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Malaysia Digi/Siemens: First Siemens EDGE Deal In Asia
Tuesday May 27, 1:16 am ET
The wireless technology upgrade, called Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution, or EDGE, will make multimedia services available on Digi's GSM network, and is likened to third generation, or 3G, technology in North America, officials said.
However, the upgrade doesn't require the heavy capital expenditure needed for 3G operations, Digi officials said.
"It allows us to put more data over the same resource," Digi Chief Technical Officer Jon Eddy said at the press conference. "We don't have to overlay a new network over the one we already have," he added.
Digi Chief Executive Officer Tore Johnsen declined to give a forecast on the revenue impact of the deal.
"Customers won't buy technology, they'll buy applications or services that improve their lives," he said.
"When we launch services and applications we'll immediately start to see revenue," Johnsen added, but noted "this will grow over time."
The upgrade is set to begin for Klang valley customers and upgrades elsewhere are dependent upon market developments, the Digi CEO said.
Currently around 10% to 15% of Digi's revenue is derived from mobile data services, Johnsen said. Annual industry revenue for 3G services in Asia is expected to reach around $118 billion by the year 2010, Eddy said.
This is the first EDGE technology contract for Siemens in the Asia Pacific region, Siemens President and CEO Rainer Althoff said.
"With Digi, I look forward to a long-lasting, win-win situation," he added.
-By Monica Houston-Waesch,Dow Jones Newswires;603-2692-5254; nikki.houston@dowjones.com
teecee -
Can you determine the total pre-market volume this morning? Maybe something less than 27,000 shares? TIA
The Downtrade -
The Downtrade this morning looked like some shorts did not meet their margin call on Friday and therefore some margin clerk in the back office balanced their books.
OT: Maybe IDCC can begin paying a dividend that is a penny per share higher than other Telecom IPR companies in order to indemnify it's shareholders from a substandard investment return!
teecee - I am thinking more along the lines of a "merger of equals" and by that I mean equal "stockholder's equity". It is some simple math with an outstanding result. I may be wrong (it has happened a lot in the past! LOL)
OT: The cost of indemnification is high! JMHO
United States Patent 6,571,105
Ozluturk , et al. May 27, 2003
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Method employed by a base station for controlling initial power ramp-up using short codes
Abstract
A method employed by a base station for controlling transmission power during the establishment of a communication channel utilizes the reception of a short code during initial power ramp-up. The short code is a sequence for detection by the base station which has a much shorter period than a conventional access code. The ramp-up starts from a power level that is lower than the required power level for detection by the base station. The power of the short code is quickly increased until the signal is detected by the base station. Once the base station detects the short code, it transmits an indication that the short code has been detected.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inventors: Ozluturk; Fatih M. (Port Washington, NY); Lomp; Gary R. (Cenerport, NY)
Assignee: Interdigital Technology Corporation (Wilmington, DE)
Appl. No.: 086320
Filed: March 1, 2002
Loop - The following is a reply that I made to a Private Message from The Count. As follows:
Hello to The Count,
Thank you for the kind words. I feel that many under estimate what management has accomplished to date. Specifically in terms of the probability of IDCC achieving what they have set out to do. About three years ago, this little company was taking on the giants of the telecom industry for past recognition and future cooperation. As the world became smaller, IDCC chances of success improved. I believe that they are about to emerge as the clear winner.
IDCC has made it exceedingly clear that they intend to purchase compatible companies (whether for cash or stock, it does not matter). But if this company goes from 300 employees in 2002 to 1,000 employees in 2005, I suspect that there will be ample opportunities to award employee stock options for the greater benefit of the stockholders. It is also clear from the research presented in various posts, that due to anticipated changes in the tax and accounting regulations, authorizing the stock options now rather than later provide the greatest benefit to the company's bottom line which is in the best interest of all! To dis-TRUST management on this point at this time, provides a lesser result than what would otherwise be. I choose to Trust management but reserve the right to change my mind in the future.
All my best,
revlis -
You stated, "...it seems to me that the option vote comes down to one issue and that is trust."
This is exactly correct. Advocates on both side of this issue provided convincing argument and both sides had to make some assumptions to make their cases. But in the end, one only needs to realize that there exists no good thing that can not be misused under the authority of someone so inclined. I choose to believe that such an obviously conservative group of responsible management will, in the final analysis, genuinely pursue the greatest good after resisting temptation to resort to self serving means. As you said, it is an element of TRUST
JMHO
OT: Time Management
I hereby promise myself to daily place at least one poster on the IDCC IHub Board on Ignore until such time as I can leisurely read this forum in less than one hour per day!
~ My time has to be worth something (even if it is just to myself)
~ I have paid for a Life Time Membership to IHub and owe it to myself to make use of all of the site's features (this includes the filtering capabilities)
~ This forum was never meant to accommodate personal agendas of the individual posters (either in terms of attempting to influence the stock price or to satisfy someone's psychological shortcomings)
~ I am a 1970 graduate of Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics (the speed of my reading is not the problem so I need to seek other remedies)
___________________________________________
PS: Regarding Proposition #2 - I have learned some things regarding the option issue from both sides of the ledger thanks to the ongoing debate. After careful consideration, I am be voting my shares to approve the measure. (FWIW)
Agere Boosts Next-Gen Wireless Apps
- NewsFactor to My Yahoo!
