT, fixed-line from BT and...you'll never really think of getting rid of fixed-line, never think of leaving BT," he said.

Fixed-line carriers have for long seen customers trade up to the convenience of mobile phones. BT, which has more than 72 percent of the UK's home phone market, has also been losing customers to rival fixed-line services.

Bluephone, which is supported by telecom equipment makers Alcatel, Ericsson and Motorola, has undergone successful trials over the past two months and BT said it was planning a soft launch in the summer, with a full launch later this year.

BT shares were up 0.7 percent to 170-1/2 pence in afternoon trading

[tainaor]

Or you can try Carnegie. They`re also american aren`t they. They are trading a lot in Birdstep. I think Citigroup have traded some through Carnegie. So Carnegie, Morgan Stanley and MSI deffinetly trade at OSE and in BIRD! Good luck, if you decide to buy!

[tainaor]

You have to be able to trade at OSE (Oslo stock exchange). The company is only listed there. I know that Birdstep is having a roadshow directed at american investors in May. There are som americans trading Birdstep through MSI (Morgan Stanley) and also LBI (lehman brothers) . I don`t have a complete list over the american companies that can trade on OSE, but there several international companies trading at OSE. Since I`m trading through a Norwegian brooker i don`t know exactly what you should do, but LBI and MSI have been trading at OSE and in Birdstep. The ticker code is BIRD, by the way.

[Michael Allard]

How do you buy stock in Birdstep?

[tainaor]

Intel is our friend:

We like Intel, they like us. Birdstep is a goldmine, look here:

https://secure.eventcentral.ws/iss/index.asp?sp=ISS04Q1%5FVendors+%40Langid%3D1


Birdstep Technology
Birdstep Technology is a leading provider of wireless access software recommended by vendors such as Cisco, Nortel, Alcatel, Ericsson, HP, Capgemini and Intel.

Birdstep IP Zone Server is a low risk, low initial investment, secure and scalable wireless access solution that allows operators, WISPs and enterprises to deploy and maintain billable wireless access services. The open solution provides a high return on investment to your WLAN deployments. Multiple authentication methods such as SMS, Credit Card, 802.1x, user/password and Mobile IP makes it ther most flexible and adaptable solution that fits your needs.

Birdstep Mobile IP Client allows secure and continuous connectivity between WLAN Zones and GSM/GPRS/UMTS/CDMA networks. This market leading Mobile IP client allows users to seamlessly connect and re-connect across different types of infrastructures without application downtime, security degradation or user intervention.

The combination of both products provides an unbeatable solution for today’s nomadic user needs.

[tainaor]

BT Will Rival Mobile Operators for Enterprise Wireless


By Tony Cripps

Telecoms incumbents are in pole position to take the lion's share of enterprise wireless data traffic from mobile operators, according to the mobility boss of BT Retail's corporate accounts.

Speaking exclusively to ComputerWire, John Wright, general manager mobility for BT Retail's major business accounts, said that decades of hard-won experience with business customers in fixed-line environments have given traditional telcos a significant edge over their mobile counterparts in providing wireless services.

"Wired carriers have the breadth and depth of experience over the last 20 years that mobile operators now [find themselves lacking]. For major business there are very few companies that can provide the breadth of knowledge and skills of BT. Multiple devices, disparate networks, connectivity. There's no better organization to provide all this than BT."

According to Wright, mobile operators have been embroiled in a battle to undercut each other on voice call pricing at the expense of better understanding customers' business needs. That, he said, is a mistake in an age when different forms of connectivity, whether fixed or wireless, are merely bearers for moving data around.

About 85% of UK mobile operator revenues are currently derived from voice services while most of their data revenues come from consumer use of SMS text messages.

"BT is not about voice minutes. In the 90s all the wire-line operators struggled to get on to the desktop. We have learned from that," said Wright. "Mobile is about communication and the delivery of information. People want information delivered wherever and whenever they want. I believe fixed-line carriers have a golden opportunity to become key players in mobile when mobile covers everything: traditional mobile, WiFi, WiMax, across all devices."

With many of those pieces of the jigsaw now in place, BT is looking forward to a highly profitable future as a supplier of mobile data services to both the enterprise and SME markets, aided and abetted by its BT Global Services consulting and systems integration arm.

