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CDMA450 subscribers to increase to 2.5m by 2009 – report
22/11/2004 by John Tilak
http://www.dmeurope.com/default.asp?ArticleID=4517
The number of CDMA450 subscribers will increase from approximately 1m by the end of 2004 to over 2.5m by 2009, according to a report from market research agency In-Stat/MDR.
Cheap deployment is one of the most compelling reasons for the use of this technology.
Most CDMA450 service providers, having been NMT450 service providers, are located in Eastern Europe. A few service providers, including those in China and Vietnam, have deployed CDMA450 without first having deployed NMT450.
Because of the lower propagation loss at 450 MHz, only one CDMA450 base station provides the same coverage of approximately 25 WCDMA base stations operating at 2.1 GHz. Deploying a CDMA450 network is roughly 30 per cent cheaper than deploying a CDMA800 network and roughly two-thirds cheaper than deploying a CDMA1900 network.
CDMA450 does have disadvantages over other technologies. First, since the number of subscribers of CDMA450 is limited, so are the choices for handsets. In addition, CDMA450 handsets can’t roam to other GSM, WCDMA, and in most cases, other CDMA2000 networks outside of the 450 MHz band. This greatly limits roaming options for CDMA450 users.
Currently there are 14 CDMA450 systems that are commercial, and there are several others that have run trials and/or are waiting for their CDMA450 licence to be granted.
Airvana to Showcase Live Broadband Internet, VoIP, Push-to-Talk and QoS Over 1xEV-DO at 3G World Congress 2004
Tuesday November 16, 9:00 am ET
http://biz.yahoo.com/pz/041116/67663.html
HONG KONG, Nov. 16, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Airvana, Inc. (http://www.airvananet.com), a provider of All-IP, third-generation (3G) CDMA2000 1xEV-DO infrastructure, will demonstrate live Broadband Internet access, VoIP, Push-to-Talk and IP QoS over 1xEV-DO during the 2004 3G World Congress held in Hong Kong, November 16-18, 2004. Airvana will also provide attendees the opportunity to experience VoIP and Broadband Internet access over 1xEV-DO first hand at Airvana's in-booth Internet Cafe.
These demonstrations will highlight the benefits of Airvana's 100 percent IP-enabled infrastructure in delivering high-speed wireless data services to mobile professionals, VoIP subscribers, residential broadband users and consumers of multimedia information and entertainment.
-- Push-to-Talk - Airvana will display the superior performance
of Push-to-Talk when offered over a 1xEV-DO network. From
exceptionally fast call setup times (around 1 second) to
reduced latency and higher capacity, the use of 1xEV-DO for
PTC services offers significant efficiency improvement over
1xRTT. The high-performance demonstration uses QUALCOMM's
QChat(r) Push-to-Talk product, which QUALCOMM and Nextel
Communications Inc. (NasdaqNM:NXTL - News) are working together to
develop.
-- VoIP - Airvana's All-IP 1xEV-DO infrastructure provides an
optimal solution for the delivery of VoIP. Broadband data
rates, QoS mechanisms, and native support for IP to facilitate
the transport of packet voice without degradation of voice
quality.
-- QoS - Airvana's QoS mechanisms give network priority to
subscriber traffic flows based on the operator-assigned
service level. With the ability to differentiate services in
this way, carriers may offer tiered, high-margin services to
premium level customers. Such services include video
conferencing, multimedia downloads, VoIP and Push-to-Talk.
ADVERTISEMENT
Search. Compare. Save.
Service providers are deploying CDMA2000 1xEV-DO worldwide as a high-speed mobile data service for cell phones, PDAs and laptops. It is flexible enough to support mobile applications or act as a low cost, fixed wireless broadband data service. 1xEV-DO can also be deployed very inexpensively, either by upgrading an existing base station with a channel card or by overlaying the existing network with low cost CDMA2000 1xEV-DO base stations. With an overlay solution, CDMA, TDMA, GSM and new ``Greenfield'' operators all can all enjoy the revenue opportunities of 1xEV-DO.
About Airvana, Inc.
Airvana, Inc. is a global leader in developing All-IP 3G Radio Access Network infrastructure equipment for wireless carriers and global infrastructure suppliers such as Nortel Networks and Ericsson. The company's All-IP 1xEV-DO products are designed to dramatically improve the economics of deploying high-speed mobile Internet services. Airvana is based in Chelmsford, Mass. For more information, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.airvananet.com.
QUALCOMM and QChat are registered trademarks of QUALCOMM Incorporated. CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the TIA. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owner.
Contact:
Airvana, Inc.
John Votava
Ashton Maxfield
Bock Communications, Inc.
(714) 540-1030, Ext. 25 or 21
jvotava@bockpr.com
amaxfield@bockpr.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Airvana
Virgin Mobile USA and Nokia team up 11/20/2004 2:37:43 PM IST
http://www.indiainfoline.com/news/news.asp?dat=49598
Nokia and Virgin Mobile USA, LLC announced that the two companies intend to work together to introduce a Nokia CDMA handset through Virgin Mobile's retail channels in early 2005. This collaboration marks the first time these two industry-leading brands have come together in the United States market.
"By putting the Nokia and Virgin Mobile names together, we will leverage the strength of two of the world's best known and most recognized brands," said Tim Eckersley, senior vice president for Nokia. "We think that the addition of Nokia's award-winning design and user-friendly operation to Virgin Mobile's strong retail marketing and 'Pay As You Go' value proposition will result in a truly compelling offering."
Nokia first entered the CDMA handset market in 1992, and today many of the largest CDMA carriers in the world, including the two largest CDMA operators in the US, offer Nokia's CDMA handsets. After previous launches in the United Kingdom and Australia, Virgin Mobile entered the US market in 2002, and today its products are available at more than 20,000 locations including Best Buy, Target, Wal*Mart and, of course, Virgin Megastores. Virgin Mobile focuses exclusively on the youth market and offers all of its customers access to VirginXtras - a suite of fun-filled applications, which includes exclusive content from *MTV, Comedy Central content, Superphonic (a.k.a real-music) ringtones and more. Its 3G customers also have access to VirginXL, the high octane version of VirginXtras, with picture messaging and downloadable games.
"Virgin Mobile and Nokia are both world-class brands," said Dan Schulman, CEO of Virgin Mobile USA. "By combining the marketing strength of our respective teams, we are confident that we will deliver a product that will truly resonate with and engage young wireless users."
Nokia demonstrates industry's first mobile IPv6 call
At the 3G World Congress Convention and Exhibition in Hong Kong, Nokia displayed its CDMA technology leadership by demonstrating the industry's first Mobile IPv6 call using Nokia's CDMA Dual-Stack handset.
http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Detailed/49039.html
The demonstration highlights real-time streaming video with seamless handoff between two CDMA access networks using Mobile IPv6. Mobile IPv6 is a mobility protocol for IPv6 enabled handsets providing always-on capabilities and seamless mobility.
Mobile IPv6 provides seamless mobility for next generation mobile services and applications by enabling terminals to maintain their IP connectivity as they move across networks with different access technologies. Additionally, Mobile IPv6 provides route optimization techniques to reduce handoff latencies.
IPv4 has been an overwhelming success, however, the current IPv4 protocol has encountered a growing list of challenges, including the scarcity of new Internet IPv4 addresses. This is particularly an issue in emerging Internet markets where the number of users continues to grow rapidly. Some operators have worked around this address limitation by using network address translation (NAT). While NAT offers operators a workable solution in client/server-based Internet applications, NAT is far less usable in the peer-to-peer world of mobile communications and greatly limits the deployment of innovative network applications and services.
"IPv6 is the next-generation of the internet protocol and has many advantages over IPv4 both for the network operators and the end-users," says Adam Gould, VP Technology Management and Planning, Nokia CDMA. "IPv6 allows the deployment of millions of always-on, IP enabled devices, each with it's own unique IP address.
Additionally, Mobile IPv6 provides seamless mobility across access technologies (e.g CDMA, WCDMA , WLAN) and is a powerful enabler for the next generation of services such as peer-to-peer services, push services and Voice over IP (VoIP) which demand always-on global reachability and seamless mobility."
Mobile IPv6 provides enhanced security and route-optimization techniques to reduce handoff latencies for real-time services. Mobile IPv6, along with fast-handoffs and context transfer mechanisms will be essential for the large scale deployment of real-time services such as VoIP and broadcast services.
Nokia supports dual-stack IPv4/IPv6/Mobile IPv6 in the terminals and the network, eliminating the need for NAT/PT mechanisms. By ensuring seamless interworking between IPv6 and IPv4 systems, Nokia enables service providers to deliver a broad range of quality services during the transition to IPv6.
Nokia has been the industry leader in the development of IETF IPv6 and Mobile IPv6 standards, and other Internet protocols required for seamless mobility. Nokia is the industry leader in the definition and standardization of fast handoffs and context transfer mechanisms, working closely with key industry partners to enable and support this technology.
LG starts building plant in Sao Paulo
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200411/21/200411212215553939900090609061.html
November 22, 2004 ¤Ñ LG Electronics Co. has begun to expand its mobile phone handset production base in Brazil as part of its aggressive strategy in the Latin American market.
The electronics maker said yesterday it held a ground-breaking ceremony for a new plant in Taubate, Sao Paulo state, on Thursday. The ceremony was attended by Kim Ssang-su, chief executive officer and vice chairman of LG Electronics, and Geraldo Alckmin, governor of Sao Paulo state. Mr. Kim said the new plant would lower LG's logistics costs in the region.
The construction should be be finished in April, LG Electronics said. The new plant would help LG's Taubate subsidiary produce 6.5 million cellular phones on the Code Division Multiple Access technology and the Global System for Mobiles annually in 2007, which is three times that of the current production.
With the expansion of the Taubate subsidiary, LG Electronics said it would be able to make 70 million mobile phone handsets annually worldwide by the end of next year.
LG Electronics will supply 2 million mobile phones to Brazil this year, up 135 percent from last year. The company is aiming to take the top position in the market by 2006. It said it has a 45-percent market share for high-end handsets on CDMA technology in the country of nearly 180 million people.
by Lee Hyun-sang, Moon So-young <symoon@joongang.co.kr>
CDMA450 to Provide Strong Benefits from an Unconventional Spectrum
Sunday, November 21 2004 @ 03:03 PM
Contributed by: Tommy
http://www.linuxelectrons.com/article.php/20041121150329612
Having literally sprung-up as a new cellular technology overnight, the popularity of CDMA450 is growing according to In-Stat/MDR. The high-tech market research firm reports that, as a result, the number of CDMA450 subscribers will increase from approximately 1 million by the end of 2004 to over 2.5 million by 2009.
Cheap deployment is one of the most compelling reasons for the use of this technology and, according to Allen Nogee, a Principal Analyst with In-Stat/MDR, “For NMT450 carriers wishing to update their old technology to the latest digital 3G technology, CDMA450 makes perfect sense, and is perhaps the only solution.” Cheap deployment, however, is not the only benefit of CDMA450. Since CDMA450 uses the same technology as CDMA2000 operating at the higher frequencies, it has all the features and data-speed of its parent technology operating on the higher bands, while still only having less than one-tenth of 1% of the total worldwide subscriber base. “Had another technology been used at the 450 band that wasn’t aligned with a major technology as CDMA is, it would be much more difficult, if not impossible, to have technology as advanced with such a small number of total subscribers,” says Nogee.
In-Stat/MDR has also found that:
Most CDMA450 service providers, having been NMT450 service providers, are located in Eastern Europe. A few service providers, including those in China and Vietnam, deployed CDMA450 without first having deployed NMT450.
Because of the lower propagation loss at 450 MHz, only one CDMA450 base station provides the same coverage of approximately 25 WCDMA base stations operating at 2.1 GHz. Deploying a CDMA450 network is roughly 30% cheaper than deploying a CDMA800 network and roughly two-thirds cheaper than deploying a CDMA1900 network.
CDMA450 does have disadvantages over other technologies. First, since the number of subscribers of CDMA450 is limited, so are the choices for handsets. In addition, CDMA450 handsets can’t roam to other GSM, WCDMA, and in most cases, other CDMA2000 networks outside of the 450 MHz band. This greatly limits roaming options for CDMA450 users.
Currently there are 14 CDMA450 systems that are commercial, and there are several others that have run trials and/or are waiting for their CDMA450 license to be granted.
After false starts, 3G mobile service set for take-off
BY REUTERS
http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/telecoms/2004/0411190957.asp?S=Reuters&A=REU&O=FRGN
[Hong Kong / Reuters News Service, 19 November 2004] - With most technical issues resolved and giants like Vodafone signing up customers, 2005 could be the year when third-generation (3G) mobile services finally gain a global audience.