Jay Wrolstad, Wireless.NewsFactor.com
Agere Systems (NYSE: AGRa - news) is partnering with two technology providers to ramp up the company's software platform for wireless (news - web sites) handset manufacturers. The collaboration will add advanced multimedia capabilities to phones running on the GPRS (general packet radio service) global-networking standard.
Through licensing agreements with mobile software firms Esmertec and Openwave, Agere will be able to stay up to speed with competitors as they roll out data applications for advanced wireless networks. The move eases the way for phone manufacturers, Andy Craigen, marketing director for the company's mobile terminals group, told NewsFactor.
Focus on Applications
Esmertec is providing its Jbed Java virtual-machine software, which is used in mobile-data platforms and mass-market phones to deliver such applications as video games and instant messaging (news - web sites). Openwave is supplying WAP (wireless application protocol) browser capabilities and MMS (multimedia messaging services), including photo messaging, graphics, mapping and location-based services.
"Applications sell handsets," said Craigen. "We have put together a package for our customers that is a finished product, enabling them to create high-performance multimedia and messaging phones and get them to market quickly." The beefed-up software suite does the integration work for vendors while providing seamless application delivery, he added.
Strength in Partnerships
The company's GPRS software platform also offers features for mobile users, such as predictive text -- which reduces handset key entry -- and voice recognition capabilities for dialing and information storage. Agere now is shipping its GPRS software as part of several chipset- and reference-design platforms for mobile-phone manufacturers.
"These types of silicon and software-vendor partnerships are a key to enabling the evolving service environment, which is focused on messaging and downloadable content," Yankee Group mobile technologies analyst John Jackson told NewsFactor.
He called the agreements a positive move for all three participants. Openwave and Esmertec gain a powerful channel for their latest messaging platform and Java virtual machines, respectively, while Agere now can offer a more robust GSM/GPRS chipset for wireless terminal manufacturers.
Simple Solution
Agere has mounted a concerted effort to penetrate the wireless market, recently launching the Sceptre TC chipset for GPRS handsets, combining baseband, radio signal and power-management functions in a product significantly smaller than its previous chipsets.
IDC analyst Alex Slawsby described the latest software offering as an all-in-one platform, similar to a reference design, that gives phone makers most of the components they need to create MMS-enabled handsets and eliminates the need to put those parts together themselves.
Known primarily as a provider of integrated circuits for wireless data, high-density storage and multiservice networking applications, Agere has developed a strong customer base in Europe and Asia -- two areas dominated by GSM/GPRS wireless networks. Its clients include Korea-based electronics giant Samsung, NEC (Nasdaq: NIPNY - news) and Amoisonic, a Chinese device manufacturer.
Bill Dalglish -
The IDCC PiperJaffray presentation is very good! Thank you so much for providing this link that I have copied below:
http://theater.ibeam.com/ODlaunchviewer.asp?pres=21501
jmspaesq - Joel, good of you to stop by here today! I hope your health concerns are much improved!
Osoesq -
You stated, " By the expedient of not settling, NOK is assuring themselves of a first to market circumstance when they do settle."
That seems to assume that the other players in this industry are not willing to infringe! (ggg)
I believe that the gamesmanship is now over with the Ericy settlement and that Nok will lead the way to move on with the next generation or wireless. JMHO
Unlicensed Wireless: License to Attack?
May 13, 2003
By Caron Carlson
Warning: Using unlicensed wireless networks could be so damaging to the safety of your data that industry experts are suggesting the need for a Surgeon General-like warning label.
Regulators, private industry and law enforcement widely agree that data networks--wireless and wireline alike--will forever be vulnerable to attack. The difference with wireless technology, some in industry say, is that users have no idea just how vulnerable it is.
"[Wireless application protocol] protection is virtually useless, and I don't think consumers are aware of it," said Jacob Christfort, chief technology officer and vice president of Product Development at Oracle Corp. Speaking at a forum on unlicensed wireless networks Tuesday, Christfort said he could support regulation requiring network providers to display a cautionary label, such as those shown on alcohol and tobacco products.
WLAN Insecurity Remains a Threat
Catch-22 of WLANs
WLANs Spur Security Questions
Wi-Fi Phones Bring Freedom, Phobia
As hotspots and other unlicensed wireless technologies proliferate, there are growing threats to data protection from information brokers, industrial spies, and "bad apple" divorce attorneys seeking data on their clients' exes, according to Ted Phillip, senior associate at Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. However, wireless LAN users, often equating wireless access with traditional telephony, can have a false sense of security about the privacy of their information.
"The money part of the equation is really starting to pick up," Phillips said at the forum sponsored by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in Washington. "We have to face the fact that there is a growing and increasingly severe threat that's going to be out there. It actually scares me, and I've been at this for a while."
