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Verizon Wireless Redefines Handset Perfection With the New VX6100 Camera Phone From LG Mobile Phones
The New VX6100 is a Worthy Successor to the Popular VX6000, With Additional Features and a Sleek New Design
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-01-2004/0002349044&...
Qualcomm subsidiary to distribute multimedia content to 3G phones
By John Walko
http://www.commsdesign.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=51201745
CommsDesign.com
Nov 01, 2004
LONDON — Qualcomm has established a subsidiary, MediaFLO USA Inc, to deploy and operate a nationwide network operating in the 700 MHz spectrum to deliver video and audio programming to third-generation mobile phones.
The San Diego, California based chip developer said the subsidiary is likely to need approximately $800 million in investments over the next 4 to 5 years, some of which may be funded by third parties. Qualcomm says the medium term aim is to spin off the subsidiary.
The MediaFlo network is expected to begin commercial operation in 2006. Negotiations have already started with US cellular operators to distribute the multimedia services in tandem with their networks.
There were no details of the likely cost of the service, except that they would be at 'mass market prices'.
Qualcomm said offering the network as a shared resource for CDMA2000 and WCDMA (UMTS) cellular operators would be the most efficient way to deliver mobile interactive multimedia to the operators' wireless subscribers.
"Qualcomm strongly believes that the broad delivery of wireless multimedia services is the logical next step in the evolution of the wireless industry," said Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, executive vice president and president of the company's Wireless and Internet Group.
"Building on our deep relationships with wireless operators, handset manufacturers and content providers, we can accelerate the adoption of multimedia on wireless devices by making it truly cost effective using our FLO technology and prime nationwide 700 MHz spectrum."
The company claims the technology can deliver multimedia content in an easy-to-use and familiar format at quality levels that dramatically surpass current distribution methods through the use of QVGA video at up to 30 frames per second and high-quality stereo audio. It can support 50-100 national and local content channels, including up to 15 live streaming channels and numerous clip-cast and audio channels.
Partnering cellular operators will be able to offer interactive and differentiated services in conjunction with their CDMA2000 1X, 1xEV-DO and WCDMA cellular networks without the cost of further deployment or need for new spectrum.
FLO (Forward Link Only) technology is designed to minimize the power consumption and size of mobile phones, and to integrate into the baseband chip.
Qualcomm holds licenses for the 700 MHz spectrum that will enable the network to serve all parts of the US. The majority of the spectrum was acquired in the June 2003 FCC auction, and the remainder last month from some other licensees.
Wall Street hopes for clear winner
More than anything else, market hates uncertaintyThe Associated Press
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ID/6377211/
US Equity Fund has analysts putting money where mouths are
November 1, 2004
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Markets/FK01Ag06.html
Election Likely Won't Affect Portfolios
Saturday October 30, 6:10 pm ET
By Meg Richards, AP Business Writer
What Does the Election Mean for Your Portfolio? Probably Not Much, Experts Say
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/041030/wall_main_2.html
NEW YORK (AP) -- With the race for the White House in a dead heat, many on Wall Street are handicapping the outcome in the hopes of reaping big profits if they correctly guess the winner. But while it's fine for professional investors to bet on how various sectors will perform if Sen. John Kerry defeats President Bush or vice versa, financial planners warn this is a dangerous game for the rest of us to play.
The best news for all investors, analysts say, is that regardless of the outcome, or how long it takes to determine it, there's likely to be gridlock in Washington -- a good thing for the market, historically. The Republican majority in the House of Representatives is secure, but the Senate is likely to remain narrowly divided, which means neither candidate would have the 60 votes necessary for a true mandate.
"Given the closely divided Senate, there's unlikely to be sweeping legislative changes. In this race, it really comes down to regulation," said Jeff Kleintop, chief investment strategist for PNC Financial Services Group in Philadelphia. "The president, while unable to pass new laws, will be able to appoint new heads of the key regulatory agencies."
If Kerry claims victory, he'll usher in new chiefs at the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency, among others. Changes in policies at those agencies could have a significant impact on the bottom lines of the companies they regulate.
As a result, institutional investors such as hedge funds are looking for sector plays. The Kerry campaign has indicated it would move swiftly to allow the reimportation of drugs from abroad, which could hurt the pharmaceutical industry. Kerry has suggested he'd look for ways to lower the nation's dependence on fossil fuels, which could benefit alternative energy companies. There could be a negative financial impact for other companies regulated by the EPA, such as coal and coal-fired utilities, if Kerry wins and tightens emissions standards. Antitrust policy could become more vigorous under Kerry, which might curb the trend of media consolidation.
A second Bush term would likely be good news for defense contractors, which might suffer setbacks under Kerry; he has indicated a preference for diplomatic solutions and sharing the military burden in Iraq with allies. There's also a widely held-belief that another four years under Bush would benefit the financial services sector, because of the president's efforts to privatize government programs like Social Security -- though few analysts believe Congress would approve such a change.
But with multiple pressures looming over stocks, including geopolitical instability, hefty oil prices and rising interest rates, the market has had a hard time finding a direction lately, making it difficult even for professional managers to beat their benchmarks. Rather than trying to prognosticate a presidential race in an already uncertain climate, financial planners say small investors with long-term goals should focus on developing a smart asset allocation strategy and sticking with it, regardless of who occupies the White House.
"There isn't enough information to arbitrage the outcome of the election, the information we have is imperfect, and if the market can't find a direction, why would an individual possibly imagine they could ferret that out?" said Paula Chauncey, a managing partner with Boston-based wealth manager etre LLC. "Positioning your portfolio based on a candidate's promises down the pike, about what's going to happen when he gets in ... isn't smart. It's a waste of time."
Part of the reason the market seems to favor the president, or any incumbent for that matter, is because the prospect of a new administration is just unnerving. Using data going back to 1904, the Hirsch Organization Inc. found stocks tend to bounce higher when a sitting president is re-elected, with the Dow Jones industrials gaining an average 1.7 percent from Election Day to the end of November.
Conversely, the Dow has dropped an average 1.3 percent from Election Day to the end of November when a sitting president loses his bid for a second term. When the loser is a Republican, the initial declines are even steeper, though they tend to flatten out toward the end of the year. In general, however, experts say presidential politics has very limited impact on stock performance, and investors may be facing a difficult period regardless of who wins. In any presidential term, the first years are generally the most challenging, bringing the most wars, recessions and down markets, said Jeffrey A. Hirsch, president of the Hirsch Organization and editor of the Stock Trader's Almanac.
"It's not so much who the president is, or even what party is in office, but that the post-election year is a time when the piper gets paid," Hirsch said. "Presidential politics aside, we have a cycle here where we all go to the polls once every four years, and the president gets elected, and then you have a period where they can't meet all their promises. That cycle has more validity than which party is in power."
Qwest, Qualcomm top earnings slate
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?siteid=yhoo&dist=yhoosnap&guid=%7BFE14358F%2DFFAF%...
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- MCI and Qwest Communications are expected to post lower sales, while Qualcomm is expected to continue its momentum, when those three companies issue quarterly results next week.
That trio, along with Citizens Communications (CZN: news, chart, profile), comprises the last major companies in the telecommunications sector that haven't reported.
Citizens, a Stamford, Conn., local phone carrier, gets the ball rolling Tuesday. The company is expected to post a profit of 9 cents a share on revenue of $545 million, according to the consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
Sales are expected to fall slightly from the year-ago period amid more customer disconnections, but revenue could be up from the second quarter.
Analysts are looking to see how many access lines the company loses, particularly from cable competitor Time Warner in upstate New York.
Qualcomm (QCOM: news, chart, profile) issues results after the markets close on Wednesday. The company is expected to earn 29 cents a share, excluding one-time items and results from its QSI investment arm, on revenue of $1.41 billion.
Qualcomm raised its forecast in September but also cautioned that difficulty in gauging royalties may require a change in how the company accounts for them. Investors will be looking for more information regarding those accounting changes in the company's next report.
Qualcomm makes most of its money by licensing the wireless transmission standard CDMA, or code division multiple access. Several big wireless carriers in the U.S. and Asia use CDMA to transmit wireless phone calls. In addition, the company provides nearly all of the chips used to operate CDMA phones sold around the world.
Finally, MCI (MCIP: news, chart, profile) and Qwest Communications (MCIP: news, chart, profile) are slated to update investors on Thursday.
Wall Street predicts MCI will earn 4 cents a share on revenue of $5.11 billion, with sales down 15 percent or more from the prior quarter.
Analysts are watching to see how much competitive price pressures and the company's pullback from the consumer long-distance business take a bit out of sales.
Qwest, meanwhile, is seen losing 15 cents a share on revenue of $3.45 billion, down from $3.57 billion a year earlier.
Yet the company's loss of local access lines could slow, a trend that investors would view as positive. Qwest might also see stronger growth in the long-distance market as large carriers such as MCI and AT&T pull back.
Also coming out next week is Time Warner Telecom. The small local phone competitor - one of the few publicly traded carriers still alive after the end of the Internet bubble - is projected to lose 27 cents a share on revenue of $163 million.
Time Warner Telecom (TWTC: news, chart, profile) reports Monday.
Jeffry Bartash is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in Washington.
Unicom sees strong growth in CDMA unit
Telecoms.com News
29 October 2004
James Middleton, james.middleton@informa.com
http://www.telecoms.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=marlin/home&siteid=30000000461&mp_c...
Second placed Chinese operator China Unicom today reported operating revenues of RMB59.2 billion (US$7.1 billion) for 3Q04, up 19.5% from RMB49.5 billion for the same period last year. The operator recorded operating profit for the period of RMB7 billion, up from RMB6.6 billion in 3Q03. The GSM business maintained steady growth, adding 9 million subscribers in 3Q04 to reach 81.6 million end-September. Operating revenue from the GSM business was up15.8% year in year to RMB35.8 billion. The CDMA business added 6.8 million subscribers in 3Q04, to total 25.8 million end-September. Operating revenue increased 51.3% to RMB19.38 billion. The company said going forward it would focus its sales and marketing strength on CDMA 1x.