For carriers in Europe, the start of commercial services offers a chance to begin recouping 3G investments that included more than $100 billion on spectrum licences and billions more on network upgrades and development of applications.
As evidence of the big expense, the Australian unit of Singapore Telecommunications and Vodafone said on Friday its 3G mobile network would cost up to A$1 billion ($781 million).
The search continues, however, for revenue-spinning "killer applications" to take advantage of the technology's multimedia capabilities.
Signs of building momentum for the technology have emerged with growing frequency in recent months, with the launch of services by big carriers, entry of new players into the equipment market and the rapid proliferation of 3G capable handsets.
"It looks like 3G has arrived," said Francis Cheung, Asia telecoms analyst for CLSA. "There are plenty of handsets now on the market and lots of commercial service launches already. There are 54 networks already operational and at least that many more will be operational by next year."
All three of the top global phone makers -- Nokia Oyj, Motorola and Samsung Electronics -- and many second-tier players now offer 3G handsets, eliminating a shortage that had hampered early launches. Many were on display at the 3G World Congress in Hong Kong this week.
New markets
Launches by Vodafone and Hutchison Whampoa in Europe, and the imminent introduction of services by France Telecom's Orange and Deutche Telekom's T-Mobile, have extended the reach of 3G from its established bases in Japan and South Korea.
Applications are springing up to take advantage of a technology that can transmit hundreds of kilobits of data per second, with television programmes and music videos proving popular downloads in South Korea.
Vodafone will offer a spin-off of the hit television series "24" on its 3G network beginning 30 January, offering 24 one-minute episodes for downloading to phones.
"The applications are promising, but we don't have one decisive driver of growth yet," Cheung said.
Service take-up has been encouraging in Japan and Korea, the earliest markets to adopt the technology.
Japan has 23.5 million people using 3G, while Korea has 9 million. Hutchison had 3.2 million in Europe and Hong Kong as of mid-August.
NTT DoCoMo's 3G service struggled when the Japanese pioneer launched it three years ago, but it has recently gained traction and now accounts for about 15% of DoCoMo's 47.5 million mobile customers. Rival KDDI Corp has done even better, persuading 87% of its customers to switch to 3G.
"We struggled right after we launched because the coverage area was small and the phones' battery life was short," a DoCoMo spokesman said. "But we made improvements, started an attractive pricing scheme, launched better phones and now we're growing steadily."
He added that DoCoMo expects to have about 10.8 million 3G customers by the end of March.
Spend more
If existing markets are any indication, 3G should persuade users to spend more on their mobile services.
As of June, average revenues per user (ARPU) for 3G in South Korea were $51 per month, more than twice that for 2G services, according to International Data Corp.
In Italy, where Hutchison Whampoa launched last year, the average customer spends about 35 euros a month, compared with 25 euros for voice-only customers, a spokesman said.
"The acceptance of 3G services has been extremely positive," he said. "Nowadays, at least half of our clients use a 3G service every day."
Higher spending is crucial if companies are to recoup their investments. Even the industry's cheerleaders say it will be a long slog. Jean-Pierre Bienaime, chairman of a forum representing 3G carriers using the WCDMA standard, said it would take operators six years to turn a profit, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday.
The switch to 3G promises big bucks for phone makers facing slowing growth in sales, as handsets typically cost more than simpler 2G units.
Motorola plans to make about 16 WCDMA handset models next year, double the number it is offering this year, said Ron Garriques, newly named president of the company's handset division.
(Additional reporting by Yukari Iwatani Kane in Tokyo and Lim Moon-kyung in Seoul.)
Smartphone Sales to Reach 125m Units
19th November , 2004
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/November2004/8657.htm
Europe : Worldwide annual sales of smartphones are expected to grow 89% from 14.6m units in 2003, to 27.6m units in 2004. In 2003, smartphone sales accounted for 3% of the total handset market and, by 2009, this ratio is expected to exceed 16% representing 125m units.
In 2003, 67% of shipped smartphone devices were powered by third-party open OSs. In this market, the use of proprietary OS solutions is expected to progressively decline over the
years and reduce to approximately 10% of the total smartphone market by 2009.
Asia Pacific currently has the greatest number of smartphone users, led by Japan and South Korea in particular but with plenty of interest in other parts of the region as well. As a result, this region currently holds the lead in smartphones sales with a 37% share. "This is not surprising since wireless data services have been launched in this area since early 2000. About 60% of smartphones shipped in this region are powered by proprietary OSs as the majority of local manufacturers continue to favour proprietary OSs over third-party open OSs for devices shipping in this region." says Dr Malik Saadi, senion analyst at the ARC Group and co-author of the leading report Future Mobile Handsets 2004.
The growth of smartphone shipments in Asia Pacific is expected to increase over the forecast period, but will slow down slightly after 2006. This will be due to an anticipated degree of saturation of both the Japanese and Korean markets. By 2007, further growth in the region will be steady but dependent on, and closer to, the level of economic growth in the region mainly in some developing countries such as China and India. Future Mobile Handsets report forecasts the total number of smartphone users to reach 75.5m by 2009.
In 2004, The European market is expected to maintain its second position in terms of market share, with 27% thanks to the popularity of low-end smartphones in this region, mainly those powered by Symbian with Nokia series 60. Smartphone growth in Europe will be sustained by the higher level of disposable income, combined with the takeoff WCDMA and the near ubiquitous GPRS coverage.
After 2007, European smartphone users are expected to hold the highest market share, which will reach almost 92m smartphone users by 2009.
North America currently holds third position, closely behind Europe, with a market share expected to reach 25% by end of 2004. The adoption of these smartphones by North American users is essentially due to the significant penetration of mobile computing technology in the region, where the population is very familiar with data networks. WiFi has been adopted enthusiastically, and although the higher data connection speeds now offered by CDMA 1xEV-DO, EDGE and WCDMA will match and exceed those of WiFi, early adoption of WiFi, and early price comparisons between the technologies are likely to mean that established WiFi users will prefer to stay with the technology. ARC Group forecasts show North American smartphone users in third place throughout the period covered. In 2009, the American smartphone market is expected to reach more than 30m units and 64m smartphone users.
Smartphone subscriber growth in South America and Rest of the World will be very high during the next two to three years, while data networks roll out and users with high disposable income take up the services. However, growth rates will then slow to a steadier pace as usage moves to lower income brackets, and will continue to slow steadily through the remainder of the period.
In the Global smartphone market, ARC Group's Future Mobile Handsets anticaptes a significant volume migration
from low-end to high-end segment of the smartphone market throughout the forecast period. During the period, low-end smartphone shipments will stabilise as many of the functions they offer are incorporated into standard feature phones. At the same time, demand for high-end smartphones will continue to grow steadily, so that their overall share of the global handset market will increase.
Texas Instruments, Qualcomm to Tap China Chipmakers (Update1)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a9l.ejQKnvbE&refer=us
Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Texas Instruments Inc., the largest maker of chips that power mobile phones, and rival Qualcomm Inc., said they aim to award their first contracts to semiconductor manufacturers in China as early as next year.
Texas Instruments is preparing to start production with Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., said Doug Rasor, vice president of the Dallas-based company, in an interview. Qualcomm, based in San Diego, California, may use existing suppliers that are opening factories in China, Chief Executive Officer Irwin Jacobs said.
The chipmakers want their production to be closer to China's market of 315 million mobile phone users, the world's largest, and the plants of customers including Nokia Oyj. Semiconductor Manufacturing, founded by a former vice president of Texas, is banking on its location to grab business from contract manufacturers in Taiwan and Singapore.
``You've got to make chips in China if you want to sell to the handset makers,'' said Winson Fong, who counts shares in Semiconductor Manufacturing among the $2.3 billion he helps manage for SG Asset Management in Singapore. ``China has the leverage of its market.''
Chipmakers use foundries to limit the risk of investing in semiconductor plants that can cost more than $3 billion and take years to build. Manufacturers were reluctant to increase investment after a three-year industry slump that started in 2000.
Contract Manufacturers
Texas and Qualcomm count Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. -- which is starting production at a plant in Shanghai this year -- as a supplier. Taiwan Semiconductor chairman Morris Chang and Semiconductor Manufacturing chairman Richard Chang are both former Texas Instrument vice-presidents.
``Sometimes, people joke that the TI in Texas Instruments stands for training institute,'' Rasor said yesterday at the 3G Congress & Exhibition 2004 in Hong Kong. ``It's great to leverage their knowledge of Texas Instruments and our knowledge of them.''
Texas hopes to start having its chips made in China by early 2005, he said.
Nokia, Siemens
Semiconductor Manufacturing shares, which started trading in Hong Kong in March, fell 1.1 percent to HK$1.80 at 12:28 p.m Hong Kong time. The stock has slumped from its initial public offering price of HK$2.72.
Qualcomm, unlike Texas Instruments, has no chip plants of its own and is seeking to increase its chip suppliers, so-called semiconductor foundries.
``At some point, we hope we will be able to use foundries in China,'' Qualcomm's Jacobs told reporters earlier this week. ``Those may include current suppliers that are starting production in China.''
Handset manufacturers such as Nokia, the world's biggest, have been moving more production to the nation to cut manufacturing costs. Siemens AG, the world's fourth-largest maker of mobile phones, said in May it will invest 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in China in the next few years.
Worldwide sales of mobile phones will rise 18 percent this year as Nokia boosted shipments by cutting prices, market researcher ISuppli Corp. said. Global handset sales will rise to 675 million units this year, compared with an earlier forecast of 670 million, El Segundo, California-based ISuppli said.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Alan Patterson in Taipei at apatterson2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Iain Wilson in Tokyo at iwilson2@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 19, 2004 00:03 EST
Qualcomm "overweight," target price raised
Friday, November 19, 2004 0:40:44 AM ET
Prudential Financial
http://www.newratings.com/new2/beta/article_511903.html
NEW YORK, November 19 (newratings.com) - Analyst Inder M Singh of Prudential Financial reiterates his "overweight" rating on Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.NAS), while raising his estimates for the company. The target price has been raised from $44 to $48.
In a research note published yesterday, the analyst mentions that Qualcomm intends to focus on the CDMA and WCDMA segments, which are expected to drive the company’s wireless subscription growth over the next five years. Qualcomm is aiming to expand its WCDMA chip market share to 50% in the near term, according to Prudential Financial. The EPS estimate for FY05 has been raised from $1.24 to $1.30.
QUALCOMM announces industry breakthrough
Single-chip solution drives down the cost of handsets
M Shamsur Rahman, back from Hong Kong
http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/11/19/d41119050351.htm
QUALCOMM Incorporated, pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, on November 15 announced two industry milestones -- the world's only single-chip solution for CDMA2000 1X and the industry's first CDMA2000 1X radio transceiver.
The world's only single-chip solution for CDMA2000 1X integrates a baseband modem, radio transceiver, power management and multimedia engines into a single chip while the industry's first CDMA2000 1X radio transceiver --a component of this single-chip and a radioOne solution-- combines radio receiver and transmitter functionalities with a single design using cost-effective RF CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) process technology.
QUALCOMM's single-chip solution, initially targeting cost-sensitive and emerging CDMA2000 1X markets, brings basic data and multimedia capabilities to entry-level wireless handsets with an architecture that lowers overall handset development costs.
By integrating modem, RF, power management and multimedia into a single chip, the latest solution in QUALCOMM's Value Platform eliminates discrete components in handset design to lower development costs, reduce bill-of-materials costs and accelerate time to market.
This single-chip solution also lowers the cost of wireless data by allowing operators to provide basic multimedia services on entry-level handsets. QUALCOMM's CDMA2000 1X single-chip solution is expected to sample in the first quarter of calendar 2006.
"QUALCOMM's single-chip solution is a testimony to our relentless innovation--the world's first CDMA2000 1X solution to integrate baseband, RF, power management and multimedia into a single chip," said Dr Sanjay K Jha, president of QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies.
This cost-effective solution is the next dimension of our integration strategy, and also built on our groundbreaking radioOne solutions with the industry's first RF CMOS transceiver for CDMA2000 1X, said Dr Sanjay.
QUALCOMM's innovative single-chip architecture simplifies design requirements for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and reduces external components, lowering overall manufacturing costs. So manufacturers can supply price-competitive voice and basic data handsets to more markets worldwide, including China, India, Latin America and Southeast Asia.
The single-chip solution, built on the increased traction and widespread adoption of QUALCOMM's Value Platform solutions, has access to handsets that deliver cost-effective, entry-level multimedia services, including SMS and ringtones, to a larger consumer base.