Apart from small regulatory fixes such as the warning label idea, industry representatives generally oppose more intrusive federal initiatives to secure wireless technologies. One reason is that the possibilities for anonymity in wireless networks make it easy for sophisticated offenders to dodge enforcement. Criminals can buy inexpensive computers and wireless access cards and then quickly dispose of them, making it impossible to track crimes.
WLANs remain a noted concern in the federal government, and the Administration has toyed with ways of promoting better security. The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace holds agencies responsible for implementing risk management processes and security controls. The government is particularly concerned about the problem of anonymity in attacks on national security, said Paul Nicholas, director of Critical Infrastructure Protection at the Homeland Security Council.
"Attacks happen and you don't know where they're coming from," Nicholas said, adding that increased funding for security technology research and increased information-sharing would help.
For private enterprises, many in industry maintain that sufficient methods exist to secure WLANs as needed.
"802.11 security is not a big concern because we can deal with it if we need to for certain applications," Oracle's Christfort said. "802.11b is like walking on an unlighted street at night. You can do it, but you better know where you're going."
Displaying a rising profile in wireless telecommunication, the IT industry is pressing the government to make more spectrum available for unlicensed use. However, the most useful bands of the electromagnetic frequencies are already being used, and the incumbents--from cellphone operators to the Department of Defense--are lobbying hard to keep what they have and get more.
"The fundamental problem we have here today is that spectrum is artificially scarce. It is mandated scarcity," said Peter Pitsch, government affairs officer at Intel Corp.
Nokia, MasterCard test wireless payment
By John Blau, IDG News Service
MAY 14, 2003
Imagine waving your mobile phone at a filling pump to pay for gas or tapping it on some tiny gadget to buy a bag of doughnuts. That's the vision from Nokia Corp. and MasterCard International Inc., which have teamed up to test technology they hope will someday give mobile phones new wireless credit card capabilities.
In a market trial to begin later this month in Irving, Texas, Nokia will distribute phones with snap-on phone covers that have an embedded radio frequency ID (RFID) chip, Nokia said yesterday in a statement. The chip is programmed with preregistered MasterCard payment account information, using the company's PayPass payment technology.
The technology being tested by Nokia and MasterCard allows consumers to use their mobile phones to pay for food, tickets, gas and many other goods electronically without having to pull credit cards out of their wallets and run them through card readers, according to Nokia spokesman Damian Stathonikos. "The chip has what you could call a virtual magnetic strip that contains all the information typically contained in a credit card," he said.
For instance, consumers could tap or wave their Nokia phones equipped with the vendor's SmartCover technology on or at specially equipped PayPass readers at points of sale, according to Nokia. The RFID chip then transmits payment account information to the terminal, which is connected to the MasterCard payment network. A system provided by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. processes the payment account information. The entire process is designed to take only several seconds.
Several merchants in Irving are participating in the trial, including a bar, restaurant, filling station and camera shop.
As part of the trial, the merchants can send ads to the SmartCover phones via Short Messaging Service, according to Nokia. Later in the trial, Nokia plans to upgrade the messaging function to include Multimedia Messaging Service, which delivers video and audio.
In Orlando, Nokia has also participated with MasterCard in a wireless payment trial in which the payment information is embedded into the phone's card instead of its cover, the phone manufacturer said.
For more news from IDG visit IDG.net
Story copyright 2003 International Data Group. All rights reserved.
Standards group consolidation continues
May 13, 2003 12:50 PM EST
SAN RAMON, Calif.--The PAM Forum plus Parlay Group now equals the Parlay Group. Both standards groups are merging into the Parlay Group in a process that will be completed by mid-June, according to the organizations.
The PAM Forum, a consortium that establishes the presence and availability standards, and the Parlay Group, a leading, open, multivendor consortium, will help set P&A standards for applications across multiple, disparate networks in both wireless and other telecom fields.
Both groups say they have been cooperating leading to this announcement.
"Through its previous collaboration with the Parlay Group, parts of the PAM Forum specifications have already been integrated into the Parlay specification and consequently accepted by the Third Generation Partnership Project and 3GPP2, the worldwide organizations developing the technical specifications for a third-generation mobile system."
The industry has been moving toward open platforms during the past few years, and the closing of ranks between 3GPP and 3GPP2 only underlines this trend, which includes the increasing interoperability and the formation of groups like the Open Mobile Alliance. Recently big vendors like Nokia Corp., Siemens AG and L.M. Ericsson came together to set standards for Internet Protocol multimedia services.
"Working together over the last two years, our organizations have pioneered the definition of open APIs for presence services, enabling whole new types of applications for service providers," said Zygmunt A. Lozinski, Parlay Group president and telecom solution executive at IBM.
The Parlay Group covers more than 50 members and some of them include Alcatel, British Telecom, Ericsson, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, Incomit, Lucent Technologies Inc., NTT DoCoMo, Siemens and Sun Microsystems.
"This represents an unprecedented opportunity to build on and further develop P&A standards and specifications, supported by the membership base necessary to successfully integrate P&A solutions worldwide," said George Hallenbeck, chief executive officer of Evolving Systems and chair of the PAM Forum.