Nortel Networks to expand VIVO CDMA 2000 1X Network in Brazil
http://www.3gnewsroom.com/3g_news/oct_04/news_5107.shtml
October 29, 2004
VIVO, the mobile telecommunications service provider in the Southern Hemisphere, has selected Nortel Networks to expand and upgrade its 3G CDMA 2000 1X network in Brazil's Northern, Southern and West-Central regions and the states of Bahia and Maranhao in the Northeast.
Under the terms of a contract announced Nortel Networks will supply the equipment to expand and upgrade VIVO's core and access networks in the state of Rio Grande do Sul and in the Northern region, which includes more than 70 municipalities, among them: Manaus, Belem, Maraba, Santarem and Macapa. For the West-Central region, Nortel Networks will supply switches to help expand capacity in the cities of Brasilia and Goiania. In Bahia, Nortel Networks will expand trunking peripherals and supply core and access equipment.
"Expanding the 3G wireless network will enable VIVO to improve its capability and offer new services for our customers in these regions like high-speed wireless Internet and intranet access, e-mails with attached files, image and video downloading, video streaming and location-based services," said Javier Rodriguez, vice president, Technology and Networks, VIVO.
Vivo,Lucent Launch 3G Network in Sao Paulo
http://www.wirelessiq.info/content/newsfeed/2033.html
October 29, 2004 / 8:42 AM email / print / link / feedback
SAO PAULO, Brazil —VIVO and Lucent Technologies today announced the commercial launch of a third-generation (3G) CDMA2000(R) 1xEV-DO network in the in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro regions, offering the fastest 3G mobile data services in the country. This Lucent-supplied network enables VIVO to provide mobile high-speed data services to businesses and consumers at speeds of up to 2.4 Megabits per second -40 times faster than a typical dial-up connection.
VIVO is initially targeting business customers with new high-speed mobile data services such as e-mail, Internet access, remote monitoring capabilities via streaming video, location-based services that can help locate and provide directions to destinations such as restaurants and office buildings, audio and video streaming, and more. With virtual private network (VPN) connections, business customers can access the VIVO high-speed data network as an extension of their corporate local area network (LAN) or intranet, allowing them to work from any location as if they were in the office while enjoying the same speed, security, authentication and data protection.
"Our commercial CDMA2000 1xEV-DO network enables us to offer extremely fast mobile services that match or exceed the speed, security and quality of similar services offered over wireline connections," said Javier Rodriguez, vice president of technology and networks for VIVO.
VIVO's business customers in the Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro regions will be able to access the high-speed 1xEV-DO network by equipping their laptops and personal digital assistants with 1x-EV-DO PC cards.
"VIVO's commercial launch of 1xEV-DO services targeted at businesses demonstrates the pent-up demand among this user segment for advanced, high-speed mobile data services that can increase productivity and improve business processes," said Wagner Ferreira, president of Lucent Technologies Brazil. "As the market leader in CDMA2000, we know that CDMA2000 1xEV-DO can deliver extremely fast data and video services today, while laying the foundation for voice over IP and other blended, lifestyle-enhancing services in the future."
For the commercial network launch, Lucent upgraded VIVO'sLucent-supplied base stations to support CDMA2000 1xEV-DO. Lucent Worldwide Services provided network integration and installation services.
A global leader in the development of commercial 3G spread-spectrum solutions, Lucent's Mobility Solutions Group has deployed CDMA2000, CDMA450, and W-CDMA/UMTS networks with more than 30 mobile operators on the continents of North and South America, Asia, Europe and in the Australia/New Zealand region. Lucent also is collaborating with major UMTS/W-CDMA operators in Asia, Europe and North America on the development of their 3G networks. Lucent has deployed more than 90,000 spread-spectrum base stations for mobile operators worldwide, of which 50,000 are already supporting 3G services.
PCTEL's introduces CDMA2000 1xEV-DO scanning receiver
http://www.3gnewsroom.com/3g_news/oct_04/news_5110.shtml
October 29, 2004
PCTEL announced that its RF Solutions Group introduced a high-performance CDMA2000 1xEV-DO scanning receiver to its SeeGull LX product line. The new SeeGull LX EV-DO scanner will support CDMA operators worldwide who are transitioning to next generation high-speed wireless data networks.
Cellular operators and network engineers will use the new SeeGull LX EV-DO scanner to increase the capacity and the quality of networks, while reducing the need for capital expenditures. The SeeGull LX EV-DO scanning receiver simplifies the installation, commissioning, optimization and maintenance of EV-DO networks by delivering reliable and accurate network performance measurements. These measurements are used to improve network coverage, minimize RF interference and optimize network parameters. PCTEL's SeeGull LX EV-DO scanning receiver also provides the ability to identify pilot pollution and help network engineers with network troubleshooting and root cause analysis.
"Our new EV-DO scanner solution provides accurate, reliable, high-speed, RF measurements that will help network operators minimize infrastructure costs," commented Larry Swift, General Manager of PCTEL's RF Solutions Group.
The SeeGull LX EV-DO scanning receiver supports single or dual-band operation in the Cellular 800 MHz and PCS 1900 MHz bands and features Top N scanning, RSSI measurements and a built-in spectrum analyzer. The receiver is also designed for use with the SeeGull LX CDMA2000 1xRTT scanner. Used together these scanners deliver necessary measurements for carriers managing EV-DO overlays that involve hand-off and interoperability between EV-DO and 1XRTT.
QUALCOMM Completes Royalty Revenue Evaluation
Thursday October 28, 7:59 pm ET
Company Will Cease Estimating Royalties in Advance of Licensee Reports
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM - News) today announced that it has completed its previously announced royalty revenue review and has changed its method of estimating royalty revenue. The Company will begin recognizing royalty revenue based solely on reports received from licensees, and the change will be effective for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2004.
This decision was reached primarily due to escalating trends in the wireless industry which impact the Company's ability to accurately estimate royalties, including the commercial launch and rapid global expansion of WCDMA networks, changes in market share among licensees due to increased global competition and increased variability in the chipset inventories of licensees. For financial reporting purposes, the change in estimate will be made prospectively and will have the initial one-time effect of significantly reducing royalty revenues in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004. In effect, the GAAP results to be reported by the Company in fiscal 2004 will not reflect a full year of the economic performance of the Company's licensing business because much of the royalty revenue that would have been recognized in the fourth quarter will now be recognized in the first fiscal quarter of 2005 when the actual royalty reports are received. This change will have no effect on operating cash flows in the quarter, nor will it impact the underlying economics of the Company's licensing business.
On September 17, 2004, QUALCOMM had announced an internal evaluation of its method for estimating royalty revenues. Since 1998, royalties from licensees for which estimates could be reasonably made have been accrued in the quarter when earned and then adjusted in the subsequent quarter to record the actual royalties reported.
To help investors make relevant comparisons, QUALCOMM will provide two types of supplemental financial information when the Company reports its GAAP year-end results on November 3, 2004. First, the Company will provide information for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2004 as though the Company had continued its practice of estimating royalty revenues in the fourth quarter (in advance of receiving licensee's reports). Second, the Company will provide financial information as though the new method (waiting until licensees' reports are received) had been in effect for fiscal years 2001 and 2002 and quarterly for fiscal 2003 and 2004. It is the Company's hope that the presentation of this additional information will better enable investors to evaluate effectively the Company's financial performance as the change is implemented.
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, California, 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.
QUALCOMM is a registered trademark of QUALCOMM Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
For further information, please contact: Bill Davidson, Investor Relations, +1-858-658-4813, ir@qualcomm.com, or Christine Trimble, Corporate Public Relations, +1-858-651-3628, publicrelations@qualcomm.com, both of QUALCOMM Incorporated.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: QUALCOMM Incorporated
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041028/lath142_1.html
Taiwan ASE profit jumps 3-fold, sees sales growth
TAIPEI, Oct 28 (Reuters) - ASE , the world's largest microchip packaging firm, posted a more than three-fold jump in quarterly profit on Thursday due to booming demand for consumer electronics that others in the industry say is sputtering out.
ASE expects gross profit margins to rise to 21 percent in the fourth quarter after they fell to 20 percent in the second quarter due to rising costs after a typhoon cut water supply to its operations.
"Looking forward, we continue to expect sequential growth in our revenue in the 4th quarter and should close the year 2004 with significant annual revenue growth," said Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. Chairman Jason Chang.
"Despite some recent concerns over the visibility of the semiconductor foundry business in the short-term, we believe the fundamentals of the IC (integrated circuit) assembly and testing subcontracting business remain strong in the longer term," Chang said.
ASE said July-September consolidated net profit reached T$1.960 billion (US$59 million), missing market expectations as rising water costs squeezed gross profit margins.
The third-quarter net profit was up from T$583 million in the same period last year, but flat with the T$2.02 billion in the second quarter.
The result comes as other firms in the semiconductor production chain sell off unwanted chip inventories as high oil prices and rising interest rates threaten demand for electronics.
ASE shares many customers with contract microchip makers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) , and both firms have forecasted weaker fourth quarter shipments.
Its largest competitor, U.S.-based Amkor Technology Inc. , posted a US$22.3 million quarterly loss on Tuesday compared with a year-ago profit of US$15.8 billion, blaming a semiconductor industry slowdown.
Singapore rival STATS ChipPAC Ltd. also swung to a net loss in the third quarter due to merger costs and a build-up of unsold inventory in China's mobile phone market.
Despite weakening semiconductor demand, analysts say ASE may not begin to show a revenue downturn until early 2005, as the company is still busy digesting third quarter production from microchip makers like TSMC and UMC.
ASE, whose major customers include Qualcomm Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. , takes silicon chips and encases them in plastic packages so they can be connected to circuit boards of electronic devices.
ASE announced results after close of stock market trade. Its Taiwan-listed shares gained T$0.50, or 2.24 percent, to close at T$22.80, outperforming a 0.79 percent rise in the benchmark TAIEX share index.