Vol. 5 Num 173 Fri. November 19, 2004
Sales Of 3G Handsets Tipped To Rise 117 pct In's Korea This Year
http://au.news.yahoo.com/041118/3/rsa1.html
SEOUL, Nov 18 Asia in Focus - Sales of third generation (3G) mobile phones, which offer high-speed Internet access via handsets, are forecast to expand 117 per cent this year in South Korea, market researcher ARC GROUP said. The London-based market researcher forecast in a report that 3G handset sales would account for 55 per cent of total mobile phone sales in the country this year.
* South Korea's SK TELECOM CO. and KTF CO. are now pushing ahead with sales of faster mobile phones based on U.S.-based QUALCOMM INC.'s CDMA2000 1X EV-DO technology.
* Arc said that, apart from South Korea and Japan, it expects global 3G handset sales to show slower-than-expected growth until next year.
SUMMARY
Sales of third generation (3G) mobile phones to expand 117 pct this year in S Korea: UK research group
ASIA IN FOCUS
3G Handsets To Account For 55 PCT Of's Korean Mobile Phone Sales
http://au.news.yahoo.com/041118/3/rs6b.html
SEOUL, Nov 18 Asia Pulse - Third-generation (3G) handset sales will account for 55 per cent of total mobile phone sales in South Korea this year and are expected to rise to 91 per cent by 2009, according to a recent report by a London-based market researcher.
Sales of 3G mobile phones, which offer high-speed Internet access via handsets, are forecast to expand 117 per cent throughout this year in South Korea, Arc Group said.
South Korea's two mobile phone operators -- SK Telecom Co. (KSE:017670) and KTF Co. -- are pushing ahead with sales of faster mobile phones based on U.S.-based Qualcomm Inc.'s CDMA2000 1X EV-DO (evolution data optimized) technology.
The EV-DO technology won the right to call itself 3G from the International Telecommunication Union, a body representing carriers on five continents,
3G networks allow telephone carriers to offer high-speed, always-on service for cell phones capable of surfing the Web.
Excluding South Korea and Japan, however, global 3G handset sales are forecast to show slower-than-expected growth until next year, the report said.
3G handset sales will probably account for only 4 per cent of total worldwide mobile handset sales in 2004, but Arc Group forecast it to rise to about one-third by 2009.
"Operators need to change their marketing strategy, away from a technology bias, focusing on the services that 3G can offer and demonstrating the ease of use to consumers," said David McQueen, a senior consultant at Arc Group.
The researcher also predicted the global mobile phone market to expand 16 per cent this year to 561 million units, compared to 482.5 million units in 2003.
However, the growth rate will gradually slow down over the next five years as the market saturates, with expected growth figures of 10 per cent in 2005, 7.7 per cent in 2006, 6.4 per cent in 2007, 4.8 per cent in 2008 and 2.6 per cent in 2009.
Despite this decline in growth, annual handset sales are forecast to reach 767 million by 2009, it added.
(Yonhap)
Texas Inst sees its WCDMA chips overtaking GSM as soon as '06
By Doug Young
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/041118/3/1rqy6.html
HONG KONG, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Texas Instruments Inc. , the world's biggest maker of cellphones chip, said on Thursday it expects its third-generation (3G) mobile chipset sales to overtake its second-generation chip business as soon as 2006.
"It's probably not next year, but maybe a year after that," Doug Rasor, worldwide strategic marketing manager, told Reuters in an interview at the 3G World Congress in Hong Kong.
Rasor said 3G chip revenues will probably surpass 2G revenues first, because 3G chips are more expensive, with unit sales to follow.
Texas Instruments, which posted third-quarter revenue of $3.25 billion, derives about a third of that from handset chip sales. It supplies about two-thirds of the world's chips for phones using GSM, the second-generation standard for wireless communications.
It now also makes chips for a new generation of phones using WCDMA, the 3G upgrade for GSM that allows for data-rich functions like live broadcast streaming and video downloads.
Mobile phone operators are hoping such premium applications will justify their expense of billions of dollars to buy 3G licenses, upgrade their systems and develop new applications.
Companies with WCDMA services now at or near operation include Europe's Vodafone , Australia's Telstra Corp. , Japan's NTT DoCoMo and France Telecom's Orange .
Reflecting the rapid rise of of its 3G chips, 25 percent of TI's sequential revenue growth for its wireless division in the third quarter came from WCDMA chip sales, Rasor said.
"It's on a hockey stick sort of curve," he said of the growth rate for WCDMA chip sales. "3G is being rolled out pretty aggressively."
Texas Instruments is also hoping to get into the market for 3G handset chips used in CDMA 2000, the world's other major standard for 3G mobile systems and an area dominated by the technology's developer, Qualcomm Inc. .
CDMA 2000 and its predecessor, CDMA, account for about 20 percent of the world's 1.2 billion mobile subscribers, while GSM and WCDMA make up most of the rest.
Rasor said several handset makers are trying out TI's newly developed CDMA 2000 chips, but none have placed major orders yet.
Qualcomm chief executive Irwin Jacobs, also in Hong Kong for the 3G World Congress, previously said his company has recently developed WCDMA chips and eventually hopes take up to half of that market. But he acknowledged that goal would be at least "several years out."
Golfinvestor, thanks for posting the detail info. The link to reuters is no longer working on this subject.
http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh04448_2004-11-16_05-35-49_hkg....
ZTE Updates EV-DO Kit
11.16.04
http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=62949
HONG KONG -- ZTE Corporation of China, China’s largest listed telecommunications equipment manufacturer and a major exhibitor at the 3G World Congress & Exhibition in Hong Kong (Booth 1104, Hall 7), revealed its ground breaking new technologies in CDMA and WCDMA today.
Optimized 3G CDMA2000 solution
Supporting both voice and data at the same time, and offering wireless packet data services, ZTE’s new solution ”1xEV-DO+1x Release A” is the optimized 3G CDMA2000 system that was formally introduced to the overseas market. Visitors to the stand at the show will be able to see ZTE’s 1xEV-DO demonstrate a rate of up to 2.4 Mbps wireless data services, which supports main 3G services such as streaming media and videophone. High speed document download and Internet surfing is a major feature for visitors.
As fast as 307.2 kbit/s of a single carrier wave, 1x ReleaseA is the enhanced edition of Release0, showing a doubled speed rate of the previous edition. The Release0 based 1x system has already been put into use in more than 90 commercial networks.
Showcasing the groundbreaking “1xEV-DO+1x ReleaseA” solution is further evidence of ZTE’s formidable capabilities in CDMA research and development and signifies that ZTE is at the forefront of the world’s leading 3G CDMA2000 field.
Apart from the advanced CDMA based solutions, ZTE will also be demonstrating its latest research results in the WCDMA area.
Following the WCDMA V2 commercially used system, ZTE will be introducing its V3 serial products at the 3G Congress to meet the ever-changing needs of the markets. The products integrate the optimized all-IP structure and many other cutting-edge technologies and will considerably improve the performance stability and maintainability of the equipment.
The enhanced WCDMA technology based on R5, HSDPA, is another eye-catching technical achievement that ZTE is presenting at the event. This technology greatly expands the transmit rate and can be easily supported by the relative equipment with smooth software upgrade.
ZTE Corp.
Qualcomm Teams on EV-DO
11.15.04
http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=62802
SAN DIEGO -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM - message board), pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, today announced that major infrastructure vendors, including Airvana, Ericsson, Hitachi, Ltd., Lucent Technologies, Motorola, Nortel Networks and Samsung, have selected QUALCOMM's Cell Site Modem(TM) (CSM(TM)) CSM6800(TM) digital baseband modem for infrastructure and test equipment to lead global efforts to drive adoption of CDMA2000(R) 1xEV-DO Revision A. QUALCOMM's Technology Development Program -- based on the CSM6800 device -- is at the forefront of industry efforts to drive the next generation of wireless data solutions based on the global deployment of 1xEV-DO Rev. A. QUALCOMM's technology program enables accelerated development of equipment system software and hardware in preparation for planned technology trials and commercialization of worldwide 1xEV-DO Rev. A technology solutions.
"Working with the world's leading infrastructure vendors, QUALCOMM's technology program will significantly impact the global availability of CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. A," said Dr. Sanjay K. Jha, president of QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies. "With the acceptance of 1xEV-DO -- both Rev. 0 and now Rev. A -- QUALCOMM continues its leadership in CDMA technologies, supporting major OEMs and operators worldwide with complete system solutions."
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"KDDI continues to offer our customers compelling multimedia solutions at attractive price points," said Dr. Yutaka Yasuda, vice president and general manager "au" Technology Division, KDDI. "1xEV-DO Rev. A will have the possibility of simultaneously delivering multimedia solutions to a greater number of users -- expanding the capacity and improving the quality of wireless video services."
"SKT continues to be a leader in Korea with innovative wireless multimedia; to date, we have more than 6.1 million 1xEV-DO subscribers," said Dr. Jong Tae Ihm, vice president, Network R&D Center of SKT. "Upgrading our networks to support 1xEV-DO Rev. A will enable us to maintain our market leadership and deliver the higher data rates and increased capacity necessary to support our ever-increasing DO subscriber base."
"QUALCOMM's Rev. A technology program creates a cooperation with the global leaders in wireless infrastructure to ensure a commercially ready, seamless migration path to the next generation of DO," said Jim Straight, vice president of Data and Wireless Internet Services for Verizon Wireless. "With the higher speeds and lower latency of Verizon's DO Rev. A network, our customers will experience enhanced multimedia services and our enterprise customers will be able to increase productivity through faster file downloads and transfers, while ensuring privacy with advanced security and more."
Qualcomm Inc.
Qualcomm readies single-chip cdma2000 1X radio
By John Walko
CommsDesign.com
Nov 15, 2004
http://www.commsdesign.com/news/tech_beat/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=52601530
LONDON — Qualcomm has released details of a single-chip device for building cdma2000 1X-based handsets as well as a highly integrated version of its RF CMOS transceiver for the same format 3G air interface. The single chip 1X part is expected to start sampling in the fist quarter of 2006.
Separately, the company also said major infrastructure suppliers such as Lucent Technologies, Ericsson, Airvana, Hitachi, Samsung, Nortel and Motorola have started using its digital baseband modem, the CSM6800, to drive adoption of cdma2000 1xEV-DO, Revision A for high data rate cellular networks.
The latest cdma2000 1X device integrates a baseband modem, radio transceiver, power management and multimedia engines into a single chip, while the radio transceiver — a component of this single-chip — combines radio receiver and transmitter functionalities into a single design using RF CMOS.
The company says the single chip brings, for the first time, basic data and multimedia capabilities to entry-level wireless handsets with an architecture that lowers overall handset development costs. The single-chip solution also lowers the cost of wireless data by allowing operators to provide basic multimedia services on entry-level handsets.
"The single-chip solution is testimony to our relentless innovation," said Dr. Sanjay Jha, president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. "This cost-effective solution is the next dimension of our integration strategy, and also builds on our ground-breaking radioOne solutions with the industry's first RF CMOS transceiver for cdma2000 1X."
Qualcomm says the industry has found developing a transceiver for a full-duplex system such as CDMA2000 to be a tremendous challenge due to the interference experienced from placing the receive and transmit functions on the same device. The latest part is said to overcome these problems.
Commenting on the program to drive adoption of CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, Dr Jha said working with all these infrastructure providers would "significantly impact the global availability of CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. A. (And) with the acceptance of 1xEV-DO — both Rev. 0 and now Rev. A — Qualcomm continues its leadership in CDMA technologies, supporting major OEMs and operators worldwide with complete system solutions." Supporting data rates of 3.1 Mbit/s on the forward link and 1.8 Mbit/s on the reverse link, Rev. A enables network operators to provide an even broader range of wireless multimedia and other data services for consumers and enterprise customers. Rev. A is optimized for packet data service and provides one of the lowest costs per bit when compared with other wireless wide area network (WAN) technologies.
"Qualcomm's Rev. A technology program creates a cooperation with the global leaders in wireless infrastructure to ensure a commercially ready, seamless migration path to the next generation of DO," said Jim Straight, vice president of Data and Wireless Internet Services for Verizon Wireless.