United States Patent 6,563,617
Kanterakis , et al. May 13, 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Optical apparatus using a 2D-spatial light modulator
Abstract
An optical apparatus comprises a 2D-spatial light modulator, an input-ring array, an output-ring array and an optical interconnect. The 2D-spatial light modulator produces a modulated light beam for each of a plurality of processing elements. The modulated light beams have a plurality of light wavelengths. An input-ring array receives the plurality of data modulated light beams. An output-ring array outputs a light beam to each processing element. An optical interconnect transfers light from the input-ring array to the output ring array and uniquely rotates each wavelength of the transferred light.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inventors: Kanterakis; Emmanuel (Highland Park, NJ); Wang; Jian-Ming (Port Washington, NY)
Assignee: InterDigital Technology Corporation (Wilmington, DE)
Appl. No.: 162262
Filed: June 4, 2002
Current U.S. Class: 359/129; 359/117; 359/128
Intern'l Class: H04J 014/02
Field of Search:
United States Patent 6,563,860
Schilling May 13, 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Base station having a set of phased array antennas
Abstract
A spread spectrum base station has a set of phased array antennas for receiving a spread spectrum signal containing a plurality of channels. The base station outputs timed version of the received signal. Each timed version is associated with a respective one out of said set of phased array antennas. A plurality of despread signals is produced by despreading each timed version of the received signal using chip code sequences associated with the plurality of channels and combining the despread signals as a combined despread signal. A magnitude of the combined despread signal for obtaining a present a prior magnitude is determined. The present magnitude is compared with the prior magnitude. A delay associated with the timed versions in response to the comparison is adjusted, so antenna beams associated with the set of phased array antennas are steered towards components of the spread spectrum signal with a highest combined magnitude.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inventors: Schilling; Donald L. (Sands Point, NY)
Assignee: InterDigital Technology Corporation (Wilmington, DE)
Appl. No.: 087091
Filed: February 28, 2002
Two Austrian carriers launch UMTS
May 09, 2003 12:42 PM EST
VIENNA, Austria--Two mobile operators have launched UMTS services in Austria, highlighting a new 3G momentum on the European continent.
The two carriers, Mmobilkom Austria and Hutchison 3G Austria, are emphasizing video telephony in their marketing strategies. Mmobilkom rolled out Siemens AG's mobile phones, the U10, for its consumers.
Siemens AG also said it installed Hutchison 3G Austria's network in partnership with NEC Corp.
"With the U10, it's possible to utilize multimedia video services like the ORF Newsflash service, brief broadcasts from the world of sports, as well as live video from traffic cameras," said Siemens in a press release. "The integrated camera in the U10 allows users to take videos and photos and send them to other devices."
Hutchison 3G Austria said it has been offering multimedia services to consumers since early May and covers five Austrian state capitals, adding that UMTS services will be available for at least 25 percent of the country at the end of this year.
In a joint release with Universal Studios, Siemens AG said both companies have teamed up to integrate videos and games from the studio into mobile networks.
"Universal Studios Networks and Siemens mobile are affording mobile network operators access to first class content in conjunction with the services of a leading integrator for videostreaming services," said Volker Ziegler, president of solutions at Siemens.
Mickey - Regarding Don Hayes -
I have just read his May 7th commentary. The title of it is "Technology Revolution is Alive and Well". Mr. hays has been bullish for several weeks now.
OT: Intel ups effort against option plan
By Dawn Kawamoto
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
May 8, 2003, 1:34 PM PT
As its annual shareholder meeting nears, Intel is ramping up its rhetoric against a shareholder proposal to expense employee stock options.
According to an Intel filing made Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, CEO Craig Barrett sent a memo to employees recently, urging them to vote down the proposal and saying that if it passes, it will be harder for Intel to issue stock options to workers. Two weeks ago, Barrett penned an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, outlining the benefits of maintaining the current accounting practice and the pitfalls of a change.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Intel Chairman Andy Grove sent a letter to investors, asking for their support in defeating the shareholder proposal. Grove has long been a vocal opponent of the efforts by federal agencies to require companies to expense options as part of their income statement.
"We believe this is a deeply flawed method of accounting that will diminish the accuracy and clarity of our financial reporting and could cause real economic harm to Intel, our stockholders, and our economy," Grove said in his letter. "This is a serious issue that should not be made trivial."
Intel's efforts come at a time when a number of tech companies have had mixed results fighting off such shareholder initiatives. Hewlett-Packard and IBM narrowly defeated similar shareholder proposals this year, but Apple Computer shareholders approved expensing employee stock options, despite the company's recommendations against such a move.
Intel's shareholders will cast votes on the proposal during the company's annual meeting May 21. The proposal, submitted by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Pension Fund, says that expensing employee stock options in the income statement would present a more abccurate picture of a company's operational earnings. Under current accounting rules, companies can either expense employee stock options as part of the income statement, or list them as a footnote in quarterly filings with the SEC.
Intel, in its quarterly filing with the SEC on Wednesday, noted that its first-quarter earnings would have been cut by roughly 30 percent had it accounted for employee stock options as part of its income statement.
Some companies are in favor of expensing employee stock options, including Amazon.com, Computer Associates and about 30 others.