The issue lost 10.2 percent over the third quarter, compared with a 55.4 percent drop in competitor Amkor over the same period and a slight 0.1 percent rise in the benchmark TAIEX index. (US$1 = T$33.5)
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/041028/3/1ql2b.html
Moscow Workshop Explores Development and Implementation of CDMA2000
COSTA MESA, Calif., Oct. 28, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The CDMA Development Group (CDG) (www.cdg.org) today announced that more than 130 operators, equipment vendors, government officials and press attended a workshop titled, "IMT- MC Cellular Communications:
Development Perspectives in Russia," co-organized by the CDG with the Third Generation Telecommunication Networks Operators Association (3G Association) (www.a3g.ru) and the International 450 Association (IA 450) (www.450world.org) to discuss the progress and opportunities for CDMA2000(R) in Russia.
Representatives from the Russian Ministry of Information Technology and Communications, CDMA2000 and CDMA450 carriers, organizing associations and sponsors Ericsson (Stockholm: ERICb.ST - news) , Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU - news) , Nortel Networks and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM - news) shared their deployment experiences and provided insights into the outlook for the Russian wireless market.
During the event, the CDG signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the 3G Association that calls for the two organizations to cooperate on the promotion of CDMA2000 (IMT-MC) technology, networks and market development in Russia.
"The demand for wireless services in Russia is growing rapidly, offering great potential for the CDMA community," said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. "The commercial success of CDMA2000 worldwide provides valuable insight into the opportunities of advanced wireless technologies, and the CDG looks forward to working with the 3G Association to share information and to promote CDMA2000 in Russia."
The success of CDMA450 was a major theme of the event. In his opening statement, Nikolay Popov, Director of the Department of Public Programs at the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications, stated that CDMA450 technology has allowed Russia to modernize a large base of analog systems and has significant potential and positive implications for the future development of universal access in the country.
Four of the 12 commercial CDMA450 networks today are located in Russia, while two more are about to be deployed and two others are conducting trials in the country. Two leading Russian CDMA450 operators, Delta Telecom and Moskovskaya Sotovaya Svyaz (MCC), shared their experiences at the workshop.
Delta Telecom, branded as SKYLINK in St. Petersburg, reported that its revenues have increased 16 times since the introduction of CDMA450 and ARPU has reached $68, compared to $10-15 for other operators in the market. The carrier plans to launch CDMA2000 1xEV-DO service next year, offers roaming with a number of CDMA450 operators in the region, and is testing GSM inter-standard roaming.
MCC, also branded as SKYLINK in Moscow, launched CDMA450 services last November. It now covers 65 percent of the city's population and offers voice, SMS and Virtual Private Network services. The carrier is conducting 1xEV-DO trials, with a commercial launch of the higher-speed technology pending. MCC currently has roaming in place with SKYLINK in St. Petersburg, Diallog in Belarus and KCC in Kuzbass. Additional roaming roll-outs are planned for the Tyumen and Bashkortostan regions of Russia, Latvia and Uzbekistan.
In addition to the Russian carriers, two other CDMA2000 operators from the region presented at the workshop. Eurotel from the Czech Republic launched CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, branded Data Express, in August 2004, the first CDMA2000 1xEV-DO network in Europe and the first 1xEV-DO system at 450 MHz. The service, which offers high-speed access to the Internet, has been a tremendous success: in two months, it captured 10 percent of the broadband market in the country. Altel is in the second phase of deploying CDMA2000 1X at 800 MHz in Uzbekistan and is evaluating a trial of CDMA2000 1xEV-DO as well as CDMA450.
"As the attendance at the workshop demonstrates, there is great interest in new wireless technologies and the opportunities they create for the Russian market," said Alexander Krupnov, president of the 3G Association. "This workshop was our first event focusing on IMT-MC, and we look forward to working with the CDG on future events."
About CDMA2000: 100 Million & Growing
There are more than 124 million people across all continents using CDMA2000 technologies. 97 operators in 46 countries worldwide offer CDMA2000 services, and 36 more will launch in the coming months. More than 680 CDMA2000 devices have been introduced to the market. CDMA2000 1xEV-DO is leading in the deployment of 3G broadband networks worldwide, with 13 commercial networks, 18 additional systems to be deployed this year. There are 87 models of 1xEV-DO devices commercially available today.
About the CDG
The CDMA Development Group is a trade association formed to foster the worldwide development, implementation and use of CDMA technologies. The 100 member companies of the CDG include many of the world's largest wireless carriers and equipment manufacturers. The primary activities of the CDG include development of CDMA features and services, public relations, education and seminars, regulatory affairs and international support. Currently, there are more than 500 individuals working within various CDG subcommittees on CDMA-related matters. For more information about the CDG, contact the CDG News Bureau at +1-714-540-1030 or visit the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.
http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/041028/290/f5icp.html
From the fool.com :Qualcomm Analyst Analysis
http://www.fool.com/community/pod/2004/041028.htm?ref=foolwatch
MS must be very upset not to be able to bring QCOM down to $30/sh.
Symbol Time* Trade* Change* After Hrs Chg* Bid* Ask*
QCOM 10:31AM ET 41.34 0.32 (0.78%) N/A 41.33 41.35
Re: Anyone has detail of the following news?
The company's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings to be released on Nov. 3 must be at least as good as it's guidance on 9/17/04:
http://www.qualcomm.com/press/PDF/q404_guidance.pdf
Wireless Winner: Verizon profit up on wireless gains
By Jeffry Bartash, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 8:28 AM ET Oct. 28, 2004
E-mail it / Print / Alert / Reprint / RSS
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - Verizon Communications on Thursday said third-quarter profit rose slightly, as the company added 1.7 million wireless customers.
The nation's largest phone carrier posted profit of $1.796 billion, or 65 cents a share, up from $1.791 billion, or 64 cents, a year ago.
Revenue climbed 6.7 percent to $18.21 billion from $17.06 billion a year ago, with the wireless segment accounting for more than 40 percent of total revenue for the first time in company history.
Adjusted for pension-related costs, the local phone giant recorded income of $1.82 billion, or 65 cents a share, compared with year-ago profit of $1.87 billion, or 67 cents. That was a penny ahead of the 64-cent consensus of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.
The wireless segment added 1.7 million net subscribers - a record quarterly increase -- to bring its total to 42.1 million. The unit generated a 23 percent increase in sales to $7.3 billion from $5.9 billion.
Monthy "churn" - customers switching or terminating service - registered just 1.5 percent, one of the lowest rates in the industry. Subscribers paid, on average, $51.58 for services each month. That was up 3.1 percent from a year ago.
Earlier this week, Verizon Wireless, a joint venture with U.K.-based Vodafone Group (VOD: news, chart, profile), lost its position as the nation's largest wireless phone company. The newly merged entity of Cingular Wireless and AT&T Wireless has leapfrogged Verizon to seize the No. 1 spot.
Along with wireless, growth in corporate data services, long-distance and high-speed Internet access also contributed to growth. Verizon said those four areas accounted for 55 percent of total revenue, up from 49 percent a year earlier.
Verizon added 525,000 long-distance lines in the quarter, bringing its total to 17.3 million. It also added 309,000 subscribers to its high-speed DSL Internet service, for a total of 3.3 million.
The company's traditional businesses, mainly local phone service, posted a 2.1 percent decline in revenue to $9.6 billion, though sales actually rose slightly from the prior quarter.
Verizon had 53.68 million local access lines in service at the end of September, down 4.4 percent from a year earlier. The carrier has been losing lines as customers switch to rival carriers, rely on wireless phones or disconnect second lines when adding DSL service.
Favorable regulatory rulings, however, could slow or even reverse the loss of local lines to rivals, which will no longer be able to use every part of Verizon's network at discount rates.
Verizon ended the quarter with $40.5 billion in debt, down from $45.4 billion in the year-ago quarter.
On Wednesday, shares of Verizon (VZ: news, chart, profile) rose 40 cents to $39.40.
Jeffry Bartash is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in Washington.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B2A770B2E%2D6EFB%2D4543%2DA9C4%2DD7006131BC15%7D&am...
Anyone has detail of the following news?
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conews&tkr=QCOM:US
Qualcomm's Jacobs: Microchip Demand, Latin America
October 27, 2004 16:55 EDT -- Irwin Jacobs, chief executive of Qualcomm Inc., talks with Bloomberg's Lane Bajardi from Sao Paulo about demand for microchips, the outlook for the company's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings to be released on Nov. 3 and its market share in Latin America. Qualcomm is the world's second-largest make of microchips that power mobile telephones.
Qualcomm's Thornley Comments on Expenses, WCDMA Phone Prices
October 27, 2004 15:37 EDT -- Anthony Thornley, president of Qualcomm Inc., the world's second-largest maker of semiconductors that run mobile telephones, comments on the outlook for research and development spending in 2005, phone prices and the replacement of old phones for newer models. Thornley made the comments in an interview in Florianopolis, in Brazil's south.
Kyocera CDMA2000 1xEVDO PC Card
Thursday, October 28 @ 05:00:00 PDT
The Kyocera Passport, a CDMA2000 1x Evolution Data Optimized (EVDO) PC card that will be available this fall to CDMA carriers around the world.
The easy-to-use Passport 1xEVDO card, also known as the Kyocera KPC-650, can be installed in minutes and gives laptop users high-speed wireless data access of up to 2.4 Mbps(a). Passport not only provides the convenience of mobility but also offers broadband access to corporate applications, email, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) browsers and seamless Short Message Service (SMS) text messaging capability(b). Additionally, Passport's dual-band receive diversity and high-performance antenna design allows for improved coverage nationwide and higher data rates.
"Our internal testing shows Passport to be the fastest EVDO card available in our markets -- up to twice as fast as other competitive offerings currently available on CDMA networks," said Don McGuire, vice president of Global marketing and North American sales at Kyocera Wireless Corp. "Our success with CDMA wireless handsets and telemetry modules makes us uniquely qualified to deliver on the high-speed data potential of EVDO on next-generation CDMA wireless networks. Now our goal is to go one step further and offer superior, easy-to-use high-speed wireless products to incorporate into people's lives -- whether a mobile phone, telemetry module or PC card."