Two Picks In Communications Equipment
11.15.04, 12:59 PM ET
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2004/11/15/1115automarketscan10.html?partner=yahoo&referrer=
Standard & Poor's Equity Research lowered the outlook for the communications equipment sub-industry to "neutral" from "positive" and advised investors to focus on "market leaders" such as Qualcomm (nasdaq: QCOM - news - people ) and Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ). S&P Equity Research said, "While we see the sub-industry benefiting from accelerated deployment of new technologies like fiber-to-home and voice over Internet protocol, we believe service providers will remain cautious with their spending budgets in the near term." The research firm said wireless spending "is being hurt by slower transition to 3G networks, while wireline spending is experiencing large declines for legacy products, like circuit switching." S&P Equity Research rates both Qualcomm and Motorola at "strong buy."
Analog Devices Adds W-CDMA/UMTS Chipset to Arsenal of Technologies for 3G Cellular Handsets
Monday November 15, 8:02 am ET
New Chipset Offers Multi-Mode GSM/GPRS/EDGE and W-CDMA Operation to Enable Seamless Migration on Worldwide 3G Networks
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/041115/155488_1.html
HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 2004-- Analog Devices, Inc. (NYSE: ADI - News), a global leader in high-performance semiconductors for signal processing applications, today announced plans to add SoftFone®-W to its broad portfolio of technologies for 3G mobile handsets. The SoftFone-W is a complete handset solution - from baseband through radio - featuring full support for the W-CDMA/UMTS standard, which enables multi-mode operation of W-CDMA as well as GSM/GPRS and EDGE. By offering support for 2.5G technologies such as EDGE, the SoftFone-W chipset enables truly ubiquitous voice and data connectivity over a vast majority of the world's cellular communications networks.
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ADI's SoftFone-W chipset features W-CDMA protocol stack software from TTPCom of Cambridge, England, and is based on ADI's award-winning and patented Blackfin® Processor and Othello® direct conversion radio technology, as well as ADI's mixed-signal and power management technology. The Blackfin Processor core performs functions such as signal modulation, channel equalization, and speech coding to deliver voice capabilities and high-speed data services. The Othello direct conversion radio technology simplifies traditional radio designs by allowing incoming radio frequency signals to be converted directly to baseband signals, eliminating the need for intermediate frequency, among the most expensive components of the radio.
The SoftFone-W chipset complements Analog Devices' existing 3G technologies, which includes a TD-SCDMA chipset also announced today. With support for both W-CDMA and TD-SCDMA handsets, Analog Devices can now bring its innovative semiconductor technology to over two-thirds of the world's 3G cellular networks.
"Our experience in supplying successful, field-proven GSM/GPRS and EDGE chipsets to the wireless market was a key enabler in developing our W-CDMA/UMTS solution and the multi-mode support it offers, which is an underlying goal of any 3G network," said Christian Kermarrec, vice president, RF and wireless systems, Analog Devices, Inc. "We have been working with TTPCom for more than 10 years on handset platforms for GSM/GPRS and EDGE, and we are delighted to be partnering with them again on the SoftFone platform for our mutual customers' W-CDMA/UMTS handsets."
"Carriers and OEMs are ramping up W-CDMA handset designs to meet growing demand. "We are very pleased to extend our longstanding and successful relationship with Analog Devices and to deliver a new platform for the development of compact multimedia devices that combines W-CDMA with EDGE/GPRS/GSM," stated Richard Walker, Managing Director of TTPCom's Software Business Unit. "The combination of TTPCom's protocol and application software with ADI's SoftFone chipsets is one of the most widely used independent platforms in the industry. We are firmly committed to continuing the success that we've had in GPRS, where we have over 50 licensees; into EDGE, where our software delivers industry leading data rates; and now into 3G."
"Highly integrated merchant-market chipsets are a requirement to move the handset market past the cost and power efficiency problems that have affected early-generation UMTS handsets," said Allen Leibovitch, manager, wireless and consumer semiconductor research at IDC. "Compatibility with EDGE will soon become a requirement for UMTS handsets, as operators want to provide smoother 3G migration, and it will be a differentiating factor for chipsets."
About the SoftFone-W Chipset
Analog Devices' SoftFone-W chipset is built on the popular RAM-based SoftFone architecture used in the company's GSM/GPRS and EDGE chipsets. The SoftFone-W chipset incorporates a digital baseband processor that is based on Analog Devices' high-performance, yet extremely low power Blackfin Processor. A multi-mode analog baseband and Othello direct conversion radio, supporting W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS/EDGE, are also included. TTPCom of Cambridge, England supplies the protocol stack and applications software for the SoftFone-W chipset.
About W-CDMA and UMTS
W-CDMA is one of the fastest-growing areas of the wireless communications market. It is a third-generation (3G) mobile wireless technology that delivers much higher data speeds to mobile and portable wireless devices than 2G and 2.5G systems. W-CDMA/UMTS enables broadband, packet-based transmission of text, digitized voice, video and multimedia at data rates up to 2 Mbps and offers a consistent set of services to mobile computer and phone users no matter where they are located in the world.
About TTPCom Ltd.
Based in Cambridge, UK, TTPCom Ltd. is the principal operating subsidiary of TTP Communications plc (LSE: TTC - News). The company develops intellectual property used in the design and manufacture of wireless communication terminals and during 2003 over 20 million devices using TTPCom's digital cellular technology were sold. TTPCom has established a world leading position with its GPRS, EDGE and 3G protocol software; offers rapid customization of handsets through its AJAR applications framework; and for those manufacturers for whom a fast time to market is critical, TTPCom also offers complete handset and module designs. More information can be found on http://www.ttpcom.com.
About Analog Devices, Inc.
Analog Devices, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of precision high-performance integrated circuits used in analog and digital signal processing applications. ADI is headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, and employs approximately 9,000 people worldwide. It has manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts, California, North Carolina, Ireland, and the Philippines. Analog Devices' common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and ADI is included in the S&P 500 Index.
Blackfin, Othello and SoftFone are registered trademarks of Analog Devices, Inc. All other trademarks included herein are the property of their respective owners.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
Analog Devices, Inc.
Colleen Cronin, 781-937-1622
Colleen.cronin@analog.com
or
Porter Novelli
Ricky Gradwohl, 408-369-1500 ext. 631
Ricky.gradwohl@porternovelli.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Analog Devices, Inc.
NTT DoCoMo to Release N900iL, First FOMA Wireless LAN Dual-Network Handset
November 15, 2004
http://www.physorg.com/news1964.html
NTT DoCoMo, Inc. and its eight regional subsidiaries announced today that the N900iL, a dual-network 3G FOMA handset that runs on both the FOMA network and wireless LANs, will be released on November 16, 2004.
The N900iL is specifically designed to support DoCoMo's exclusive PASSAGE DUPLE system for dual-network operation as both a standard FOMA phone and a VoIP mobile phone over a corporate user's internal wireless LAN. The phone and system will both be marketed through DoCoMo's corporate business division and partner companies.
Optional settings enable the phone to exclusively receive incoming calls from either the FOMA network or wireless LAN only, or both networks in dual mode.
Standard phone functions, such as call hold and call transfer, are possible in the wireless LAN mode.
Since the N900iL browser can be used both inside and outside the office, users always have access to important schedules, web mail and documents saved on intranet servers.
A callee status function enables the caller to dial another N900iL handset registered on the same wireless LAN and view its status onscreen (i.e., confirm if the called party is on line, off line, in a meeting, out of office, on a business trip, etc.).
Instant messaging between N900iL handsets on a wireless LAN is also possible.
ADI rolls out TD-SCDMA communications chip set
By Mike Clendennin
EE Times
Nov 15, 2004
TAIPEI, Taiwan — U.S. chipmaker Analog Devices Inc. is rolling out a chipset for China's nascent 3G mobile communications standard in a move that is expected to put pressure on a cadre of small China-based firms pinning their hopes on what will initially be a niche market.
Like a host of other wireless companies, ADI is betting that Chinese regulators will issue 3G licenses sometime in the first half of 2005. The Chinese standard, known as TD-SCDMA (Time-Division " Synchronous Code-Division Multiple Access), is sure to be a component of at least one of the three or four licenses offered.
ADI said its chipset is already sampling and has been adopted in prototype handsets used to test the early system infrastructure. The company is also pushing into the general 3G market with an announcement today regarding a chipset based on the wideband-CDMA standard. Those chips will sample in the first half of 2005.
Both platforms will be powered by the company's well-known SoftFone DSP-based baseband processor, an analog chip, and the Othello direct-conversion RF chip set. The w-CDMA version, called SoftFone-W, will also support the EDGE, GPRS extensions to GSM as well as GSM.
One of the key features in the digital baseband will be particularly useful for the TD-SCDMA version, called the SoftFone-LCR. Because the baseband signal processing, including joint detection and decoding, is executed entirely in software running on an embedded Blackfin DSP core, the chip will be able to handle any changes in protocol specifications.
"There are no hardware accelerator blocks included in this chip and that's a big deal with a standard that's as new as TD-SCDMA, which could go through some revisions," said Doug Grant, director of business development for RF and wireless systems at ADI. "Anybody who has done a chip based on hardware is going to have to re-spin the chip and that can be an expensive and time-consuming process. We can make the changes in software."
However, like some other first-generation TD-SCDMA chipsets in the market, the SoftFone-LCR does not scale all the way up to 384-kbits per second of best-case data throughput that is the 3G specification. The TD-SCDMA standard allows for data transmission to run as high as 2-Mbit per second.
Grant declined to detail the throughput range of the SoftFone-LCR, but said ADI may boost it in a second iteration if TD-SCDMA handsets really gain traction.
That is a topic of much speculation. China has spent several years developing TD-SCDMA, which is now one of three 3G standards approved by the International Telecommunication Union. Backers have said TD-SCDMA should be cheaper to deploy and offer more bandwidth-efficiency than the other two standards, suiting it for deployment in China's dense cities.
But the newbie standard will have to battle the more entrenched standards of w-CDMA and CDMA2000 1X. Those two specifications are likely to be the path to 3G for China's two incumbent mobile carriers, China Mobile and China Unicom. TD-SCDMA technology will be a runner-up technology for one of the country's two fixed-line providers, China Telecom or China Netcom.
The issue of 3G network deployments in China has been a closely watched topic because tens of billions of dollars will be spent during the next several years on network roll-outs to reach the more than 300 million Chinese subscribers.
Many market observers thought licenses would be issued in 2004, but the government has held back, leading to speculation that it's waiting for further progress on its TD-SCDMA standard. Tests for infrastructure and handsets have been ongoing for much of the year, and reports from those tests have indicated that TD-SCDMA is still lagging, in part because of an early lack of chipsets for phones.
Despite expectations that the TD-SCDMA market will be quite small in the early days, several domestic and foreign companies are developing products to hedge their bets against its potential popularity. Now there are at least five companies that have come out with chipsets, some more complete than others.
Firms that have committed R&D dollars, either directly or through joint ventures, include Siemens AG, Nokia, Texas Instruments, LG Telecom, Philips Semiconductors, Samsung Electronics, Motorola Inc. and STMicroelectronics. Domestic firms include Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corp., UTStarcom and Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd, which is credited with developing the standard in China.
ADI's Grant said TD-SCDMA may end up being more popular than people have initially thought, and he likened its potential to that of EDGE. Originally dismissed as superfluous, it has gained momentum among operators and handset makers as a transition between GPRS and full-blown 3G systems.
"So for a standard that wasn't supposed to be that important it got important pretty quickly," Grant said. "I don't want to go out on a limb and say that TD-SCDMA will be the next EDGE but it certainly does have a lot going for it. Even if it never gets used anywhere else but China, that's a pretty big market."
http://www.commsdesign.com/news/product_news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=52601513
LG Electronics and Kodiak Networks Sign Global Licensing and Strategic Marketing Agreement
Monday November 15, 6:00 am ET
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/041115/155454_1.html
SAN RAMON, Calif. and SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 2004--
First Push-to-Talk Handset Agreement to Fulfill Subscriber Demand
Across CDMA, GSM and UMTS Networks
Kodiak Networks, the leading provider of advanced wireless voice systems and LG Electronics (LGE), a leading provider of mobile phones for network operators, today announced a global agreement to develop and market Push-to-Talk (PTT) handsets using Kodiak's client software. This agreement is first of its kind, in that it allows the two companies to offer a full complement of advanced PTT CDMA, GSM and UMTS handsets.
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Under the agreement, the mobile phone manufacturer will continue to provide Kodiak-enabled, CDMA and GSM handsets to customers that have deployed the Kodiak Real-time Exchange(TM) (RTX) System. Kodiak and LGE also will work together to market handsets to additional wireless network operators, including those deploying third-generation (UMTS) and PTT over Cellular (PoC) technologies. The agreement with LGE ensures that wireless operators around the world will have a broad choice of handsets to offer their customers.