Trends in wireless said to include record IT federal spending, MANs
By BRIAN SULLIVAN
MAY 07, 2003
PALM DESERT, Calif. -- Record IT spending by the federal government and the introduction of new concepts such as 802.16 metropolitan-area networks (MAN) are among the 12 coming trends in the wireless arena that IT professionals should watch in the next year, Michael Gallagher, deputy assistant secretary for communications and information at the U.S. Department of Commerce, said today.
The federal government's budget for fiscal 2004 will include $54 billion in IT spending requests -- the highest amount ever requested by any administration, Gallagher said in a keynote address at Computerworld's Mobile & Wireless World conference held at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort here.
In addition to those expenditures in the federal budget, Gallagher said state and local governments are expected to spend between $90 billion and $130 billion on homeland security measures, and much of that spending is expected to come in the areas of IT.
Gallagher also predicted that
The amount of Wi-Fi spectrum will double in the next few years.
Voice over IP will be married to Wi-Fi in a dynamic way, opening up new investment and business opportunities.
The transition to digital television will gain speed, freeing up access to spectrum for more mobile and wireless applications; Gallagher noted that a Palm Springs, Calif., TV station is giving up its analog signal later this month.
Power line broadband will take off as a technology, offering another way to bring broadband connectivity to homes.
Gallagher also talked about the impact of the emerging 802.16 wireless networking standard, which is critical in building MANs. MANs offer wireless broadband coverage within a 20-mile radius, with speeds up to 70Mbit/sec. And while they are primarily fixed facilities, the networks are expected to open up new opportunities for wireless growth.
Another issue likely to gain in importance: The Federal Communications Commission's efforts to begin looking at receiver standards, Gallagher said. Although the FCC primarily focuses on transmitter standards now, exploring receivers could yield ways to increase efficiency and create a better use of the available spectrum capacity.
The FCC will also push for fewer regulations of available spectrum, a move Gallagher predicted will help expand the industry.
All in all, Gallagher delivered an upbeat message of growth in the mobile and wireless industry, despite setbacks caused by the economic downturn. He pointed out that the industry has generated $76 billion in revenues during the past year and employs more than 200,000 people. And with only half of the people in the U.S. currently using mobile devices, Gallagher said there's still a lot of room for growth.
Source: Computerworld
IDCC Stock Split –
There have been many posts reflecting disappointment about there being no proposal to increase the number of authorized shares in this year’s proxy in anticipation of a 2 for 1 stock split during the next year. Currently there are sufficient shares to issue a 50% stock dividend, and (IMO) that would be sufficient until next year’s proxy is released. Let it ramp up to bigger and better things year after year. Don’t let it get ahead of itself. There is plenty of time to put the pieces in place. JMHO
Western Wireless to extend network under T-Mobile agreement
May 02, 2003 12:40 PM EST
BELLEVUE, Wash.--T-Mobile USA Inc. reported that under its recently signed roaming agreement with Western Wireless Corp., the rural operator will build out a GSM/GPRS network covering approximately 4 million people and 5,500 highway miles using 1.9 GHz licenses supplied by T-Mobile USA.
The network will include coverage in Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Iowa.
In addition, T-Mobile USA extended a previously announced roaming agreement with Cingular Wireless L.L.C. until 2006.
Financial terms of the agreement were not released.
teecee -
I don't know which email address of mine you have (I have about 10) - Please try my office email: glenn.murray@cityholding.com
Thanks again
teecee -
Would you have any observations about IDCC's current status regarding moneyflow? TIA
Nokia to build phone with BREW technology for Verizon
May 01, 2003 1:01 PM EST
SAN DIEGO--Nokia Corp. will build a mobile phone for Verizon Wireless that will include BREW application download technology from Nokia's archrival Qualcomm Inc.
Verizon executives confirmed the move during Qualcomm's annual BREW developer's conference. Verizon and Nokia couldn't immediately provide details on the phone, including what model it will be.
That Nokia will include BREW technology on one of its handsets is notable for a number of reasons. Nokia has made a major commitment to Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Java technology for mobile phones and has included the technology in its Series 60 software platform for high-end handsets. Java and BREW are competing technologies but are not mutually exclusive, and Java applications can run over the BREW platform.
Further, Nokia has gone to great lengths to set itself against Qualcomm and has promised it will not use Qualcomm chips in its CDMA phones. But at the same time, Nokia has promised to improve its CDMA mobile-phone portfolio in order to boost its market share. Verizon has made a strong commitment to BREW and has been pushing its handset partners to include the technology on their handsets.
Qualcomm offers its BREW technology for free to handset makers.
In other Verizon handset news, the carrier has begun selling the advanced Kyocera 7135 smart phone using the Palm Inc. operating system and the voice-capable BlackBerry 6750 from Research In Motion Ltd.
Thomson I-Watch
5/1/03 @ 1:16: Buy indication for 500,000 shares
http://iw.thomsonfn.com/iwatch/cgi-bin/iw_ticker?t=IDCC&range=0&mgp=0&i=2&hdate=&...
My comment: If we are not having fun yet, we will be soon!