The Kyocera Passport features an adjustable rotating antenna for maximum signal strength and includes intuitive Passport Navigator software for easy installation and connection management that is compatible with EVDO and CDMA2000 1x services. The card boasts download speeds of up to 2.4 Mbps in EVDO coverage areas and achieves download speeds with bursts of up to 153 kbps on CDMA2000 1x connections outside of EVDO coverage.
The Kyocera Passport 1xEVDO PC Card is 2.13 in. x 4.84 in. x 0.51 in. and weighs 2.01 ounces.
http://news.designtechnica.com/article5788.html
Qualcomm dials European code
http://www.electronicsweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=37805&liArticl eTypeID=8&liCategoryID=1&liChannelID=2&liFlavourID=1&sSearch=&nPage=1
US firm Qualcomm has made a major move into the European mobile phone market following a deal with Siemens Comms.
"Siemens is our first main customer from Europe," said Enrico Salvatore, v-p, Europe operations, Qualcomm. "Our presence in Europe was based on customers from Korea and Japan, such as Sanyo, Samsung and LG."
Siemens will build handsets using Qualcomm's MSM chipsets, starting with the MSM6250 chip which supports GSM, GPRS and W-CDMA.
Salvatore said the company was offering a complete roadmap evolution for its chips which will include EDGE and HSDPA support.
Qualcomm is hopeful this agreement will lead onto other things. "We want to emphasise this agreement with Siemens is not limited to the European arena," said Salvatore. "We consider this an opportunity for both companies to get opportunities from other markets."
www.qualcomm.com
SEC Votes on 'Quiet Period' Restrictions
Tuesday October 26, 12:11 pm ET
By Marcy Gordon, AP Business Writer
SEC Votes to Propose Loosened Restrictions on Pre-IPO 'Quiet Period'
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal regulators proposed Tuesday to loosen restrictions on executives' comments in the weeks before their company goes public in a stock sale, a move that could bring the first significant changes in 70 years to a traditional fixture known as the quiet period.
The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 5-0 to seek public comment on the proposal, part of a broader plan to ease regulation of new stock offerings. If the SEC eventually adopts it, companies will be allowed to disseminate more information to investors in the weeks before an initial public offering -- using, for example, online updates to the prospectus. Company executives could give interviews to the media and conduct "road shows" for a wide audience of prospective investors.
"We are in an age where ... our current framework and restrictions are outmoded," Alan Beller, director of the SEC's corporation finance division, said before the vote at a public meeting. The current system, he told the SEC commissioners, "has had the effect of chilling communications" from companies to investors.
The quiet period, also called the "waiting period," begins when a company files a statement with the SEC to register new stock and ends when the agency approves the registration statement. During that time, Depression-era securities laws limit the information that company executives and investment bankers underwriting the stock offering can release publicly, other than through the prospectus.
Under the new proposal, public statements that tend to hype the new stock would continue to be prohibited, and company executives would be held liable for any misstatements.
While it moves toward easing regulation of new stock offerings, the SEC is tightening in another area, mandating new oversight for hedge funds -- largely unregulated investment pools traditionally for the wealthy that have become popular with small investors in recent years.
The high-risk, potentially high-return funds have an estimated $750 billion to $1 trillion in assets and are growing. Oversight is needed to head off potential blowups that could hurt ordinary investors, SEC officials say.
The SEC commissioners also were voting at the meeting to formally adopt the requirement that most hedge fund managers register with the agency.
The hedge fund move will open the funds' books to SEC examiners and make them subject to an array of regulations including accounting and disclosure requirements. The agency could, for example, conduct inspection "sweeps" of groups of hedge funds, something it now lacks legal authority to do.
The move split the commissioners in a 3-2 vote proposing it in July, with SEC Chairman William Donaldson and the two Democratic commissioners opting for stricter regulation of hedge funds while the two Republican members opposed it. The same SEC divide remains, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and Treasury Secretary John Snow also oppose tighter regulation, and industry opponents are hinting at legal challenges.
The quiet period preceding Google Inc.'s anxiously awaited IPO last summer became noticeably noisier when company founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page gave an interview published in Playboy magazine, a potential violation of the SEC rules. The SEC resolved the problem by ordering Google to amend its prospectus by adding the interview to it.
Rather than slapping the search engine company with sanctions, the SEC may have figured that given the huge publicity surrounding the IPO after the registration statement was filed in April, so much already had been written about Google that the Playboy interview didn't perceptibly change things.
In another instance, the SEC cracked down on Salesforce.com last May when the company's CEO, Marc Benioff, cooperated with an article published in The New York Times. After the piece appeared, the agency forced the company to delay its high-profile IPO. The IPO was completed six weeks after the story was published.
Securities and Exchange Commission: http://www.sec.gov
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/041026/sec_quiet_period_6.html
If the Top 6 Institutions still hold more than $10 Billions of Qualcomm Share, I will not worry about the Downgrade.
Institutional Holdings Description / Hide Summary
Company Details
Total Shares Out Standing (millions): 1,628
Market Capitalization ($ millions): $66,966
Institutional Ownership: 64.8%
Price (as of 10/25/2004) 41.14
Ownership Analysis # Of Holders Shares
Total Shares Held: 750 1,054,579,874
New Positions: 69 8,786,567
Increased Positions: 343 113,590,907
Decreased Positions: 327 139,507,410
Holders With Activity: 670 253,098,317
Sold Out Positions: 36 2,114,218
Click on the column header links to resort ascending () or descending ().
Owner Name
Select a name below for more information. Date Shares Held Change
(Shares) % Change
(Shares) Value
($1000)
FMR CORP 6/30/2004 69,790,618 5,986,398 9.38% $2,871,186
BARCLAYS GLOBAL INVE... 6/30/2004 62,589,994 (4,300,910) (6.43%) $2,574,952
GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP ... 6/30/2004 50,461,676 8,120,500 19.18% $2,075,993
STATE STREET CORP 6/30/2004 48,280,602 4,630,490 10.61% $1,986,264
MONTAG & CALDWELL IN... 6/30/2004 40,659,174 (3,096,742) (7.08%) $1,672,718
http://www.nasdaq.com/asp/holdings.asp?mode=&kind=&timeframe=&intraday=&charttype=&a...
Marsico Bullish on Tech Stocks
Tuesday October 26, 7:00 am ET
By Christopher Davis
Last week, we discussed the ongoing woes of large-cap growth stocks. They were among the great losers of the bear market, and then proved to be laggards in 2003's rebound. Their misfortune has continued into 2004, with the typical large-growth fund down more than 3% so far this year.
We've also highlighted some reasons the group could be due for a comeback. Large-growth stocks look relatively attractive compared with the rest of the market on a valuation basis. They also tend to perk up as economic rallies mature and investors turn their attention from fast-growing speculative names, which tend to rally early in the recovery cycle.
We highlighted a few large-growth manager favorites last week. We'll continue on the same theme this week by offering a sampling of what two prominent large-growth managers told our analysts recently about the names that are grabbing their attention.
Marsico Gets Bullish
Tom Marsico, the highly successful manager of namesakes Marsico Focus (Nasdaq:MFOCX - News) and Marsico Growth (Nasdaq:MGRIX - News), has built one of the best long-term records of any large-growth manager. (Marsico also headed up Janus Twenty (Nasdaq:JAVLX - News) to much acclaim). These days, Marsico has become increasingly bullish on stocks. Even though interest rates are likely to rise, they remain historically low. And when you compare the earnings yields on stocks to that of the 10-year Treasury bond, Marsico says stocks look appealing.
That optimism extends to racier growth areas, which have slumped in recent months. As such, Marsico has been boosting both his funds' technology stakes, putting money to work in names like Dell (NasdaqNM:DELL - News) and Electronic Arts (NasdaqNM:ERTS - News). He's also a fan of Qualcomm (NasdaqNM:QCOM - News), which he likes for its third-generation wireless technology. He also points to the company's high margins on its royalties business, which translate into strong cash-flow generation. Even so, both funds' technology weightings remain on the low side. Marsico still isn't excited about corporate IT spending, which puts a damper on the outlook for many tech names. But he recognizes that corporate balance sheets are perhaps as healthy as they've ever been, and CEOs could be keeping their powder dry until political and economic uncertainties subside.
Marsico has played the tech theme in indirect ways as well, homing in on companies that are using technology to better their businesses. For example, top holding UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - News) harnesses technology to achieve cost leadership. He also counts FedEx (NYSE:FDX - News) and eBay (NasdaqNM:EBAY - News) as tech-related favorites.
Hagstrom Looks to Networks for Sustainable Growth
Legg Mason Growth (Nasdaq:LMGTX - News) manager Robert Hagstrom isn't as well known as colleague Bill Miller, the famed manager of Legg Mason Value (Nasdaq:LMVTX - News), but he's made a strong case for his more-aggressive take on Warren Buffet-style investing.
Hagstrom believes that pricing power in the U.S. will become increasingly scarce, thanks to advances in productivity and technology that makes prices more transparent. As a result, Hagstrom has glommed onto companies that can deliver sustainable unit growth. Those firms, he has found, are often beneficiaries of the "network effect," which means they offer services or products that become exponentially more valuable as more they gain more users (think of Microsoft Windows as an example). When successful, such companies offer rapid sales growth without the need for heavy incremental investment and impose heavy switching costs for customers.
As an example of a firm that benefits from the network effect, Hagstrom cites Nextel Communications (NasdaqNM:NXTL - News), whose push-to-talk technology fosters interaction amongst subscribers. These customers' reluctance to leave the network only grows as more friends and colleagues join. Another example is eBay, which Hagstrom sees as a global network whose success attracts even more users while making markets more transparent and efficient.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ms/041026/118607_1.html
Mobile Java hit with security scare
By Stephen Shankland, CNET News.com
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/041025/152/f58w1.html
A security flaw has been revealed in Sun's Java platform for mobile phones, but no attempts to exploit it have yet been found
A Polish researcher has found two vulnerabilities in the cell phone version of Sun Microsystems' Java software that under unusual circumstances could let a malicious program read private information or render a phone unusable.
The flaws are difficult to exploit because malicious programs must be tailored to a specific model of cell phone, said Adam Gowdiak, a 29-year-old security researcher with the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Centre who discovered the vulnerabilities. He figured out how to attack a Nokia 6310i mobile phone, but the effort took four months, he said in a Friday posting to the BugTraq vulnerability mailing list.