This might sound far-fetched to those that remember the spin-out of mobile operator mmO2 in November 2001 in a move to increase shareholder value in an otherwise relatively stagnant business.

BT's efforts to reinvent itself as a dynamic and relevant company for the 21st century have gone largely unnoticed to the world at large. However, under the leadership of Pierre Danon on the retail side and Paul Reynold for the wholesale business, BT is barely recognizable from the organization it was prior to their arrival in late 2001.

Wright said BT was the largest hirer of IT staff in the UK last year, with over 150 senior-level appointments. The culture of the firm has also changed, with senior executives now actively encouraged to gain hands-on experience with employees at all levels throughout the organization.

Although he was not present at the time of the mmO2 sell-off, Wright said the loss has not been the mistake many had predicted. Instead, it has left BT in a strong position to negotiate favorable deals with mobile network operators. The company currently works with its offspring for mobile network access, although that deal is currently being renegotiated. Wright gave no indication as to whether BT will continue to work with O2 or will move its traffic to another network.

BT is also the UK's largest provider of wireless LAN hotspots, through its Openzone initiative, and continues to own the fixed-line network over which the majority of the country's broadband traffic is carried. The company is also a front-line supporter of the WiMax "super hotspot" technology, which will further blur the distinction between mobile and fixed-line operators in the next few years.

According to Wright, BT Retail is currently working on an update to its Mobile Office remote access offering that will make handoff between different types of networks automatic, although users will also be able to manually select a particular type of network where several are available. While such systems are being developed by specialists such as Birdstep Technologies, they are not yet widespread. Back To Top PRINT FRIENDLY

[tainaor]

And a member of the INTEL PCA Devolpment program. Intel and Birdstep are partners on Mobile IP Client.

http://appzone.intel.com/pcadn/company.asp?vendorID=1216

[tainaor]

Birdstep is also a Cisco Ecopartner



Service Provider Solutions Ecosystem - Find a Partner




Birdstep Technology - HQ

Partner Company Overview
Birdstep provides new and innovative small footprint technologies and competence for building solutions and enabling applications for embedded systems and wireless devices. Birdstep's high-performance database technologies simplify the development of applications across a broad array of platforms. Our wireless infrastructure technologies include Mobile IP client software and IP Zone (hot-spot) solutions.
Company Information
URL http://www.birdstep.com
Primary Solution Focus IOS Solutions - IP Mobility

Market Segment Focus Mobile
Company Authorization Service Provider Solutions Ecosystem Partner
Partner Type Developer
Region Company Geographic Presence Cisco Geographic Authorization
North America X
Asia Pacific
Japan
Australia/ New Zealand
EMEA
Latin America

[tainaor]

Nortel:

Birdstep has signed a reseller agreement with Nortel, the
global supplier of telecom infrastructure. In its dialogue
with telecom operators, Nortel will promote the Birdstep
software that makes information accessible on any device on
any infrastructure.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nortel is one of the world`s largest suppliers of telecom
infrastructure, and delivers networking and communication
services and infrastructure equipment to service providers
and enterprises in more than 150 countries. Nortel is the
number two supplier of CDMA infrastructure globally.

Because of the strong position Nortel has in the global
telecom market, the agreement is of significant importance
and opening new channels for Birdstep Technology. Nortel
will promote the Birdstep-solution towards telecom
operators when selling its telecom infrastructure
solutions, and the agreement opens up for future sales of
the Birdstep`s Mobile IP client software.

This agreement represents an important step in establishing
a strong position in the different channels to reach the
global telecom market.

When telecom operators distribute the software from
Birdstep to it`s subscribers, information/data on any
mobile device (e.g. lap top PC, PDA or smart phone) will be
accessible all the time as it is being moved between
various networks as for example GSM, GPRS or EDGE.

[I N V S T]

Congratulations ... ... ...

Good Luck .

Q . E . D .