Position filled: Merger and Acquisitions
From IDCC's 4/1/03 Press Release:
"I am pleased to appoint Charlie Brogan to the position of Senior Director of Corporate Development," said Rich Fagan, Chief Financial Officer of InterDigital. "With more than twenty years of senior level mergers and acquisitions experience, Charlie will lead InterDigital's corporate development activities at a time of positive momentum for the Company. By creating this position, the Company is accelerating its growth possibilities, enhancing its ability to penetrate new markets, providing InterDigital with access to a broader range of technologies and products to offer to its customers, and strengthening the Company's ability to increase shareholder value."
From my viewpoint, employee stock options are one of the tools of Mr. Brogan's trade. Let's give him a chance to see what he has learned over the past 20 years doing Mergers and Acquisitions. JMHO
Ericsson to Cut Thousands More Jobs
By Jan Strupczewski
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson (news - web sites) said on Tuesday it would cut thousands more jobs as the market for its products looked set to fall more sharply than previously expected.
The swift action by new Chief Executive Carl-Henric Svanberg showed the company's determination to adjust to the market conditions, investors said, and sent its shares soaring by almost 30 percent.
The world's biggest producer of mobile networks had its 10th straight quarter in the red, with an adjusted pre-tax loss of 3.5 billion crowns ($421.4 million) in the three months to March against market expectations of a 3.3 billion shortfall.
Sales plunged an expected 30 percent year-on-year to 25.9 billion crowns. Orders fell to 27.1 billion against a Reuters consensus estimate of 26.5 billion and 41.9 billion a year ago.
"The macroeconomic environment has become more uncertain with weaker short-term demand, further actions are therefore needed," Svanberg said.
"Although first-quarter sales are likely to be the low point this year, I want us to be able to generate profit even if sales remain at current levels," he said in a statement.
Talk of deeper job cuts grew when Svanberg, who focused on margins in his last post at lockmaker Assa Abloy, arrived three weeks ago. The workforce will fall to 47,000 next year from 52,000 planned for the end of 2003 and 61,000 now. Without the new cuts, 2003 would have ended with 54,000 staff, he said.
Half of the new job cuts will be in Sweden. The scheme, to be completed in the third quarter of 2004, will cost 11 billion crowns and shave five billion from annual operating expenses and eight billion off the cost of sales. No particular area of operations will be singled out for the cuts.
Competitors such as Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia (news - web sites) and Motorola of the United States also announced new but smaller job cuts in April because of the deteriorating market.
Ericsson shares jumped 28 percent on the Stockholm bourse to trade at 7.95 crowns at 1400 GMT in five times the average 30-day volume, easily outperforming the DJ Stoxx technology index which rose 3.7 percent.
STRONG WORDS
"What really makes the day for this report is what they are saying about additional restructuring," a Swedish fund manager said. "The new CEO uses strong, confident words."
Investors see cost cutting as vital as global demand for telecoms equipment falls. Some operators are slashing spending or delaying the launch of ultra-fast 3G mobile networks.
The Ericsson job cuts earned it an immediate recommendation upgrade to "in-line" from "underperform" from Goldman Sachs.
Ericsson said second-quarter sales would be up slightly on the first, but Svanberg told reporters not to expect dramatic changes as the timing of a rebound was difficult to predict.
Rivals also expect a stronger second quarter.
Annual operating expenses fell to 47 billion crowns in the first quarter from 51 billion in the last three months of 2002, one billion crowns ahead of schedule. The target for operating expenses for the fourth quarter is 38 billion.
Cost cuts boosted the gross margin to 34.1 percent from 32.6 percent in the previous quarter, with more gains due this year, Svanberg said. But the weakness of the dollar, in which Ericsson invoices more than half of its sales, was working against it.
"Impressive. This report is just as strong as the fourth quarter was weak," said Per Lindberg, analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.
REVISED OUTLOOK
Ericsson predicted mobile systems sales would fall more than 10 percent this year in dollar terms as operators cut investment amid economic uncertainty compounded by the war in Iraq (news - web sites) and the SARS (news - web sites) outbreak.
It had previously expected a decline of up to 10 percent this year. The new forecast is more in line with that of Nokia and Germany's Siemens, which see the market declining 15 percent or more. Motorola sees a fall of up to 12 percent.
French Alcatel said on Tuesday that demand for telecoms equipment would fall several percentage points more than the 15 percent it predicted in February.
"The 15 percent is calculated in euro, and we have 10 percent in dollars. Our forecast converted to euros equals a fall of 15 to 17 percent," Ericsson Chief Financial Officer Karl-Henrik Sundstrom said.
He told a teleconference that sales of 3G WCDMA (news - web sites) networks, in which Ericsson has invested heavily, would provide 12 percent of its mobile network sales this year and a third in 2005.
Despite the losses, Ericsson had positive cash flow of 700 million crowns in the first quarter and Svanberg said it would not need to ask capital markets for more money after the firm's $3.2 billion rights issue in September 2002.