"We are very pleased to be working with Kodiak to deliver handsets that showcase advanced voice service functionality across CDMA, GSM and UMTS networks," said Dr. Woo Young Kwak, vice president and Research Fellow, LG Mobile Handset Lab.
"Our agreement with LGE improves the handset offerings available to wireless carriers worldwide who want to deliver Kodiak's Advanced Voice Service functionality," said Bruce Lawler, vice president business development, Kodiak Networks. "Our joint development with LGE will continue to meet rapidly growing subscriber demand for premium voice services with high-quality phones designed for consumers, business professionals and the service industry."
"This technology partnership between Kodiak and LGE is a definitive indication of increased carrier demand for solutions that allow operators to readily develop the market opportunity for advanced voice services," said John Jackson, wireless/mobile technologies analyst for The Yankee Group. "Kodiak's flexible, market-tested solution provides additional opportunities for handset makers, such as LGE, and wireless carriers to differentiate voice services and drive cellular usage."
About Kodiak Networks
Kodiak Networks (www.kodiaknetworks.com) is the leading advanced wireless systems innovator for network operators worldwide. The Kodiak Real-Time Exchange(TM) (RTX) System is a technology breakthrough, enabling operators to deliver premium, integrated wireless voice services to their customers. With the industry's best performance, fastest speed and lowest latency, the Kodiak RTX enables a new category of Advanced Voices Services, including instant availability, instant voice calling, group conferencing and real-time voice messaging. The standards-based, all-IP, packet-switched Kodiak RTX System can be incorporated into any existing cellular network, enabling carriers to increase their profit and customer retention and attract new customers without costly upgrades to network infrastructure.
Kodiak Networks offers both GSM and CDMA instant voice systems that can be easily scaled from independent operators to multinational carriers. In partnership with Orange, the Kodiak client is available on handsets provided by Nokia, Alcatel, LG, PalmOne and Sagem. Kodiak has relationships with several other global providers of handset technology and has numerous patents pending in the areas of high-speed packet switching, signaling and call control. Headquartered in northern California, Kodiak is a global organization, with facilities in Dallas, Texas; Bangalore, India; Swindon, United Kingdom; and Beijing, China.
About LG Electronics, Inc.
LG Electronics, Inc. (CEO: S.S. Kim)(06657.KS) was established in 1958 as the pioneer in the Korean consumer electronics market. The company is a major global force in electronics and information and communications products with more than 64,000 employees working in 75 overseas subsidiaries and marketing units around the world. With annual total revenues of more than US US$29.9 billion (consolidated), LG Electronics comprises three main business companies: Digital Display & Media, Digital Appliance, and Telecommunication Equipment & Handset.
The LG Telecommunication Equipment & Handset Company provides total solutions ranging from wired and wireless handsets to telecommunication equipment. The company is a leader in the innovation and development of cutting-edge technologies in next-generation wireless telecommunications and is steadily expanding its global market share in 3G (WCDMA / cdma2000) wireless systems.
LG Electronics' goal is to enable the intelligent networking of digital products that will make consumers' lives better than ever. For more information, please visit www.lge.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
Coracle Group LLC
Judith Purcell, 303-346-7266
email: media@coraclegroup.com
or
LG Electronics
Hye Jin Park, +82 2 3777 3920
email: hyejinpark@lge.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Kodiak Networks
Huawei sees $400 mln of cellphone sales in 2004
HONG KONG, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Huawei Technologies, China's biggest telecoms equipment maker, said on Monday it expects to log $400 million in mobile phone sales in 2004.
That would account for a relatively small portion of Huawei's overall sales, which are expected to total as much as $5.5 billion this year, the company previously told Reuters.
Huawei's push into mobile phones follows a similar drive by its archrival, ZTE Corp. , and comes as the company launches its first third-generation mobile handsets based on the WCDMA standard popular in Europe.
Huawei's Wireless Product Line President Xu Zhijun, speaking at a press conference, did not give a figure for its mobile phone sales last year.
Unlisted Huawei, which already makes 3G handsets based on CDMA 2000, the other major 3G standard, said one of its two new WCDMA handsets would be a low end model expected to sell for less than $150. The other would be a higher end unit that will retail for $400-500.
It said the handsets would go into batch production in February, but declined to give any sales targets or potential customers.
One customer is likely to be Hong Kong's Sunday Communications Ltd. , which is purchasing most of its 3G networking equipment from Huawei. In making WCDMA handsets, Huawei will be competing with the likes of Nokia and Motorola Inc. , the world's number one and two handset makers, as well as NEC Corp. , LG Electronics and Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. .
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/041115/3/1rkbs.html
QUALCOMM Integrates Multimedia Baseband, Radio Transceiver and Power Management for the World's First Single-Chip CDMA2000 1X Solution
Monday November 15, 7:31 am ET
- Single-Chip Architecture Drives Down the Cost of Handsets -
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041115/lam048_1.html
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM - News), pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, today announced two industry milestones: The world's only single-chip solution for CDMA2000® 1X, which integrates a baseband modem, radio transceiver, power management and multimedia engines into a single chip; and the industry's first CDMA2000 1X radio transceiver -- a component of this single-chip -- a radioOne® solution that combines radio receiver and transmitter functionalities into a single design using cost-effective RF CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) process technology. QUALCOMM's single-chip solution, initially targeting cost-sensitive emerging CDMA2000 1X markets, brings basic data and multimedia capabilities to entry-level wireless handsets with an architecture that lowers overall handset development costs. By integrating modem, RF, power management and multimedia into a single chip, the latest solution in QUALCOMM's Value Platform eliminates discrete components in handset design to lower development costs, reduce bill-of-materials costs and accelerate time to market. This single-chip solution also lowers the cost of wireless data by allowing operators to provide basic multimedia services on entry-level handsets. QUALCOMM's CDMA2000 1X single-chip solution is expected to sample in the first quarter of calendar 2006.
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"QUALCOMM's single-chip solution is testimony to our relentless innovation -- the world's first CDMA2000 1X solution to integrate baseband, RF, power management and multimedia into a single chip," said Dr. Sanjay K. Jha, president of QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies. "This cost-effective solution is the next dimension of our integration strategy, and also builds on our ground-breaking radioOne solutions with the industry's first RF CMOS transceiver for CDMA2000 1X."
QUALCOMM's innovative single-chip architecture simplifies design requirements for OEMs and reduces external components, lowering overall manufacturing costs so manufacturers can supply price-competitive voice and basic data handsets to more markets worldwide, including China, India, Latin America and Southeast Asia. The single-chip solution builds on the increased traction and widespread adoption of QUALCOMM's Value Platform solutions, ensuring operators in emerging markets have access to handsets that deliver cost-effective, entry-level multimedia services, including SMS and ringtones, to a larger consumer base.
QUALCOMM also continues to demonstrate innovation in RF technology with the introduction of the first RF CMOS transceiver for CDMA2000 1X. QUALCOMM's latest RF solution is integrated into QUALCOMM's single-chip solution, and is a significant milestone for the industry. Previously, developing a transceiver for a full-duplex system such as CDMA2000 had been a tremendous challenge due to the interference experienced from placing the receive and transmit functions on the same device. Now, by leveraging the company's radioOne expertise, QUALCOMM has created a CDMA2000 transceiver that overcomes interference issues to offer a solution that is integrated into QUALCOMM's single-chip solution for CDMA2000 1X. RF CMOS is a low-cost, high-volume digital process technology that allows wireless device manufacturers to leverage significant economies of scale -- further driving down costs to supply cost-competitive wireless solutions to emerging CDMA2000 1X markets.
QUALCOMM Incorporated (www.qualcomm.com) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on the Company's CDMA digital technology. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., QUALCOMM is included in the S&P 500 Index and is a 2003 FORTUNE 500® company traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market® under the ticker symbol QCOM.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the Company's ability to successfully design and have manufactured significant quantities of CDMA components on a timely and profitable basis, the extent and speed to which CDMA is deployed, change in economic conditions of the various markets the Company serves, as well as the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 26, 2004, and most recent Form 10-Q.
QUALCOMM and radioOne are registered trademarks of QUALCOMM Incorporated. CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA USA). All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
For further information, please contact: Jennifer Bernas of QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies, +1-858-845-7571, qct_publicrelations@qualcomm.com, or Emily Gin, Corporate Public Relations, +1-858-651-4084, publicrelations@qualcomm.com, or Bill Davidson, Investor Relations, +1-858-658-4813, ir@qualcomm.com, all of QUALCOMM Incorporated
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: QUALCOMM Incorporated
QUALCOMM Announces New Chipset Solution to Support FLO Mediacasting Technology
Monday November 15, 7:31 am ET
- QUALCOMM's Enhanced Platform Chipsets Deliver High-Quality QVGA TV-Like Content With Companion FLO Chipset -
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041115/lam054_1.html
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM - News), pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, today announced the introduction of the MBD1000 chipset to support QUALCOMM's FLO(TM) (Forward Link Only) mediacast technology announced last month (see related announcement, Oct. 12, 2004). Wireless operators can leverage the FLO mediacast solution to deliver simultaneously to a greater number of users a wide variety of TV-like news, entertainment and informational programming from leading media corporations. QUALCOMM's MBD1000 chipset, with its RBR1000 radio receiver which operates in the 700 MHz spectrum, is a companion solution that seamlessly interfaces with both CDMA2000® and WCDMA (UMTS) chipsets in QUALCOMM's Enhanced Multimedia Platform. QUALCOMM's MBD1000 and RBR1000 chipsets -- initially available with QUALCOMM's Mobile Station Modem (TM) (MSM(TM)) MSM6550(TM) solution -- will begin sampling in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2005.
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"The MBD1000 chipset interfaces directly with our baseband solutions to leverage the breadth of advanced multimedia features already integrated into the chipset, resulting in an efficient, cost-effective system solution for receiving wireless mediacast programming," said Dr. Sanjay K. Jha, president of QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies. "Our highly integrated solution combines with the price decline seen in QVGA video displays to result in a lower overall cost structure for wireless mediacast-enabled handsets."
The MBD1000 chipset is the first in a new line of multimedia companion chips targeted at supporting the emerging mobile multimedia multicasting standards -- including QUALCOMM's FLO technology, converging popular entertainment media with wireless. With QUALCOMM's complete multimedia mediacasting solution, including QUALCOMM's recently announced MediaFLO(TM) USA mediacasting network plans, wireless operators will be able to expand their data service offerings to include the delivery of very high-quality interactive mobile multimedia -- making TV-like content a familiar, easy-to-use entertainment and information format for wireless consumers.
QUALCOMM's chipsets also support QUALCOMM's BREW® system, which enables the development and monetization of advanced applications and content, allowing operators and OEMs to differentiate their products and services and increase revenues. QUALCOMM's chipsets are also compatible with the Java(TM) runtime environment; J2ME(TM) can be built entirely on the chipset as an extension to the BREW solution.
QUALCOMM Incorporated (www.qualcomm.com) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on the Company's CDMA digital technology. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., QUALCOMM is included in the S&P 500 Index and is a 2003 FORTUNE 500® company traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market® under the ticker symbol QCOM.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the Company's ability to successfully design and have manufactured significant quantities of CDMA components on a timely and profitable basis, the extent and speed to which CDMA is deployed, change in economic conditions of the various markets the Company serves, as well as the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 26, 2004, and most recent Form 10-Q.
QUALCOMM and BREW are registered trademarks of QUALCOMM Incorporated. Mobile Station Modem, MSM, MSM6550, FLO and MediaFLO are trademarks of QUALCOMM Incorporated. CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA USA). Java and J2ME are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
For further information, please contact: Jennifer Bernas of QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies, +1-858-845-7571, qct_publicrelations@qualcomm.com, or Emily Gin, Corporate Public Relations, +1-858-651-4084, publicrelations@qualcomm.com, or Bill Davidson, Investor Relations, +1-858-658-4813, ir@qualcomm.com, all of QUALCOMM Incorporated
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Source: QUALCOMM Incorporated
QUALCOMM Teams With Global Infrastructure Leaders to Develop CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision A Network Solutions
Monday November 15, 7:31 am ET
- Technology Development Program Launches Next Evolution of CDMA2000 -
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041115/lam050_1.html
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM - News), pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, today announced that major infrastructure vendors, including Airvana, Ericsson, Hitachi, Ltd., Lucent Technologies, Motorola, Nortel Networks and Samsung, have selected QUALCOMM's Cell Site Modem(TM) (CSM(TM)) CSM6800(TM) digital baseband modem for infrastructure and test equipment to lead global efforts to drive adoption of CDMA2000® 1xEV-DO Revision A. QUALCOMM's Technology Development Program -- based on the CSM6800 device -- is at the forefront of industry efforts to drive the next generation of wireless data solutions based on the global deployment of 1xEV-DO Rev. A. QUALCOMM's technology program enables accelerated development of equipment system software and hardware in preparation for planned technology trials and commercialization of worldwide 1xEV-DO Rev. A technology solutions.