[tainaor]

Alcatel, Birdstep and Gemplus join forces to offer secure and seamless service continuity between mobile networks and WLAN


Paris, Oslo and Luxembourg – April 27, 2004 – Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE:ALA), Birdstep Technology, a global provider of Mobile IP software client technology and Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP), the world’s leading provider of smart card based solutions, announced today an alliance to jointly develop, promote and market the industry’s most secure solution for seamless service continuity between GSM/GPRS/EDGE, UMTS or CDMA mobile networks and WLAN. This alliance will also apply to emerging technologies such as WiMAX.
This collaboration will enable users of laptops and PDAs to have an “always best connected” experience at any time, and to seamlessly profit from a smart card (SIM) based secure handover between heterogeneous access networks, ensuring the highest data rate, relying on a single subscription.

Alcatel will integrate the new Birdstep’s intelligent Mobile IP client software into its Evolium™ multi-access offering. This will enable seamless roaming across multiple access networks, with a smart card (SIM) enabled client software designed by Gemplus for secured wireless communications and transactions. This unique combination will provide mobile operators with the best of breed solution for secure mobile broadband service continuity.

All it requires is the client software to be installed on the end-users’ Mobile/WLAN enabled laptop or PDA and the SIM card to be integrated in a PCMCIA card inside the laptop. In the near future, the SIM will be in a USB key plugged onto the PDA, or simply inside a BlueTooth-enabled handset. As soon as users pass by a WLAN hot spot, the intelligent client software automatically notifies the end-user of broadband services availability directly accessed in a totally transparent manner.

“The Birdstep Mobile IP client software has evolved to meet the demands of infrastructure vendors and other component vendors who want to provide seamless mobility with their solutions”, commented Jørgen Bredesen, chief executive officer of Birdstep Technology. “By jointly creating end-to-end seamless solutions for operators, our alliance with Alcatel and Gemplus will provide a one-stop-shop for the market in need of secure seamless mobility.”

“The Gemplus smart card authentication solution allows service providers to offer a totally reliable and convenient tool for accessing a network, WLAN, GPRS or even 3G, while providing the same user experience”, declared Jacques Seneca, executive vice president, Gemplus Business Development Group. “The partnership with Alcatel and Birdstep establishes a consistent offer for providing a unique experience for seamless mobile data access via a laptop or a PDA.”

“Alcatel’s vision is to consider the end-user at the center of the mobile experience by offering solutions guaranteeing totally transparent access to services from any device, regardless of the access technology,” stated Marc Rouanne, chief operating officer of Alcatel’s mobile activities. “Our alliance with Birdstep and Gemplus supports this strategy and allows us to provide operators with new business opportunities based on the complementary interaction of their mobile networks today with WLAN, tomorrow with WiMAX.”

[tainaor]

SEATTLE/OSLO- April 28, 2004-- Birdstep Technology (OSE: BIRD) has expanded its presence in the aerospace industry with The Boeing Company’s recent purchase of RDM Embedded 7. Boeing will be using Birdstep’s RDM Embedded database in their Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS).

The AWACS aircraft employs complex real-time avionic systems to meet the operational objectives of the AWACS’ customers. The system responsiveness and reliability are important attributes of the AWACS avionics. All system components must ensure that the operational objectives are not compromised. Boeing selected RDM Embedded because it provides the performance required to ensure that the data, necessary for operation, is available when needed.

The AWACS avionics includes the WindRiver VxWorks 5.5 operating systems, and because RDM Embedded is validated on VxWorks 5.5, selecting RDM Embedded allowed the Boeing engineers to start development immediately. Additionally, the XML interface on RDM Embedded simplified the database-loading task.

“Birdstep’s RDM Embedded was an easy selection because it offers all of the functionality we needed on our target platform. Birdstep has consistently exhibited exceptional cooperation to meet all of our business demands including providing source code for the database,” according to a Boeing spokesperson.

Birdstep’s RDM Embedded is a feature-rich database ideal for embedding into critical applications. RDM Embedded provides exceptional performance and reliability in a small footprint. The combination of features, performance and size has made RDM Embedded popular for a variety of applications.

“Birdstep is committed to making RDM Embedded the database of choice for the aerospace industry. We are driven to provide companies like Boeing with a fast and resilient database for their critical applications while meeting their business objectives,” said Tom Clark, Birdstep Technology, Inc. CEO.

[Churak]

grub