Before the vulnerabilities could be exploited, a phone user would have to download and run a malicious Java program, called a midlet, Gowdiak said in an email interview. He's not aware of a way to automate an attack.
He notified Sun of the vulnerabilities in August, and the company said it sent Java licensees a patched version of the vulnerable component, called the Java bytecode verifier, within two weeks.
"We have not seen any attempts to exploit this vulnerability, but if there is one, the user can simply delete... the applications they downloaded from an untrusted source," said Eric Chu, Sun's director of marketing for the Java 2 Micro Edition, or J2ME, software.
But in an October talk at the Hack in the Box conference in Malaysia, Gowdiak said the situation should be taken seriously. "Vendors and [the] antivirus industry are not prepared for this kind of threat," he said in his presentation. "It should be expected that remote vulnerabilities for mobile devices will be published within the next six months."
Sun didn't publish the vulnerabilities, instead choosing to let the cell phone makers notify their customers. "We don't have a relationship with the end consumer," Chu said.
Sun estimates that more than 570 million Java-enabled handsets will have been sold by the end of 2004, and one in three handsets is equipped with Java. Hundreds of cell phone service providers rely on J2ME to sell ring tones, games and other downloads.
Sophisticated mobile devices are growing more important. According to the Meta Group, roughly two-thirds of all businesses and organisations will deploy mobile data services by 2007. Mobile email will top the application list, with half of organisations launching a wireless email system within three years and 75 percent in four years.
The vulnerability disclosure comes on the eve of CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2004, a cell phone trade show in San Francisco, where Java will support many new services to be unveiled.
Java has been relatively free of vulnerabilities, especially compared with Windows. One advantage is that Java has built-in security features that make it hard for local or remote programs to take unauthorised actions.
Using the vulnerabilities, Gowdiak created programs for the Nokia phone that could send text messages or photos, wipe the phone's memory, connect to the Internet and steal data such as phone book records -- all without the user knowing.
And at the Hack in the Box conference, he said the vulnerabilities could potentially be used to install software that secretly records text messages, or to install other applications.
Qualcomm makes a competing but less popular technology to download software onto cell phones. There have not been any reports of vulnerabilities among the scores of carriers using Qualcomm's Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless, or BREW, technology.
Microsoft has had some issues with mobile devices; vulnerabilities have been found for its smart phone operating system, its Windows CE for gadgets and its Pocket PC software for handhelds.
Audiovox unveils its first cdma2000 1x EV-DO Phone
Monday, 25 October 2004
Audiovox Communications Corporation, a subsidiary of Audiovox Corporation unveiled Monday its first cdma2000 1x EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized) phone, the CDM-8940, at CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment.
With its EV-DO capability, the CDM-8940 can transmit data wirelessly at very high rates, up to 2.4 mbps, with USB Interface. In addition to its high-speed data sharing capabilities, the phone has two dual color displays. The main display is a 262K TFT 1.9” LCD screen while its outer display is a 262K TFT 1.2” LCD screen. The phone includes a built-in 1.3 mega pixel camera with macro function and camcorder and an SD card slot enabling consumers to store photos on removable media.
The Java/Brew capable handset is dual band (800/1900 MHz CDMA, Amps) and comes equipped with two-way MMS/SMS (system dependent), the MSM6500 Chipset with GPSOne™ capability (E911 Phase2 Supported). It also offers voice-activated dialing and vibrating alert.
All these latest features and capabilities are combined in a compact, stylish design with dimensions of 3.4” (h) x 1.8” (w) and 1.0” (d).
“Introducing our first EV-DO handset expands Audiovox’s comprehensive product offerings and commitment to wireless technology,” said Philip Christopher, CEO of Audiovox Communications Corporation.
Released by ACC
http://www.telecomskorea.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=833
Superscape's 3D BREW(R) Games Showcased by Qualcomm at CTIA Wireless
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/10-25-2004/0002307988&...
HOOK, England, October 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Superscape Group plc
(LSE: SPS), announces that two of the company's new 3D mobile games will be
showcased in QUALCOMM's exhibition booth at this year's CTIA Wireless I.T.
event being held in San Francisco October 25-27.
The Superscape titles on show, both designed to run on BREW-enabled
handsets are Evel-ution, a game based on stunts by the world-famous
motorcycle rider, Evel Knievel and licensed via a partnership with Global
Wireless Entertainment, Inc. and AMF Xtreme Bowling.
Superscape's technology and games leverage the robust capabilities
available through QUALCOMM's BREW solution. A BREW extension of Superscape's
3D graphics engine was announced in November 2003, enabling developers to
quickly and easily create interactive 3D applications.
QUALCOMM's BREW solution provides products and services that connect the
mobile marketplace value chain, which includes publishers, developers,
content providers, device manufacturers, operators and consumers.
Publishers and developers worldwide are generating revenue from
BREW-based applications and content, and 27 manufacturers have offered more
than 150 BREW-enabled device models to consumers. BREW is successfully
enabling the commercial wireless data services of many successful operators,
including Verizon Wireless, Alaska Communication Systems, ALLTEL, Cellular
One, Cellular South, Cricket Communications, MetroPCS, Midwest Wireless,
NTELOS, Rural Cellular Corporation and U.S. Cellular in the United States,
Bermuda Digital Communications, China Unicom, KDDI in Japan, KTF in South
Korea, Hutch in Thailand, Iusacell in Mexico, VIBO in Taiwan, Tata in India,
Telstra in Australia, VIVO in Brazil, BellSouth Argentina, BellSouth Chile,
BellSouth Colombia, BellSouth Ecuador, BellSouth Guatemala, BellSouth
Nicaragua, BellSouth Panama, BellSouth Peru, Movicom in Argentina, Movicom in
Uruguay, Telcel and Movilnet in Venezuela, Verizon Dominicana, Verizon
Wireless Puerto Rico, Pelephone in Israel and Zapp in Romania.
About Superscape
Superscape is the leader in revolutionary entertainment for mobile
phones. The company was the first in the world to develop and launch
international standard (JSR 184) compliant solutions for the delivery of
innovative games on mass-market handsets.
Superscape is quoted on the London Stock Exchange and has corporate
offices in Hook, Hampshire (UK) and San Clemente, California (USA).
http://www.superscape.com
QUALCOMM and BREW are registered trademarks of QUALCOMM Incorporated. All
other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Note to Editors:
For games' screenshots, please contact Maggie Templeman
(mtempleman@superscape.com).
Eidos to Publish Titles for the BREW Solution; Tomb Raider to Appear on BREW-Enabled Mobile Phones
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2004/Oct/1086359.htm
LONDON --(Business Wire)-- Oct. 25, 2004 -- Eidos, one of the world's leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, announces it has signed an agreement with QUALCOMM, pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, to publish games for BREW-enabled mobile phones.
Developed by QUALCOMM, the BREW(R) solution is a unique system that supports the very latest in applications and services for wireless handsets, from games to ringtones, to position location and productivity software as well as user interface (UI) support and customization. Eidos plans to launch some of its key brands for BREW-enabled mobile phones, including Tomb Raider and Thief.
Simon Protheroe, Eidos' director of new media and online technologies says:
"BREW has helped increase user demand in the wireless gaming industry, and Eidos wants to tap into this rapidly growing marketplace. We look forward to working with QUALCOMM and using the technical and business capabilities of the BREW solution to distribute our major franchises to mobile users around the world."
Mike Yuen, director of BREW developer relations for QUALCOMM Internet Services says:
"QUALCOMM is very pleased to have a leading company like Eidos join the growing ranks of high calibre BREW publishers that are providing leading-edge games to mobile users. As one of the industry's premier entertainment software publishers, Eidos offers an impressive portfolio of well-recognized titles for operators that provide BREW-based services."
About BREW
QUALCOMM's BREW solution provides products and services that connect the mobile marketplace value chain, which includes publishers, developers, content providers, device manufacturers, operators and consumers. Publishers and developers worldwide are generating revenue from BREW-based applications and content, and 27 manufacturers have offered more than 150 BREW-enabled device models to consumers. BREW is successfully enabling the commercial wireless data services of many successful operators, including Verizon Wireless, Alaska Communication Systems, ALLTEL, Cellular One, Cellular South, Cricket Communications, MetroPCS, Midwest Wireless, NTELOS, Pioneer, Rural Cellular Corporation and U.S. Cellular in the United States, Bermuda Digital Communications, China Unicom, KDDI in Japan, KTF in South Korea, Hutch in Thailand, Iusacell in Mexico, VIBO in Taiwan, Tata in India, Telstra in Australia, VIVO in Brazil, BellSouth Argentina, BellSouth Chile, BellSouth Colombia, BellSouth Ecuador, BellSouth Guatemala, BellSouth Nicaragua, BellSouth Panama, BellSouth Peru, Movicom in Argentina, Movicom in Uruguay, Telcel and Movilnet in Venezuela, Verizon Dominicana, Verizon Wireless Puerto Rico, Pelephone in Israel and Zapp in Romania.
About Eidos
Eidos plc is one of the world's leading publishers and developers of entertainment software with a diverse mix of titles for the PC, PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo GameCube(TM) and the Xbox(TM) video game system from Microsoft. For more information on Eidos and its products visit www.eidos.com
QUALCOMM and BREW are registered trademarks of QUALCOMM Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners
Qualcomm "overweight"
Monday, October 25, 2004 6:51:30 AM ET
Prudential Financial
NEW YORK, October 25 (newratings.com) – Analyst Inder M Singh of Prudential Financial reiterates his "overweight" rating on Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.NAS). The target price is set to $44.
In a research note published on October 22, the analyst mentions that Qualcomm is well positioned to benefit from the ongoing transition in the wireless infrastructure spending trends from GSM technology to next-generation technologies. Prudential Financial believes that Ericsson's recently announced outlook for a potential weakness in the wireless infrastructure market, which is primarily centered on GSM networks, does not indicate any negative end market spending trends for Qualcomm.
http://www.newratings.com/new2/beta/article_499563.html
Poll: Money Managers Bullish on Stocks
Sun Oct 24, 2:50 PM ET Business - Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than 56 percent of U.S. money managers are "bullish" or "very bullish" about the U.S. stock market near term, forecasting stocks will move higher in the next eight months, according to a new Barron's poll.