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"Working with the world's leading infrastructure vendors, QUALCOMM's technology program will significantly impact the global availability of CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. A," said Dr. Sanjay K. Jha, president of QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies. "With the acceptance of 1xEV-DO -- both Rev. 0 and now Rev. A -- QUALCOMM continues its leadership in CDMA technologies, supporting major OEMs and operators worldwide with complete system solutions."
"KDDI continues to offer our customers compelling multimedia solutions at attractive price points," said Dr. Yutaka Yasuda, vice president and general manager "au" Technology Division, KDDI. "1xEV-DO Rev. A will have the possibility of simultaneously delivering multimedia solutions to a greater number of users -- expanding the capacity and improving the quality of wireless video services."
"SKT continues to be a leader in Korea with innovative wireless multimedia; to date, we have more than 6.1 million 1xEV-DO subscribers," said Dr. Jong Tae Ihm, vice president, Network R&D Center of SKT. "Upgrading our networks to support 1xEV-DO Rev. A will enable us to maintain our market leadership and deliver the higher data rates and increased capacity necessary to support our ever-increasing DO subscriber base."
"QUALCOMM's Rev. A technology program creates a cooperation with the global leaders in wireless infrastructure to ensure a commercially ready, seamless migration path to the next generation of DO," said Jim Straight, vice president of Data and Wireless Internet Services for Verizon Wireless. "With the higher speeds and lower latency of Verizon's DO Rev. A network, our customers will experience enhanced multimedia services and our enterprise customers will be able to increase productivity through faster file downloads and transfers, while ensuring privacy with advanced security and more."
CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. A enables rich wireless multimedia services such as high-speed upload of multimedia files and attachments, interactive gaming and a variety of IP-based services such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Rev. A will also support real-time conversational services such as push to talk, video telephony and instant multimedia -- an extension of push to talk that combines immediate voice with simultaneous delivery of video and pictures. Support for multimedia multicasting services is enabled by QUALCOMM's recently announced 1xEV-DO Platinum Multicast enhancement. Platinum Multicast enables network operators to provide multimedia services that deliver high-quality video and audio to a large number of users simultaneously.
With support for peak data rates of 3.1 Mbps on the forward link and 1.8 Mbps on the reverse link, Rev. A enables network operators to provide an even broader range of wireless multimedia and other data services for consumers and enterprise customers. Rev. A is optimized for packet data service and provides one of the lowest costs per bit when compared with other wireless wide area network (WAN) technologies.
QUALCOMM's CSM6800 single-chip solution delivers a significant chip count reduction to infrastructure equipment manufacturers for their CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. A base station products. The CSM6800 solution is backward compatible with 1xEV-DO Rev. 0 and provides 192 forward-link and reverse-link channels, supporting eight times the number of channels compared to the current CSM5500(TM) solution for 1xEV-DO Rev. 0. The increased user capacity allows infrastructure equipment manufacturers and network operators to cost-effectively upgrade their existing 1xEV-DO equipment and save equipment space.
QUALCOMM Incorporated (www.qualcomm.com) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on the Company's CDMA digital technology. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., QUALCOMM is included in the S&P 500 Index and is a 2003 FORTUNE 500® company traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market® under the ticker symbol QCOM.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the Company's ability to successfully design and have manufactured significant quantities of CDMA components on a timely and profitable basis, the extent and speed to which CDMA is deployed, change in economic conditions of the various markets the Company serves, as well as the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 26, 2004, and most recent Form 10-Q.
QUALCOMM is a registered trademark of QUALCOMM Incorporated. Cell Site Modem, CSM, CSM5500 and CSM6800 are trademarks of QUALCOMM Incorporated. CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA USA). All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
For further information, please contact: Jennifer Bernas of QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies, +1-858-845-7571, qct_publicrelations@qualcomm.com, or Emily Gin, Corporate Public Relations, +1-858-651-4084, publicrelations@qualcomm.com, or Bill Davidson, Investor Relations, +1-858-658-4813, ir@qualcomm.com, all of QUALCOMM Incorporated
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Source: QUALCOMM Incorporated
QUALCOMM Expands Product Portfolio With New WCDMA (UMTS)/EDGE Solution
Monday November 15, 7:30 am ET
- The MSM6255 Chipset Provides GSM/GPRS/EDGE Operators With a Smooth Migration Path to WCDMA (UMTS) -
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041115/lam018_1.html
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM - News), pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, today announced the Mobile Station Modem(TM) (MSM(TM)) MSM6255(TM) chipset and system software to enable cost-effective WCDMA (UMTS) and GSM/GPRS/EDGE solutions. QUALCOMM has extended the success of the commercially available MSM6250(TM) chipset to deliver the MSM6255 chipset, a highly integrated multimedia solution for WCDMA and GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks worldwide. With the MSM6255 chipset, part of QUALCOMM's Multimedia Platform, operators can leverage their existing network investments to quickly upgrade to WCDMA. Samples of the MSM6255 chipset are expected to ship in the second half of calendar year 2005.
"With the MSM6255 chipset, we've leveraged the success of our WCDMA chipset solutions to provide GSM/GPRS/EDGE operators with a cost-effective multimedia solution that attracts and retains consumers," said Dr. Sanjay K. Jha, president of QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies. "Because the MSM6250 and MSM6255 chipsets are both part of the Multimedia Platform, our manufacturer customers will be able to re-use applications and decrease development time to achieve faster time to market."
As with all chipsets in QUALCOMM's Multimedia Platform, the MSM6255 chipset is optimized to deliver in-demand mainstream multimedia services, including:
* Streaming video solutions for the latest infotainment services with
QUALCOMM's Qtv(TM), Qcamcorder(TM) and Qvideophone(TM) technologies
* MP3 and advanced audio for portable music enjoyment with QUALCOMM's
CMX(TM) (Compact Media Extensions(TM)) technology
* High-quality snapshots with a megapixel digital camera sensor
interface through the Qcamera(TM) solution
* Location-based services with QUALCOMM's gpsOne(R) solution
QUALCOMM's MSM6255 solution also includes the radioOne® RTR6275(TM) transceiver solution, the industry's first RF CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) solution for WCDMA/HSDPA and EGPRS. RF CMOS is a low-cost, high-volume digital process technology used for a majority of today's digital computer microchips. With RF CMOS process technology, QUALCOMM's MSM6255 solution drives down development and time-to-markets costs -- providing cost-effective, faster data rate multimedia devices and services that maximize infrastructure investments.
The MSM6255 chipset is part of QUALCOMM's Multimedia Platform which also includes the MSM6100(TM), MSM6225(TM), MSM6250, MSM6300(TM) and MSM6500(TM) chipsets -- single-chip solutions that deliver engaging multimedia devices and applications to more market segments in every major wireless standard.
The Multimedia solutions support QUALCOMM's Launchpad(TM) suite of advanced multimedia, connectivity, position location, user interface and removable storage functionality, including QUALCOMM's gpsOne solution, the world's most broadly deployed assisted-GPS handset technology.
The Multimedia Platform chipsets also support QUALCOMM's BREW® system, which enables the development and monetization of advanced applications and content, allowing operators and OEMs to differentiate their products and services and increase revenues. QUALCOMM's chipsets are also compatible with the Java(TM) runtime environment; J2ME(TM) can be built entirely on the chipset as an extension to the BREW solution.
QUALCOMM Incorporated (www.qualcomm.com) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on the Company's CDMA digital technology. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., QUALCOMM is included in the S&P 500 Index and is a 2003 FORTUNE 500® company traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market® under the ticker symbol QCOM.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the Company's ability to successfully design and have manufactured significant quantities of CDMA components on a timely and profitable basis, the extent and speed to which CDMA is deployed, change in economic conditions of the various markets the Company serves, as well as the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 26, 2004, and most recent Form 10-Q.
QUALCOMM, gpsOne, radioOne and BREW are registered trademarks of QUALCOMM Incorporated. Mobile Station Modem, MSM, MSM6100, MSM6225, MSM6250, MSM6255, MSM6300, MSM6500, RTR6275, Qtv, Qcamcorder, Qvideophone, Compact Media Extensions, CMX, Qcamera and Launchpad are trademarks of QUALCOMM Incorporated. CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA USA). Java and J2ME are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
For further information, please contact Jennifer Bernas of QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies, +1-858-845-7571, qct_publicrelations@qualcomm.com, or Emily Gin, Corporate Public Relations, +1-858-651-4084, publicrelations@qualcomm.com, or Bill Davidson, Investor Relations, +1-858-658-4813, ir@qualcomm.com, all of QUALCOMM.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: QUALCOMM Incorporated
Ericsson, Lucent May Get Cingular Network Upgrade Deal
http://money.iwon.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?cat=USMARKET&src=704&feed=dji§ion=news&...
Friday November 12, 2:42 PM EST
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Cingular Wireless, the largest U.S. mobile-phone company by subscribers, may soon announce plans to upgrade its network to support high- speed communications, giving equipment vendors Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson (ERICY) and Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU) the lion's share of the project.
Carriers like Verizon Wireless and Sprint Corp. (FON) are aggressively deploying high-speed networks, hoping to encourage consumers to spend more on wireless service by enticing them with features possible only on a fast network.
In light of Verizon Wireless and Sprint's efforts, Cingular has been noticeably slow to begin such an upgrade, working as it was toward completing the acquisition of rival AT&T Wireless Services. The combined Cingular is now the biggest U.S. carrier ahead of Verizon Wireless.
Ericsson and Lucent are likely to get 45% and 35%, respectively, of Cingular's $4 billion to $5 billion in upgrade spending over the next four years, said Inder Singh, a stock analyst with Prudential Financial, in research published Friday.
"We view this as a particularly important win for Lucent since the company has not played a major role in the GSM market," Singh wrote, referring to Global System for Mobile communications, the wireless technology Cingular uses on its network.
Lucent is a major supplier of infrastructure to Verizon Wireless, which uses CDMA, or Code Division Multiple Access, a competing wireless technology.
The high-speed technologies Cingular is likely to deploy are WCDMA, a variant of CDMA, and a higher-speed enhancement called HSDPA, or High-Speed Downlink Packet Access.
Siemens AG (SI) might get about 15% of Cingular's upgrade, Singh added, while Nortel Networks Corp. (NT), which continues to struggle through an accounting mess, "appears to have been excluded from this project."
On Thursday, Ericsson Chief Executive and President Carl-Henric Svanberg said at a conference in San Diego that Cingular needs to spend more to challenge Verizon Wireless.
Cingular is a joint venture of SBC Communications Inc. (SBC) and BellSouth Corp. (BLS). Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Vodafone Group PLC (VOD) own Verizon Wireless.
-By Nick Baker, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2020; nick.baker@dowjones.com
China Unicom boosts network capacity 40%
http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=133223
November 12, 2004
(Business Wire via NewsEdge) China Unicom has expanded its network capacity by 40% to nearly 12 million subscribers, using cdma2000 1X 3G wireless solutions from Nortel in a deal worth about $220 million.
The move enables China Unicom to offer video and photo email, location-based services and fast wireless Internet access.
Equipment deployed includes Nortel's next-generation CDMA base station controllers and CDMA Metro Cell base transceiver stations.
The new deployments - in Chongqing Municipality and the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Shandong, Heilongjiang, Henan and Hunan - were part of China Unicom's Phase III CDMA network expansion.
China Unicom operates one of the world's largest CDMA 1X networks, which has attracted millions of subscribers since its launch in March 2003.
Dual-band W-CDMA/cdma2000 handset due in Korea soon
http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=133221
November 12, 2004
(Asia Intelligence Wire via NewsEdge) Korea’s Ministry of Information and Communication has announced that a dual-band-dual-mode (DBDM) phone that will operate on both W-CDMA and cdma2000 networks is due to be introduced in a few weeks.
DBDM phones are designed to function on a W-CDMA network but can also be run on a CDMA platform where W-CDMA coverage has yet to be established.
Samsung Electronics plans to introduce a DBDM phone in conjunction with SK Telecom this month.
“The advent of the long-awaited DBDM phones will realize the era of video calls through cellphones as well as bring other promising features,” said MIC official Seo Seong-il.
W-CDMA services are available only in Seoul and some parts of the surrounding Kyonggi province, representing just 15% of South Korea’s landmass.