(Additional reporting by Patrick Mcloughlin, Mats Falck and Olof Swahnberg)
($1=8.305 Swedish Crown)
sjratty -
I think your reading of Thompson's is correct. But I believe that there exists a significant price gap on the up side after the $21.88 range. The buyer is simply taking their time without driving up the price at this point in time. I also believe that this will change as we approach May 13th. JMHO
OT: but interesting -
Scientists protest EU software patents
By Matthew Broersma
Special to CNET News.com
April 28, 2003, 10:02 AM PT
A group of high-ranking scientists is petitioning the European Parliament to prevent the patenting of algorithms and software ideas, the latest twist in the European Commission's attempts to create a unified patent regime for member states.
The petition, signed by scientists from around Europe, was delivered Monday, ahead of a vote by the European Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market (JURI), which is the latest committee to examine the commission's patent proposal.
The fate of the proposed patent plan could have a dramatic effect on the way software is developed in the EU, with many developers and small businesses fearing a U.S.-style system in which large companies with thousands of software-related patents are able to force smaller competitors to pay for intellectual property licenses.
Thirty-one scientists, including three from Britain, signed the petition earlier this month, criticizing the proposal and demanding that the European parliament adopt a text that would "make impossible, clearly, for today and tomorrow, any patenting of the underlying ideas of software (or algorithms), of information processing methods, of representations of information and data, and of interaction between human beings and computers."
Various EU parliamentary committees are currently in the midst of a long process of reviewing the Commission's proposed directive on the "patentability of computer-implemented inventions," aimed at creating an EU-wide regime that would place ultimate authority for patent disputes under the European Court of Justice, rather than with member states' court systems, as is the case today.
Supporters of the proposal say that the current system has allowed too much divergence between member states' interpretation of EU patent law, while also permitting too much ambiguity over what sorts of computer-related patents are allowed under the law.
IT 'oligopolies'
Opponents, however, say that the directive leans too far in the direction of allowing software ideas and algorithms to be patented.
In the petition, the scientists said that the practice of the European Patent Office (EPO) over the past few years of granting patents for some "algorithms, software ideas, data structures and information processing methods" was an "abuse" that would be presented as the status quo by the current patent proposal. "In fact, this is a considerable extension of scope of patentability, in breach of the spirit of the European Patent Convention that excludes from patentability mathematical methods, computer programs and presentations of information," the petition said.
The European Patent Convention states that a computer program or business method "as such" may not be patented. However, lawyers say that it is unclear from the EPO's recent case law what exactly can be defined as a computer program, as opposed, for example, to an invention that uses a computer as one component.
Those rallying against software patents, including the petitioning scientists and the 143,000 people who have so far signed a similar petition organized by the EuroLinux Alliance, fear that an increasing number of software-related patents will increase the sway of large patent-holding companies over small software developers. "(Software patents) would be not only useless, but also extremely harmful, because they would cast in concrete the so-powerful oligopolies that naturally emerge in information-based industries," the petition said.
Such a system already exists in the United States, where the patent office has a liberal patent-granting policy, and to a large extent leaves the court system to determine whether patents are enforceable, according to legal experts. Since smaller companies usually do not have the funds to fight against patent claims in court, they tend to pay royalties instead, experts said.
Recent patent controversies in the United States have centered on Web site cookies, online ads and Web site navigation.
Open-source leader Richard Stallman in a speech last year said the logic behind the U.S. software patents regime would have forced Beethoven to pay Mozart for the right to create a new symphony.
Protests "premature"
However, the notion that the EU is heading for a U.S.-style system is flawed, according to some intellectual property law experts. "We are not going down the U.S. route, I don't see that happening," said Alex Batteson, a lawyer at Bristows. "It's premature to come to any conclusion about where this is going."
He said that the proposal could undergo major revisions before it appears in the form of a draft regulation, and the entire proposal could even be dropped.
Previous parliamentary committee votes on the commission's proposal have been critical of any move to liberalize software patents. The Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport argued that such patents could exacerbate the divide between countries in the northern and southern hemispheres, with northern countries already holding 97 percent of recognized patents.
The Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy argued that "despite the Commission's claims, (the proposal) paves the way to a broader use of patents as a model for protecting computer software," and argued that, if adopted, the directive "should be strictly limited to unequivocal cases where any adverse effects would not jeopardize the usefulness of the protection."
JURI, on the other hand, appears to be in favor of the proposal, according to lobbying group European Digital Rights.
The European Parliament is organizing a hearing for small and medium-sized companies to discuss the patents issue on May 8. EuroLinux and Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) are organizing a conference on May 7 to coincide with the hearings.
There is no set date for when the proposal could become a draft regulation.
ZDNet UK's Matthew Broersma reported from London .
STINVESTOR
Your Statement: ”First of all, assets in a Family Limited Partnership are valued on a COST basis in calculating the Gift Tax due”
Gift Tax for assets made in kind is calculated on the mean between the High and Low of the price on the date the gift is completed. Hence, make the gift now before the property appreciates. The Cost Basis for determining future gain and loss becomes the Cost Basis of the Grantor plus any Gift Tax paid.
The remainder of your post is essentially correct. Consider other assets (home, vacation home, life insurance, etc), It does not take a great deal to exceed the exclusion amount in any given year. The plan is used to protect the transfer of assets the exceed these amounts. AND, the time to put that protection in place is before substantial appreciation happens.