Those surveyed expect the Dow Jones Industrial Average to hit 10,724 by the end of the year and jump to 11,162 by June 30, 2005, driven by "falling oil prices, a relatively strong economy and the re-election of President Bush (news - web sites)," the weekly newspaper said in its Oct. 25 edition.
Six months ago, the average forecast in the poll was for the Dow to hit 11,042 by the end of the year.
The Dow average closed at 9757.81, down 108 points on Friday.
Roughly one in three managers said he is lagging behind the S&P 500 market index in his own or clients' accounts, Barron's reported.
The newspaper said most managers expected the U.S. economy to grow more slowly in 2005 than this year.
They see a flatter Treasury yield curve than they did in the spring, Barron's said. About 60 percent of respondents expect the dollar to lose ground in coming months against both the euro and yen.
Their favorite stocks included Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:NEM - news), Citigroup (NYSE:C - news), General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE - news), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - news), Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:INTC - news) and Amgen Inc. (Nasdaq:AMGN - news).
Barron's said 85 percent of respondents expected President Bush to win re-election.
The latest Big Money poll included responses from 92 U.S. managers, with varied investment style and portfolio size.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041024/bs_nm/markets_barrons_dc_1
Immersion's VibeTonz System Provides Touch Sensations for Mobile Devices via BREW Extension; Immersion Advances Status to Elite BREW Developer
CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment 2004
Booth #331
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 24, 2004--Immersion Corporation (Nasdaq:IMMR), a leading developer and licensor of touch feedback technology, today announced an agreement with QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq:QCOM), pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, to make an Immersion VibeTonz(TM) technology extension for QUALCOMM's BREW(R) solution available worldwide through the BREW Distribution System.
"Integrating touch sensations into mobile devices completes the sensory experience, which was previously limited to sight and sound," says John Grundy, vice president and general manager of Immersion's Mobility business group. "It's a logical evolution because it makes the user experience more personal, realistic, and fun. It can also fuel new content and services and enhance the value of current mobile offerings."
The new VibeTonz BREW extension will support rapid deployment of touch-enabled applications to BREW wireless operators around the world, and it will allow consumers with BREW-enabled devices to download VibeTonz-based applications to their touch-enabled handsets. The first of these handsets is anticipated to be released later this year.
"Companies that utilize Immersion's BREW extension will enable a wide range of new applications for consumers," says Mike Yuen, director of BREW Developer Relations for QUALCOMM Internet Services. "The BREW solution will also help make the VibeTonz extension technology more broadly available to the large community of BREW publishers and developers to allow them to create innovative applications that incorporate touch into the consumer experience."
QUALCOMM's BREW solution provides products and services that connect the mobile marketplace value chain, which includes publishers, developers, content providers, device manufacturers, operators, and consumers. Immersion also announced that it has been accepted as a QUALCOMM Elite BREW Developer in the BREW Developer Alliance Program as a result of its commitment to developing extensions for the BREW platform. As an Elite level member of this program, Immersion will introduce its VibeTonz tools and new VibeTonz extension to the global BREW community of publishers, developers, operators, and handset manufacturers.
Publishers and developers worldwide are generating revenue from BREW-based applications and content and 27 manufacturers have offered more than 150 BREW-enabled device models to consumers. BREW is successfully enabling the commercial wireless data services of many successful operators, including Verizon Wireless, Alaska Communication Systems, ALLTEL, Cellular One, Cellular South, Cricket Communications, MetroPCS, Midwest Wireless, NTELOS, Rural Cellular Corporation and U.S. Cellular in the United States, Bermuda Digital Communications, China Unicom, KDDI in Japan, KTF in South Korea, Hutch in Thailand, Iusacell in Mexico, VIBO in Taiwan, Tata in India, Telstra in Australia, VIVO in Brazil, BellSouth Argentina, BellSouth Chile, BellSouth Colombia, BellSouth Ecuador, BellSouth Guatemala, BellSouth Nicaragua, BellSouth Panama, BellSouth Peru, Movicom in Argentina, Movicom in Uruguay, Telcel and Movilnet in Venezuela, Verizon Dominicana, Verizon Wireless Puerto Rico, Pelephone in Israel and Zapp in Romania.
The VibeTonz System, including a full-featured composition tool and a mobile player, will be introduced at CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2004, booth #331, Moscone Center, San Francisco, October 25-27.
About Immersion (www.immersion.com)
Founded in 1993, Immersion Corporation is a recognized leader in developing, licensing, and marketing digital touch technology and products. Bringing value to markets where man-machine interaction needs to be made more compelling, safer, or productive, Immersion helps its partners broaden market reach by making the use of touch feedback as critical a user experience as sight and sound. Immersion's technology is deployed across personal computing, entertainment, medical training, mobility, automotive, and 3D simulation markets. Immersion and its wholly owned subsidiaries hold more than 240 issued patents worldwide.
Forward-Looking Statements for Immersion
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of Immersion Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
All statements, other than the statements of historical fact, are statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements, including any projections of earnings, revenues, or other financial matters; any statements of the plans, strategies, and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning the benefits of VibeTonz technology for consumers and mobile phone manufacturers or consumer and market acceptance of force feedback products in general; future development of force feedback products; proposed products or services; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; statements of belief; and any statement or assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Immersion's actual results might differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties associated with Immersion's business which include, but are not limited to, delay in or failure to achieve commercial demand for Immersion's products or a delay in or failure to achieve the acceptance of force feedback as a critical user experience.
For a more detailed discussion of these factors, and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results to vary materially, interested parties should review the risk factors listed in the Company's most current Form 10-K and Forms 10-Q, which are on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the Company's beliefs and predictions as of the date of this release. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements as a result of financial, business, or any other developments occurring after the date of this release.
QUALCOMM, BREW and Elite BREW are registered trademarks of QUALCOMM Incorporated. Immersion and VibeTonz are trademarks of Immersion Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20041024005...
Vulnerability hits Java for mobile phones
By Stephen Shankland, Special to ZDNet
25 October 2004
A Polish researcher has found two vulnerabilities in the mobile phone version of Sun Microsystems' Java software that under unusual circumstances could let a malicious program read private information or render a phone unusable.
The flaws are difficult to exploit because malicious programs must be tailored to a specific model of cell phone, said Adam Gowdiak, a 29-year-old security researcher with the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center who discovered the vulnerabilities. He figured out how to attack a Nokia 6310i mobile phone, but the effort took four months, he said in a Friday posting to the BugTraq vulnerability mailing list.
Before the vulnerabilities could be exploited, a phone user would have to download and run a malicious Java program, called a midlet, Gowdiak said in an e-mail interview. He's not aware of a way to automate an attack.
He notified Sun of the vulnerabilities in August, and the company said it sent Java licensees a patched version of the vulnerable component, called the Java bytecode verifier, within two weeks.
"We have not seen any attempts to exploit this vulnerability, but if there is one, the user can simply delete...the applications they downloaded from an untrusted source," said Eric Chu, Sun's director of marketing for the Java 2 Micro Edition, or J2ME, software.
But in an October talk at the Hack in the Box conference in Malaysia, Gowdiak said the situation should be taken seriously. "Vendors and (the) antivirus industry are not prepared for this kind of threat," he said in his presentation. "It should be expected that remote vulnerabilities for mobile devices will be published within the next six months."
Sun didn't publish the vulnerabilities, instead choosing to let the mobile phone makers notify their customers. "We don't have a relationship with the end consumer," Chu said.
Java, which lets programs such as video games run on many different mobile phones, has grown common. Sun estimates that more than 570 million Java-enabled handsets will have been sold by the end of 2004, and one in three handsets is equipped with Java. Hundreds of mobile phone service providers rely on J2ME to sell ring tones, games and other downloads.
Sophisticated mobile devices are growing more important. According to the Meta Group, roughly two-thirds of all businesses and organisations will deploy mobile data services by 2007. Mobile e-mail will top the application list, with half of organizations launching a wireless e-mail system within three years and 75 percent in four years.
The vulnerability disclosure comes on the eve of CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2004, a mobile phone trade show in San Francisco, where Java will support many new services to be unveiled.
Java has been relatively free of vulnerabilities, especially compared with Windows. One advantage is that Java has built-in security features that make it hard for local or remote programs to take unauthorised actions.
Using the vulnerabilities, Gowdiak created programs for the Nokia phone that could send text messages or photos, wipe the phone's memory, connect to the Internet and steal data such as phone book records--all without the user knowing.
And at the Hack in the Box conference, he said the vulnerabilities could potentially be used to install software that secretly records text messages, or to install other applications.
Qualcomm makes a competing but less popular technology to download software onto mobile phones. There have not been any reports of vulnerabilities among the scores of carriers using Qualcomm's Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless, or BREW, technology.
Microsoft has had some issues with mobile devices; vulnerabilities have been found for its smart phone operating system, its Windows CE for gadgets and its Pocket PC software for handhelds.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/0,2000061791,39164052,00.htm
Nokia's Preminet aims to chill Qualcomm's BREW
By Ben Charny CNET News.com October 24, 2004, 4:55 PM PT
SAN FRANCISCO--Cell phone maker Nokia on Sunday unveiled Preminet, a "one-stop shop" for wireless operators to sell ring tones, games, picture messaging and other cell phone paraphernalia, a move that opens a new battle front with nemesis Qualcomm.
Preminet is very similar to Qualcomm's BREW, which is now used by about three dozen carriers.
Nokia's new system excludes BREW applications, instead favoring ones based on Sun Microsystems' J2ME programming language. BREW was rejected because its proliferation is no match for J2ME, which is embedded in nearly one-third of the world's 1.7 billion cell phones, said Nokia director Steen Thygesen. By comparison, Qualcomm estimated in October there were 38 million BREW devices on the market.
"BREW is an interesting, proprietary solution for an early stage market," Thygesen said. "It's for carriers that want to get a start. We're looking at a system for the longer term market."