The DBDM handset developed by Samsung has been described as prohibitively expensive with limited features. LG Electronics attempted to produce DBDM phones in an alliance with KTF but scrapped the plan on commercial grounds.
“Korea is the sole market for DBDM phones at the moment, so the model is not attractive to our handset makers, which typically rely on exports,” said Dongwon Securities analyst Greg Roh.
Cricket Launches ‘Spanish Anywhere’ For Its Cricket Clicks Subscribers
http://www.wirelessdevnet.com/news/2004/nov/12/news3.html
Phoenix, AZ -- November 11, 2004 -- In order to better serve its growing Hispanic customer base, Cricket Communications, Inc. a leading provider of unlimited local and domestic long distance wireless services, launched Spanish Anywhere for its Cricket Clicks(TM) subscribers. Cricket Clicks(TM) is a wide-ranging catalog of downloadable wireless products and services based on the cutting-edge BREW(R) technology.
The Hispanic market makes up nearly 20 percent of all Cricket(R) customers compared to an estimated six percent of other wireless carriers' customers.(a) The company launched Spanish Anywhere into its suite of Cricket Clicks(TM) applications to continue to serve the needs of its diverse customer base.
"We are always looking for new ways to enhance our customers' mobile experience," said Nitu Arora, vice president, product development of Cricket. "With Cricket Clicks(TM), our customers have access to enhanced wireless data applications ranging from gaming to email, so they can use their Cricket(R) phone for entertainment, personal and business purposes. Since we offer high-quality, all-digital CDMA networks, we can easily integrate new applications into our network. We are excited about adding Spanish Anywhere to Cricket Clicks(TM) and look forward to rolling out additional useful applications to our customers."
Designed for both native Spanish and English-language speakers, the bilingual Spanish Anywhere program makes translating words and phrases simple. The Spanish/English dictionary and English/Spanish dictionary contain more than 5,500 word pairs including parts of speech, as well as a Spanish phrase book with more than 1,000 useful phrases organized into categories to make them easy to find and learn. In addition, Spanish Anywhere's Spanish/English dictionary contains a verb conjugation function that works on more than 1,000 Spanish and English regular and irregular verbs.
"Spanish Anywhere provides a great value to both our existing and future customers," added Arora.
With a Cricket Clicks(TM)-enabled phone and an activated Cricket Clicks(TM) service account, a customer can access the Cricket Clicks(TM) catalog of enhanced wireless data applications from his or her phone by simply clicking on the Cricket Clicks icon(TM). Customers can then surf through the Cricket Clicks(TM) catalog and choose the application they want to purchase. The application will then be automatically downloaded to their phone. Spanish Anywhere is $9.99 a month for unlimited use. A full listing of Cricket Clicks(TM) applications can be found at http://www.mycricket.com.
Cricket Clicks(TM) is currently available in 25 Cricket(R) markets including Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona. The company began testing its BREW(R)-based data services in Pittsburgh in June 2004. Cricket anticipates that Cricket Clicks(TM) will be available in all of its 39 Cricket(R) markets by early 2005.
About Cricket
Cricket is a simple and affordable wireless solution offering unlimited anytime minutes within a Cricket(R) calling area over its high-quality, all-digital network. Cricket(R) service is an affordable wireless alternative to traditional landline service. With a commitment to predictability, simplicity and value as the foundation of its business, Cricket designs and markets wireless products to meet the needs of everyday people. Cricket offers unlimited anytime minutes starting at $29.99 a month (plus taxes and fees) with no long-term agreements required. Cricket(R) customers can also make long distance calls on an unlimited basis through several packaged offerings or on a per-minute basis. Operating in 39 markets in 20 states stretching from New York to California, Cricket(R) service is available to customers in more than 840 different municipalities. For more information, please visit http://www.mycricket.com.
Broadcom to Push HSDPA, Not WiMax
By Mark Hachman, eWEEK
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1725724,00.asp
Broadcom Corp.'s 2005 to-do list includes integrating security features into its enterprise products, backing AMD's microprocessors and boosting its presence in handsets, executives said Thursday.
The communications giant held its semiannual analyst meeting at its Irvine, Calif., headquarters, touting its 2004 success as well as its plans to expand its business during 2004. Executives said the company's watchword would be "convergence," a word that describes the intersection of voice, data, video and communications as well as the resources that Broadcom will share among its 11 lines of business.
In some sense, Broadcom is to communications what Intel Corp. is to the PC. Broadcom utterly dominates the Ethernet space, and is trying to extend that leadership into storage and other enterprise markets.
But the company faces a much more competitive wireless market, and it has essentially ceded the enterprise chip-set market to Intel for now, choosing to develop platforms for AMD's Opteron processor.
One key communications technology that Broadcom apparently will forgo is WiMax, the high-profile broadband wireless standard that Intel and its partners are developing.
Instead, the company will support HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), a cellular standard being promoted by handset maker Nokia, among others.
HSDPA proponents say the technology is the next step in the evolution of wideband CDMA technology, offering downstream data rates up to 10-Mbits/s. Lanny Ross, Broadcom's president and chief executive officer, said a two-chip converged WCDMA/HSDPA solution is due in 2006, about the same time that the mobile version of WiMax, 802.16e, is expected.
Ross, who will yield his position to Philips Semiconductor chief Scott McGregor after Jan. 1, said the company is well-positioned. "Scott is absolutely the right person with the right combination of managerial experience at the right time" to take over a "very healthy" company, Ross said. "No aspect of this company is broken, dented or weak," he said.
Broadcom reported net income of $49.0 million on revenue of $646.5 million for the third quarter ended Oct. 21.
China Mobile to set up experimental 3G network in Beijing
http://www.digitimes.com/telecom/a20041112B6104.html
China Mobile Communications, currently the largest operator of mobile communication services in China, will establish a 3G (third-generation) experimental network in Beijing at the beginning of next year, according to the China-based Xinhua Online.
This is China Mobile’s attempt to take the initiative in 3G services in the China market and gain an upper hand over its competitors, a local industry expert indicated, as cited by Xinhua Online.
China Mobile’s executives have informally confirmed the report, the expert said. Because the China government has not yet decided on when to issue 3G licenses and how many would be issued, China Mobile’s 3G network in Beijing will initially be for experimental purposes, but it will end up being labeled for commercial operation since 3G licenses are acquired, the expert noted. China Mobile is confident it will obtain a 3G license, and the company plans to finish its experiment in six months, the expert added.
China Mobile will very likely adopt the WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access) standard, and it plans to use equipment made by Nokia and local company Huawei Technologies for its 3G network, according to the expert.
More Than 56 Percent of CDMA Subscribers Use 3G Technologies
11th November , 2004
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/November2004/8653.htm
US : The CDMA Development Group (CDG) reported that the CDMA2000® subscriber base surpassed 127 million users in September and is growing at 5 million per month. Driven by the high demand for CDMA2000 services, the CDMA industry as a whole experienced a record growth of 14.3 million new users to end the quarter with 227 million subscribers. With 30 percent annual growth, CDMA continues to outpace other leading technologies.
“The CDMA2000 momentum continues, and is setting the pace for the 3G market and changing the landscape of the wireless industry,” said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. “The rapid adoption of CDMA2000 across all regions worldwide, demonstrates the market potential for 3G CDMA technologies. As the CDMA2000 base continues to grow and WCDMA deployments accelerate, CDMA will capture greater market share and become the dominant wireless platform.”
Asia-Pacific remains the largest and fastest-growing region for CDMA with 96 million users, or 42 percent of total CDMA subscribers. Korea is the largest market for CDMA (36 million users), followed by China (25 million) and Japan (18 million). CDMA is also experiencing great success in India where the subscriber base grew to over 10 million, and now accounts for more than 22 percent of the market. More than 68 percent of CDMA subscribers in Asia use 3G CDMA2000, and in Japan and Korea, 87 percent of the CDMA base uses CDMA2000.
CDMA has expanded its leadership in North America, adding nearly 17 million users to reach 88 million and capturing 47 percent market share. More than 62 percent of CDMA subscribers in the region have access to CDMA2000 networks. CDMA2000 operators report a significant increase in the number of data users; Sprint for example, has 7.2 million data customers (or 31 percent of their base).
The number of CDMA subscribers in Latin America and the Caribbean has reached 39 million, representing a 28 percent increase from the previous year. Today, one in four wireless subscribers in the region utilizes CDMA. With the rapid deployment of CDMA2000 systems in the region, an increasing number of CDMA users have access to the most advanced voice and data services.
3G sales to be weak 'until 2006'
Isabelle Chan
CNETAsia
November 12, 2004, 12:30 GMT
Tell us your opinion
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/3ggprs/0,39020339,39173549,00.htm
Analysts expect 3G demand to remain strong in Japan and South Korea, but sales will only start to pick up for the rest of the world in 2006
Worldwide sales of 3G handsets remain weak, except in Japan and South Korea where 3G services have been available since 2001, according to data released by ARC Group this week.
A study by the UK-based consulting firm revealed that 3G mobile handsets will form only 4 percent of total worldwide mobile handset sales in 2004. Sales are not expected to pick up before 2006, despite the rollout of 3G networks and services which started to appear in key metropolitan and urban areas in late 2003, stated the report.
David McQueen, a senior consultant with ARC Group and the author of the report, projects that 3G handsets will account for one-third of global mobile handset sales by 2009.
"For 3G adoption to happen on a mass scale in Europe and North America, relevant content, tailored to suit subscriber's needs and region, is essential," McQueen said. "Operators need to change their marketing strategy, away from a technology bias, focusing on the services that 3G can offer and demonstrating the ease of use to consumers."
These emerging 3G markets will do well to learn from Japan and South Korea where the early adoption of 3G services has helped local vendors to spur innovation and sales.
This year's sales of 3G handsets in Japan will grow by 150 percent year on year to reach 17.6 million units. This represents 17 percent of total sales, and by 2009, total 3G handset sales will constitute 90 percent in Japan, stated the report.
The study showed 3G mobiles currently form the bulk of South Korea's handset sales with 117 percent year-on-year growth, thanks to the wide coverage of CDMA 1x EV-DO networks and services. Penetration of 3G handsets is estimated at 55 percent in 2004 and will rise to 91 percent by 2009.
Gradual slowdown
ARC Group's study also predicted that the global mobile handset market will expand by 16 percent with consumers buying 561 million new mobiles this year, up from 482.5 million in 2003.
However, growth rates will gradually slow down over the next five years as the market saturates, with expected growth of 10 percent in 2005 and single-digit growth rates from 2006 to 2009 -- 7.7 percent in 2006, 6.4 percent in 2007, and 4.8 percent in 2008. By 2009, the global market is projected to grow at a mere 2.6 percent with 767 million handsets being shipped, stated the report.
Analysts say growth in Europe and Asia-Pacific -- the more developed markets -- will come from existing mobile phone users as they are encouraged, by handset manufacturers and network operators, to replace their handsets with more feature-rich models, capable of supporting voice and data services.
ARC Group's study also predicted that global handset sales will be buoyed by demand from key developing markets where the market is not yet saturated, namely Brazil, China, India, Mexico and Russia.
IBM-Essex wins Qualcomm contract
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=2545974
T3G beats Vodafone to 3G punch with EV-DO
November 10, 2004
(Asia Intelligence Wire via NewsEdge) Telecom New Zealand is aiming to corner the business market with its 3G service, hitting the streets eight months ahead of rival Vodafone.
Launched this week under the name T3G, Telecom’s offering is not a new network but a $40 million EV-DO upgrade of the existing ‘027’ CDMA 1x service to allow for faster data transfers.
Telecom is concentrating on data services initially, with a 3G data card for laptops and a 3G PDA. Video clips and messages to devices are expected to follow, along with walkie-talkie-style "Push 2 Talk" trials by Christmas.
The company is offering data plans that can be used in conjunction with its Wi-Fi hotspot network, which is in the process of nationwide rollout.
Vodafone is building its own 3G network in New Zealand, based on W-CDMA, which it expects to launch by July next year.
http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=132849
Global launch of Vodafone live! with 3G
10th November , 2004
http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/November2004/8634.htm
Europe : Vodafone today announces the global launch of Vodafone live! with 3G across an unrivalled 13 countries. Vodafone live! with 3G will be available in Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
Extensive range of 10 new 3G handsets offering a wide choice for customers
Close up photos of the phones below
Sony Ericsson V800 3G Phone Photos
Sharp 902 3G Phone Photos
Sharp 802 3G Phone Photos
Samsung Z110V 3G Phone Photos
Samsung Z107 3G Phone Photos
Nokia 6630 3G Phone Photos
NEC 802 3G Phone Photos
Motorola V980 3G Phone Photos
Motorola C980 3G Phone Photos
Motorola E1000 3G Phone Photos
Following the success of the Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G data card and the introduction of initial 3G consumer services across eight European markets, the launch of Vodafone live! with 3G is the next significant step in Vodafone's 3G strategy.