Please note (on my original post regarding this subject), that I have no idea if this is why these sales may have taken place, only that, now (when the per share price is comparative low] is the time to make such Estate and Gift Tax plans.
STINVESTOR –
Your plan is a good one and already funded. We do not know the exact set of circumstances that may be involved. This is why I don’t feel good about starting a thread here on the IDCC forum about such a detailed subject that borders of an “off topic” subject matter. The different scenarios are endless.
Consider the Corporate Officer owns “stock options” and needs cash for the exercise price and gift tax. Furthermore, I prefer to make the gift to the partnership in cash (unless the security involved is closely held) rather than in kind. Why?
Because:
1.) Capital Gains Tax must be paid by the individual making the gift (stated differently, the partnership does not receive a future tax liability attached to the gift)
2.) The individual making the gift also receives a reduction in his / her Estate by virtue of actually paying the Capital Gains Tax (no Gift Tax in incurred and a future benefit of reduced Estate Tax is realized)
3.) There is no “evaluation” problem regarding the shares for Gift Tax purposes (the sales price by the individual making the gift has no bearing on the price paid to buy the shares by the partnership – Note: I greatly prefer that the General Partner be a third party to avoid any possible conflicts of interest)
In brief:
1.) Sell the Stock
2.) Pay the exercise price
3.) Pay the Capital Gains Tax
4.) Pay the Gift Tax
5.) Make the Gift in Cash
6.) Pay any Attorney’s fees, CPA fees, Trustee’s fees, Appraisers fees in Cash
Do the math. The funding of such a plan leaves much more in the hands of the ultimate beneficiaries than postponing the “Financial Planning” function.
loophole73 - Gben1938 - wireless_wazoo – snowydread - Learning2vest –
Loop, your comment caught the attention of several. You stated, "I am still shocked over these sales with the information being provided to the street and the shareholders at that time. The sales fall short of the reasonable man theory regardless of the spin one wishes to place upon them. If you throw all matters aside, "why" is still present regarding the sales."
I have been a bank Trust Officer for over 29 years. Several years ago (on Raging Bull) I posted about Estate Planning techniques that do result in the sales of investments to implement the plan. To maximize the potential effectiveness of these Estate Planning techniques, they must be put in place before any significant price appreciation occurs.
Don’t just consider the company officer that has sold. Take into consideration all of the selling corporate officer’s family members or a selected class of beneficiaries that are intended to reap the benefits of the Estate or Gift Plan at the expense of the Taxing Authorities. This IDCC forum is not the best place to discuss the benefits of a “Family Limited Partnership” (as just one example) with the gifting of partnership units to these beneficiaries. The “after tax” effect of this kind of wise financial planning easily surpasses the “reasonable man theory”. Is this why these sales took place? Well, I do not have the slightest idea, but I do know that now would be the time to execute these types of strategies rather that after the share price of IDCC is in triple digits.
Timing is everything. This applies to when to do your financial planning just as much as deciding when to buy or sell. The benefits of minimizing the tax considerations (Capital Gains Tax, Estate Tax, Gift Tax) simply by creating additional taxpayers (Trusts) and spreading the tax burden to others (children, grandchildren, etc,) are too substantial to ignore. The end results justify the sales of the investments involved.
There is a wealth of information on the internet regarding related subject matters. Some members may wish to follow up by doing research concerning the following:
Family Limited Partnerships, Life Insurance Trusts, Charitable Remainder Trusts, Charitable Lead Trusts (to name some of the more common methods).
Cingular Wireless turns around with 189K adds in 1Q
April 23, 2003 12:22 PM EST
ATLANTA--Turning around two consecutive quarters of net customer losses Cingular Wireless L.L.C. reported 189,000 customer additions during the first three months of 2003 ending the quarter with 22.1 million wireless subscribers.
While the results were ahead of expectations, they fell short of the 234,000 net customer additions Cingular added during the first quarter of 2002.
Customer churn dropped from 2.9 percent during the first quarter of 2002 to 2.6 percent this year while average revenue per user remained flat at just more than $47.
Cingular also reported total revenues increased 1.3 percent from $3.543 billion during the first quarter of 2002 to $3.590 billion this year. Operating income also increased 7.3 percent from $667 million during the first quarter of last year to $716 million this year.
United States Patent 6,552,996
Kim , et al. April 22, 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OVSF code system and methods
Abstract
A code indexing method for orthogonal variable spreading factor (OVSF) codes introduces a single number mapped to the each code. The new code number itself not only provides the code signature, but it is also used for the OVSF code generation. In addition, it provides easy and fast generation of the available code list without the help of look-up table. This capability improves the dynamic code assignment.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inventors: Kim; Younglok (Fort Lee, NJ); Pan; Jung-Lin (Selden, NY)
Assignee: InterDigital Communications Corporation (Wilmington, DE)
Appl. No.: 040513
Filed: December 28, 2001
Another interesting chart:
This is for the longer term IDCC Investor (and has the battle scars to prove it!)