A Qualcomm spokeswoman had no comment.
Nokia and Qualcomm last clashed in May 2003, when Nokia, Texas Instruments and STMicroelectronics announced plans to develop phone chips based on the CDMA standard. Qualcomm owns many of the patents to CDMA, and generates a lion's share of revenue selling CDMA chips, or licensing its intellectual property to chipmakers.
The latest Nokia move directs a spotlight on the wireless data market, which currently represents about 5 percent of annual revenue but wireless operators believe that number will ultimately grow to 20 percent. Juha Christensen, president of the mobile and device business at Macromedia, said he believes data services revenue will eventually dwarf revenue generated by voice calls. "Voice will start fading into the background," he said during a Sunday CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2004 trade show panel. Nokia unveiled Preminet at the same show.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-5424317.html
From Jan 1990 to Nov 2004 QCOM share price Increased by 125 times
QCOM : Jan 90 price @$.35/share
Nov 04 price @$43.00/share
Increased by 125 times
http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2004/commentary04102201.htm?source=eptyholnk303100&logvisit=...
Take a look at these six great investments from 1990-2004, four of which were small caps in the early 90s.
Jan.
1990* Nov.
2004
Return on
Investment
Cree (Nasdaq: CREE)
$0.58 $33
27 times
Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) (since 12/91)
$0.35 $43
125 times
Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) (since 6/92)
$1.34 $50 38 times
Home Depot (NYSE: HD)
$1.51
$39
26 times
Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)
$0.19 $28 149 times
Intel (Nasdaq: INTC)
$0.84
$21
26 times
*All prices split-adjusted.
The Next Home Run Stock
http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2004/commentary04102201.htm?source=eptyholnk303100&logvisit=...
Many of the decade's greatest investments rose to prominence from relative obscurity. Tom Gardner has made it his mission to uncover the greatest stocks for the next 10 years. To this end, he's mining the market's great, unloved small-cap companies.
By Tom Gardner
October 22, 2004
This article was first published on Sept. 24, 2003. It has been updated.
I assume that you, like everyone and his Aunt Avis, would love to find the next Microsoft -- to dig out the market's best Hidden Gems. Back in January 1990, Microsoft traded at a split-adjusted $0.62 per share. Today, the stock is up around $28. That's an increase of 45 times for long-term investors. Put another way, $5,000 invested in Microsoft in 1990 is worth $225,000 today.
Of course, you'd love to buy the next Microsoft.
But you wouldn't want to take on extraordinary risk, right?
I think you're smart to think that way. And so does a long list of great money managers -- from Peter Lynch to Seth Klarman, Jean-Marie Eveillard to Charles Royce. They all search for small companies with a mixture of sales and free cash flow growth, superior returns on invested capital, heavy insider ownership, and healthy assets -- all at a reasonable price.
Born to be the best
But remember, companies like Microsoft typically display excellent financials from the day they hit the markets. Microsoft was never a penny stock (again, that 62 cents in January 1990 is split-adjusted). It didn't hype itself in press releases, nor did management make outlandish promises to investors.
Companies like Microsoft are run conservatively by executives who themselves own large positions. They're run to sustain profit growth indefinitely. That's in contrast to the whisper-stock party tips that destroy wealth over time.
Contrary to popular perception, to invest in the best small caps, you need not assume great risk.
And finding these hidden gems doesn't involve some desperate dig through barn-sized haystacks in search of the elusive platinum needle. The public markets feature plenty of promising smaller companies run successfully by founders with large personal stakes in the business. In fact, hidden gems thrive in every industry -- technology, finance, leisure, medicine, retail, and beyond. Take a look at these six great investments from 1990-2004, four of which were small caps in the early 90s.
Jan.
1990* Nov.
2004
Return on
Investment
Cree (Nasdaq: CREE)
$0.58 $33
27 times
Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) (since 12/91)
$0.35 $43
125 times
Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) (since 6/92)
$1.34 $50 38 times
Home Depot (NYSE: HD)
$1.51
$39
26 times
Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)
$0.19 $28 149 times
Intel (Nasdaq: INTC)
$0.84
$21
26 times
*All prices split-adjusted.
Note first that this group reflects a broad variety of sectors. Most are familiar consumer brands, while others -- Cree, for example -- are to this day largely unknown on Main Street. But each was a small cap at some point several years ago. Not only weren't they industry stalwarts, they were largely unknown to consumers and investors. Companies like Home Depot and Starbucks -- household names today -- had yet to attract Wall Street analysts and big institutional investors.
And their stock prices reflected that. These sorts of opportunities do exist today. Witness the amazing rise of Taser (Nasdaq: TASR), the maker of non-lethal self-defense devices (such as stun guns) that's been a 45-bagger over the past three years.
The next big thing
The 20-baggers to 700-baggers of the next 15 years are out there right now, with their fuses lit and a wide-open sky above them. But they aren't Intel. And they aren't Microsoft. They're companies not yet covered by 39 analysts.
They are companies with founding leadership, or at least insider ownership north of 15%. Companies without debt concerns. Companies that generate excess cash from their operations. Companies that function without any real reliance on Wall Street for financing or table-pounding "strong buy" ratings.
I know it sounds contrary, but I want you to consider the fact that many of these small businesses offer rewards that substantially exceed the risks of owning them. How could a small company be less risky than a larger one? Well, the mere fact that even the best-run small companies are underfollowed on Wall Street creates pricing inefficiencies that strongly favor long-term investors.
Does that sound possible? Does it sound logical? It's certainly contrary.
The small-cap risk myth
We're accustomed to thinking that small-cap stocks must be speculations. They must be riskier than big, friendly corporate names that have always seemed to be there for us. But are they? In the best small-cap stocks, you'll find the following features that mitigate the risk of owning them:
Founders with large personal stakes
Financial statements that are easy to read
A solid asset base with little or no debt
Price ratios that significantly undershoot growth rates of free cash flow
Dominant positioning in a profitable niche
Plenty of room to grow
If you're inclined to think that every small-cap stock is doomed to get stomped out by a larger competitor, I ask you to return to my list above. They all rose up from obscurity through sound financial management and shareholder-friendly practices. The free markets gave them plenty of maneuvering room. And the free markets today provide plenty of competitive space for small companies led by numbers-driven founders whose wealth will grow over the next 15 years based principally on the performance of their stock.
But because not every small company is poised for enduring success, I evaluate more than 100 of the 3,000-plus small-cap stocks -- all in search of one great Hidden Gems recommendation each month. As for the others, I find that 90% are too richly valued or too speculative given the underlying business. That remaining 10%, however, leaves us with hundreds of small caps that will beat the market and dozens that will rise more than 20 times in value over the next 15 years.
You can read about this, and all our Hidden Gems recommendations now, by signing up for a 30-day free trial. There is no obligation to subscribe. You have my word.
Tom Gardner is co-founder of The Motley Fool, which is investors writing for investors. He owns shares of Microsoft
New convergence: Mobiles with TV
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-895745,curpg-1.cms
[ FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2004 11:38:55 AM ]
Miniature mobile phones, which already double as cameras, Internet devices and music players, are poised to merge with the largest of home appliances, the television.
The cellphone industry is working to build phones able to receive high-definition TV (HDTV) signals over the air, even though HDTV has yet to make its way into most American living rooms.
Texas Instruments, the largest maker of computer chips for mobile phones, plans to announce on Thursday it is developing technology that will allow wireless handsets to receive hundreds of high-definition channels. The phones would not be marketed until 2007.
Although Sprint and AT&T Wireless currently offer a service that allows cellphone users to watch live streaming from more than a dozen television channels over the cellular networks, the picture delivery is very slow and not much like a real TV viewing experience.
The push into high-definition television reception by Texas Instruments and a handful of other chip makers could change all that. Qualcomm, the world’s second largest maker of chips for mobile phones, is also working on a chip to enable phones to receive digital television signals, the company said on Tuesday.
Both firms said the HDTV phones would be in widespread tests by 2006. Already, a telecommunications company in South Korea is testing a television phone in Seoul.
The new chips would receive digital signals that would display uninterrupted images while a user is moving. Texas Instruments and other chip makers envision consumers receiving television signals, not over the existing cellular network, but from a separate network, like a satellite television network.
“There’s no reason why, in three to four years, you won’t have 200 channels on your cellphone,” said Marc Cetto, a GM in the handset division of Texas Instruments.
He said he expected that the technology’s appeal would be “event driven,” attracting consumers who want to watch programming like sports and news.
Analysts and phone company executives said future programming might be similar to existing TV content, but might emphasise shows of shorter length.
But before consumers can carry true HDTV sets in their pockets, substantial technological challenges need to be overcome. The companies have to create phones with enough battery life that users will not have to choose between making calls and tuning into shows.
On the other hand, mobile phone makers and cellular carriers have successfully added new functions and features like colour screens to the ever-smaller gadgets — making the move into television less of a leap.
From a business standpoint, finding popular new uses is crucial to the growth of the cellphone business.
In the case of TV technology, there are a number of unanswered questions, like whether consumers would want to pay for programming as they do now for standard satellite TV or how much they would be asked to pay.
Cetto said he did not expect the actual handsets to cost much more than the current generation of phones.
Another question is whether consumers who have become accustomed to watching television on huge sets at home would be interested in watching shows on tiny screens.
Allen Leibovitch, a semiconductor analyst with IDC, a market research company, said the technology might actually be a dangerous distraction to people who use their mobile phones while driving.
The concept of miniature televisions is not new. Sony, with its Watchman, and other consumer electronics makers have for years sold portable televisions with small screens, but those devices have had very limited markets.
Rich Templeton, CEO of Texas Instruments, conceded the appeal of the tiny appliances has not been vast. But he said the phone-based television would be more widely used because most users would be carrying them anyway.
Cetto said TI was participating in tests in Berlin, Helsinki, Finland and Pittsburgh.
(NYT News Service)
Firms Seek to Channel TI's TV-Chip Success
http://startup.wsj.com/ideas/hitechonline/20041022-mcwilliams.html
By GARY MCWILLIAMS
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal Online
Sales of big-screen TVs are soaring, and many of them are projection sets powered by a novel chip from Texas Instruments Inc. that creates images by bouncing light off a million or more microscopic mirrors.