Launched in October 2002, Vodafone live! was the first mobile service to integrate handsets, networks, content and services to produce an end to end, easy to use customer proposition. Vodafone live! with 3G is the next generation of Vodafone's multi-media consumer offering. The customer experience is transformed by faster download speeds and improved quality of sound and images, encouraging increasing adoption and usage of Vodafone's services.
Vodafone has also created a new, easy to understand pricing model. This model is designed to ensure customers receive simpler bills and to encourage usage through increased cost transparency. Content purchases will be charged on an event basis and browsing will be free or included in a highly attractive bundle of services. Customers will also be offered promotional bundles to promote the uptake of new Vodafone services. 3G voice propositions will offer more value for money to customers, with each Vodafone operating company offering market specific pricing plans.
Arun Sarin, Chief Executive, Vodafone, said:
"Today is an important day for Vodafone and the start of a new era in mobile communications.
"Vodafone live! with 3G will dramatically change the way our customers experience their Vodafone services and we are confident that Vodafone live! with 3G will be a success. Customers want communication, organisation, entertainment and information on the move and they will increasingly turn to one device to deliver these needs – their mobile phone.
"Vodafone live! with 3G will become increasingly mass market next year and we expect over 10 million customers to be using Vodafone live! with 3G by March 2006 in our subsidiaries.
"Vodafone live! with 3G provides Vodafone with a new platform for profitable growth. We are leaders in the evolution of mobile communications and we will continue to be at the forefront of innovation to the benefit of our customers and shareholders."
Further detail on Vodafone live! with 3G
The service proposition has several key, integrated elements:
Handsets
Vodafone will offer an initial, extensive range of 10 new 3G handsets for the Christmas period from Sharp, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, NEC, Nokia and Samsung. Seven of the handsets are exclusive to Vodafone and the range has been designed to offer a wide customer choice of high, mid and low tier priced 3G devices. Seven handsets from this range will be available in Japan, with nine available in Europe.
Individual Vodafone operating companies have selected the most appropriate handsets for their local customer needs from this range.
The handsets have been designed in close collaboration with Vodafone's manufacturing partners to ensure easy to use service delivery with the now improved Vodafone live! portal.
Enhanced handset features now include:
Better imaging capabilities: Europe's first 2 mega pixel camera phone
Improved audio: stereo speakers, full track music download
Expandable memory storage: 32MB provided as standard
Portal
Based on extensive customer feedback, the Vodafone live! with 3G portal has been significantly improved. Vodafone has made it even easier for customers to access services, enabling Vodafone live! with 3G to meet their needs quickly and intuitively. Customers can access the services that are important to them with fewer clicks and faster navigation.
The portal now offers faster downloads of services and topical content which is updated at least on a daily basis. Promotions will sit at the top of the page to provide customers with the latest offers and most up to date information. An initial number of Vodafone markets will also offer a dynamic portal, which automatically configures customers' favourite content to the top of their home page, meaning they can get to the services they want faster. This function will be deployed across an increasing number of Vodafone markets in due course.
Services and Content
Vodafone live! with 3G delivers new services to customers including video calling, full track music download, 3D games and mobile TV. Current Vodafone live! services and content have been improved through better quality sound, pictures and video, including services such as video and picture messaging.
Video Calling
Video calling enables Vodafone customers to see and hear one another when making a call. With several handsets in the initial 3G range, Vodafone live! with 3G customers will be able to flip the camera view of the handset to allow the person they are calling to see what they are seeing.
Picture and Video Messaging
Picture messaging has been improved, with better quality pictures which can be sent to friends, family or colleagues direct to camera phones, e-mail or the Web.
Customers can now take higher quality video messages due to the better camera resolutions of Vodafone live! with 3G handsets. The increased memory capabilities of Vodafone live! with 3G handsets allows customers to store more video and picture messages than ever before on their mobile phones.
Full Track Music Download
Music is a core offering of Vodafone live! with 3G. Customers can download full track music downloads to their handset and listen to near CD quality full music tracks, rather than small bursts of music through realtones or ring tones.
Thousands of full track music downloads from some of the world's greatest artists have been secured through an extension of Vodafone's existing deal with Sony BMG Music Entertainment, as well as new agreements for music from the catalogues of EMI and Warner Music. An exciting selection of master recording ring tones ("realtones") is also available from artists signed to EMI, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Universal Mobile.
Customers will be able to download live performance videos from their favourite bands and stream award-winning programming clips like "Cribs" and "Dirty Sanchez" direct to their mobiles through Vodafone's multi-territory agreement with MTV.
3D Games
Vodafone live! with 3G takes mobile games to the next level with its VFX games engine. Not only will the catalogue of Vodafone favourites be more accessible than ever before, but the larger download capabilities of Vodafone's 3G network will offer even better graphics, sound and depth to its games content, providing customers with a much better games experience.
The additional bandwidth of 3G also paves the way for high quality 3D games and Vodafone is introducing a range of branded titles at launch. These include a world mobile exclusive of the console smash hit "Crash Twinsanity" (Wonderphone/Vivendi Universal Games), Sega's "Super Real Tennis", stunning racing action with "Ferrari Experience 3D" and the downhill excitement of "Extreme Air Snowboarding" from Sumea/Digital Chocolate. Thrills of another kind are available in Superscape's "3D Evel-ution", based on the world-renowned stuntman, Evel Knievel. Another Sumea/Digital Chocolate produced Vodafone exclusive, and making its debut on mobile, is the fun and compelling, "Beach Minigolf".
A selection of Vodafone live! with 3G launch handsets will feature embedded, limited-play trials and trailers of the above titles enabling customers to "try before you buy". The Vodafone live! with 3G portal will feature a full dynamic listing of the games charts, ensuring customers always have easy access to the most popular games.
Mobile TV
Customers in a number of countries will be able to catch up on their favourite television programmes by downloading or streaming video clips straight to their handsets. Customers will be able to view local and international sports, news, financial markets and other information and entertainment from leading brands.
MobisodesTM
With the signing of an exclusive deal with Twentieth Century Fox, Vodafone customers will be the first to experience a new generation of made-for-mobile TV and film content. For the first time, Vodafone customers will be able to go beyond the award winning drama series, "24", with a unique series inspired by the television blockbuster. Fans of "24" will be able to view twenty-four one minute mobisodes of "24: Conspiracy", which tracks a parallel plot of specially created characters inspired by the hit TV series.
Film
Each month, Vodafone live! with 3G will host a "Movie of the Month", enabling customers to view trailers and clips of the film, as well as to download associated animated greetings, picture messages, wallpapers and ringtones. The first "Movie of the Month" is "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" and will be followed by the Walt Disney presentation of a Pixar Animation Studios film, "The Incredibles", and Twentieth Century Fox's "Robots", among other titles.
News and Sport
Vodafone live! with 3G enables Vodafone to deliver breaking news directly to customers through streamed video, video clips and picture bulletins. Bigger video clips for longer news pieces can now be downloaded by customers from leading news providers such as ITN in the UK, N24 in Germany, Rai News in Italy and El Mundo in Spain.
Customers will also be able to download video highlights of the UEFA Champions' League and a range of domestic leagues such as the Barclays Premier League, Serie A and B, the Bundesliga and La Liga. Manchester United and Ferrari video highlights and archive downloads will also be available.
Pricing
Vodafone has created new pricing which is designed to be simple to encourage usage.
Vodafone live! with 3G customers will enjoy a new experience for buying content. Browsing will be free or included in a highly attractive bundle of services. Content purchases will now be charged on an event basis, rather than according to volume. The result is one simple line on the bill for all content charges relating to each download, enabling customers to easily track their purchases. In all markets Vodafone will be offering promotional packages designed to encourage adoption and trialling of new services.
The new pricing model will also offer customers more value for money for voice services as Vodafone is able to benefit its customers from the additional capacity that 3G brings to its networks.
Each Vodafone operating company will deliver pricing propositions tailored to the local needs of its customers based on these broad principles.
Networks
Core to the delivery of Vodafone live! with 3G are Vodafone's 3G networks. Vodafone has invested significantly to ensure its customers have 3G services of the highest quality. Vodafone customers will have seamless handover of voice and data services from 3G to 2G, ensuring high quality service delivery of Vodafone live! with 3G.
Vodafone's strategy is to deploy 3G network coverage which delivers a high quality service within defined data usage areas and then enhance this coverage over time with carefully monitored customer demand and licence requirements.
Roaming
Vodafone's networks have been engineered to deliver a seamless voice, data and video calling roaming environment for a truly mobile service. Customers travelling within the 13 markets announced today will be able to use their Vodafone live! with 3G services seamlessly.
-- Seven Vodafone exclusive handsets
-- Europe's first 2 mega pixel camera phone - Sharp 902
Enhanced portal design for even easier access
Exciting new services including video calling, full track music downloads and 3D games
Broader range of new and improved content, including:
-- Extensive music catalogue from world's greatest artists
-- New made-for-mobile drama inspired by the blockbuster TV series "24"
-- Exclusive videos, pictures, animated greetings and wallpaper
-- Launch of "Movie of the Month" starting with "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason"
-- UEFA Champions League and Barclays Premiership video clips
-- Exclusive Manchester United and Ferrari mobile video content
-- Exciting new, exclusive games from world's leading games publishers
New approach to pricing offering even greater value to Vodafone customers
-- Event based pricing model for content purchases
Following the success of the Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G data card and the introduction of initial 3G consumer services across eight European markets, the launch of Vodafone live! with 3G is the next significant step in Vodafone's 3G strategy
Nextreaming Brings VOD Multimedia to Curitel Communications PH-K1000V Phone
Allows users to view live streaming feeds and download video clips
http://www.streamingmedia.com/press/view.asp?id=3095
Seoul (November 9, 2004) - Nextreaming Corporation, a leader in mobile multimedia solutions for mobile operators, handset manufacturers and content providers, announced today that Korea’s Curitel Communications has successfully used Nextreaming technology to bring cutting edge video-on-demand (VOD) multimedia functionality to its 3G PH-K1000V handset.
Designed for KTF’s FIMM* service which runs on Korea’s 3G CDMA 1x EV-DO network, the PH-K1000V is crammed full of innovative features. The PH-K1000V’s external TV and FM radio receiver allows handset users running FIMM to watch and record TV on the handset’s two inch colour TFT display. Furthermore, users can download high quality video clips and live streaming video feeds, and can store up to 40 music tracks on its inbuilt MP3 player. The MPEG-4 camcorder allows up to five hours of continuous filming and recording to the PH-K1000V’s one gigabit of internal memory while the 3.1-megapixel CMOS camera with its mechanical shutter, built-in flash and red-eye reduction takes some of the best pictures found on any camera phone.
“Utilising Nextreaming technology has enabled us to create the first 3G handset to feature both a 3.1 megapixel camera and video-on-demand,” said Moon-Seob Song, President & CEO, Curitel Communications Inc. “The quality and functionality of Nextreaming’s camcorder technology which we built into the PH-K1000V outperforms that of our competitors.”
"Nextreaming technology enables handset producers to shorten development cycles within limited budgets and timeframes through the provision of high quality multimedia solutions," said Dr IL-TAEK LIM, CEO of Nextreaming. "Nextreaming has helped bring cutting edge functionality to the PH-K1000V so that users can not only watch and record TV on the handset, but also download high quality video clips, live streaming video and MP3. PH-K1000V users can also send high resolution pictures and movies to friends 3G handsets and PC’s over MMS.”
Nextreaming’s services are recommended for handset manufactures that need to quickly and effortlessly build high quality 3GPP or MPEG multimedia functionality into handsets within controlled budgets. With its standard compliant and optimised software solutions, Nextreaming technology gives its mobile partners the power to run cutting edge multimedia content on their 3G mobile handsets.
For further information please visit: www.nextreaming.com
*FIMM: First in Mobile Multimedia, is KTF's CDMA2000 1x EV-DO service enabling high quality streaming video-on-demand, Magic n Multipack (BREW™, the world's first next generation wireless Internet platform) application downloads, and enhanced multimedia email service with videos and pictures all at broadband speeds for a subscriber base that currently stands at 780,000 users.
NEXTREAMING CORP.
Editorial Contact:
Miran Yeon
+82 2 2194 5323
mryeon@nextreaming.com