Now, the success of that "micromirror" chip has prompted a wave of start-ups to try to develop cheaper and more powerful versions of the fingernail-size device.
Money and engineering talent are piling into these new companies, which hope to charge less than half the $350 to $500 a chip that analysts say Texas Instruments charges. The start-ups believe that will enable TV makers to slash in half the $3,000 to $10,000 price of today's high-definition big-screen sets when combined with other efficiencies the new companies hope to introduce.
Sales of micromirror chips to TV manufacturers and projector makers are expected to hit nearly $900 million this year, and top-tier venture capitalists that once dismissed the consumer-electronics field as too risky are betting their cash on the start-ups. Sevin Rosen Funds, Sequoia Capital and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s J.P. Morgan Partners, among others, have invested nearly $100 million combined in companies including Keyotee Inc. of Austin, Texas, Miradia Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., and Reflectivity Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif.
Texas Instruments spent hundreds of millions of dollars over 20 years on the painstaking development of its Digital Light Processor chip. Only this year has the investment paid off with widespread adoption by makers of big-screen TVs and projectors for home-theater setups, which shine the TV image on a wall or screen.
Already, two dozen TV makers and a dozen makers of home-theater projectors use DLP chips. In addition, 40 more companies make the lenses, color wheels and other critical components used in conjunction with the TI chip to produce the big-screen pictures. The start-up mirror-chip makers, which expect to begin producing their competing devices in late 2005 or 2006, hope to use these same suppliers. They "will be able to leverage a whole bunch of the groundwork that TI has already done," says Ram Velidi, a Sevin Rosen partner.
Rather than produce out-and-out knockoffs, the start-ups are pursuing new design and manufacturing tricks to reduce the cost and size of the guts of projection TVs. Miradia, for example, sculpts its mirrors entirely from silicon, instead of the more expensive aluminum layer that TI uses to make its mirrors. "It's a new way of making this device," says Miradia Chief Executive Officer Greg Miller.
Of course, projection technology is just one way to build a big-screen set. Rival technologies include plasma, which produces big screens that can be hung on a wall, and liquid-crystal displays, now moving up into 30-inch and larger-size sets. Projection TV supporters say plasma's high power consumption and tendency to fade over time could crimp its growth; and LCD screens, while ultrathin, will remain expensive to build in larger sizes.
As a result, the TI chip has been rapidly gaining market share. In the second quarter, some 53% of advanced TVs sold with a screen bigger than 30 inches were projection sets, and TI's chip powered nearly half of them, according to market researcher Quixel Research LLC, Portland, Ore. Following projection sets, plasma accounted for 27% of the sales of these big screens while LCD TVs racked up a 9% share. And some 11% of units sold in the big-screen market were home-theater projectors -- many of which are powered by the same TI chip.
Micromirror chips have been boosted recently by the stumbles of two large backers of rival projection-chip technology known as liquid-crystal on silicon, or LCoS. Last week , Philips Electronics NV threw in the towel on developing and producing LCoS-based sets, saying it instead may market other makers' projection TVs under its brands. In August, IntelCorp. conceded its LCoS chips wouldn't be ready for market this year as promised.
TI has "educated the industry that these [micromirrors] are a high-performance, low-cost and long-lived technology," says Don Wood, a partner at Vanguard Ventures, which recently helped raise $18 million for Reflectivity.
TI's head of DLP products shrugs off the threat from the start-ups. "Anyone can build [a micromirror chip] but to be able to produce them in a very cost-effective manner at the high volume and reliability levels that the consumer electronics industry demands is a huge, huge undertaking," says John Van Scoter, senior vice president and general manager of DLP products.
The Dallas-based chip maker also has a long history of aggressively defending its patents. Over the years, it has received settlements worth as much as $1 billion for its computer-chip patents, and it has obtained over 500 patents on DLP technology.
Why would anyone want to tangle with TI? "My view is no one wants an Intel of televisions," says Bob Duboc, Reflectivity's CEO, referring to Intel's position as the dominant maker of personal-computer microprocessor chips.
Other start-ups say their novel designs and processing techniques should avoid any legal entanglements. And all of these companies expect to begin shipping their first chips to customers as TI's earliest micromirror patents, filed in the mid-1980s, expire.
Brian M. Alger, an analyst at Pacific Growth Equities LLC, says Reflectivity's recent financing raised enough money so the young company could aggressively defend itself against any patent litigation. Vanguard's Mr. Woods says: "There's a very strong syndicate that's backing this company,"
The potential rewards to the start-ups could be large. Consumers are expected to replace some 250 million TVs with digital sets over the next five to 10 years. And TVs aren't the only market. Keyotee (the name is a phonetic allusion to the tragicomic hero Don Quixote) says its micromirror chips eventually will show up in cellphone screens, or possibly as tiny projectors built into phones. That may not be as outlandish as it sounds: Qualcomm Inc., the big cellphone chip maker, recently paid $170 million for Iridigm Inc., another micromirror start-up.
Kyocera expects to repeat annual revenue growth - Regional
Published : Thursday, October 21, 2004 12:35 (GMT-0400)
California-based CDMA handset manufacturer Kyocera Wireless (KWC) expects Latin American revenue growth for the fiscal year ending March 2005 to at least match the 131% increase seen in the year ending March 2004, South America manager Julio Gaitán told BNamericas.
One important area of growth will be Colombia, where Kyocera expects a 50% rise in revenues this fiscal year, he said. Mobile penetration is set to grow to 22% by year-end compared to 17% in June, the country's communications minister Martha Pinto told reporters, citing figures supplied by mobile operators' association Asocel.
However, there are other factors which should lead to the more than doubling of revenues in the region, Gaitán said, without elaborating. One new area the company is exploring is telemetry, or machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions based on CDMA networks.
Kyocera has a 17% share of the CDMA handset market in Colombia compared to 20% in the rest of Latin America excluding Brazil, KWC Latin America PR representative Alison Klapper said. The company expects Latin American sales to represent 20% of its global revenues.
KWC, a subsidiary of Japan's Kyocera Corp, recently expanded its advertising budget to include TV commercials across Latin America for the first time, Klapper said, without providing spending figures. The campaign stresses the simplicity of the handsets. Despite this initiative, KWC feels well supported by its 31 carrier partners, she added.
The company sells 17 models in the region, with the greatest variety of being available in countries like Bermuda, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Argentina.
An important number of the region's CDMA networks belong to the 10 Latin American BellSouth divisions that are being acquired by Telefónica Móviles (NYSE: TEM). Despite the possibility that TEM might choose to migrate some of these operations to GSM, Kyocera believes the takeover is beneficial since BellSouth views TEM as a very aggressive group, Klapper said.
By Phil Anderson
BNamericas.com
http://www.bnamericas.com/story.xsql?id_noticia=298173&Tx_idioma=I&id_sector=2
ZTE IN MAJOR MIDDLE EAST WIRELESS LOCAL LOOP (WLL) CONTRACT WIN
http://www.telephonyworld.com/cgi-bin/news/viewnews.cgi?category=all&id=1098404706
One of the world's most challenging WLL installation projects is to be undertaken by ZTE Corporation of China, a leading global supplier of advanced telecommunications infrastructure, in Saudi Arabia for the Saudi Telecom Company (STC).
The contract, won against fierce international competition, will lead to thousands of Saudi people in outlying areas gaining access to the latest telecommunications technology for the first time. ZTE engineers will be installing the new WLL network, which incorporates the company's world-renowned CDMA technology, despite difficulties such as desert temperatures reaching up to 50oC.
"ZTE is totally committed to the development of telecoms across the Middle East and STC were able to assess our capabilities against an impressive backdrop of work already completed in this part of the world," said Mr. Zhao Xian Ming, general manager of ZTE's CDMA product division.
"We are delighted to have signed this latest contract and we look forward to delivering against it."
This is the latest success in Saudi Arabia for ZTE. Earlier this year the Corporation announced that it was to provide a videoconferencing system across the whole of the country in a contract with JCCS (Jeraisy Computer and Communication Services), one of the country's largest and most successful computer and communication companies. ZTE is creating a network using its advanced BAVO (Brings All Visions in One) system and connecting the five major cities in Saudi Arabia. The network will later be expanded to cover the whole country.
In the past few years, ZTE has established a leading position in the Middle East and North Africa. Earlier this month ZTE announced that it had made the first ever 3G call in Tunisia after winning a contract to develop the country's 3G network. Also in 2004 ZTE was selected by Egypt Telecom to construct a large-scale CDMA network covering the Nile River Delta. In 2003, ZTE was selected to build Africa's largest CDMA WLL project in Algeria and ZTE's GSM products have won large-scale applications in Nigeria and Ethiopia.
Today's Saudi success comes a day after the Corporation announced its work with China Unicom to successfully develop the world's first 2 Megabyte (2MB) CDMA Short Message Service Centre (SMSC). This development will considerably increase the traffic flow carried by a single signalling link, thus ensuring the exploitation of Jiangsu Unicom's CDMA Short Message Service, and reducing greatly its networking complexity and running cost.
ZTE has supplied over 15 million lines of CDMA equipment around the world, making it the largest Chinese CDMA equipment supplier in the world. ZTE has also won CDMA contracts in Kuwait, Indonesia and Nepal.
About ZTE: ZTE Corporation is China's largest listed telecommunications equipment provider specializing in offering customized network solutions for telecom carriers worldwide. The company develops and manufactures telecommunications equipment for fixed, mobile, data and optical networks, intelligent networks and next generation networks as well as mobile phones.
CHINA TELECOMMUNICATIONS PANORAMA
http://www.telephonyworld.com/cgi-bin/training/viewnews.cgi?category=1&id=1098404302
Excerpt from above link:
<<Concerning the Third Generation (3G), three technologies are relevant. The American system CDMA2000 (Code Division Multiplex Access) is ahead of game, the European W- CDMA (Wideband CDMA) still needs two years to mature and the home-grown TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous CDMA) is behind due to equipment problems (principally handsets).>>