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7:19AM Handset sales in Europe are strong -- WSJ : The Wall St Journal reports that handset sales in Europe climbed in October and November, putting the region in position to have a very strong Q4. However, December sales typically account for as much as half of all Q4 sales. Recent announcements by some of the biggest players in Europe suggest December sales are ahead of many expectations.
NEC steps up cellular phone R&D in China
NEC enters joint venture with Chinese technology company
By Martyn Williams, IDG News Service December 23, 2003
NEC Corp. is stepping up design and development of advanced cellular telephones with the formation of a joint venture with a Chinese technology company.
The Tokyo-based company will take a 30 percent stake in Step Technologies (Beijing) Co. Ltd. with China's TechFaith Holding Ltd. owning the remaining 70 percent. The company has been capitalized at 50 million renminbi ($6 million).
It will design and develop handsets for both the Chinese and international markets and focus on so-called 2.5G (enhanced second-generation) and 3G (third-generation) cellular technologies, NEC said in a statement. The company said it plans to introduce 10 mid- to high-end 2.5G products in China in the current fiscal year and 30 products in the next fiscal year.
Formation of the company follows NEC's plan, stated as part of its mid-term strategy announced in October this year, to secure a larger share of the European and Greater China (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) mobile handset market. As part of this goal NEC said it will make China a global development base of 3G products and increase the number of staff working on cellular technology-related research and development to around 1,000.
The new venture is expected to employ 130 staff by the end of March 2004, the statement said.
3G masts 'safer than 2G'
By James Pearce, Special to CNETAsia
Wednesday, December 24 2003 10:51 AM
Next-generation masts need lower antenna power than older 2G technology, according to the Australian Communications Authority
The Australian Communications Authority has released a fact sheet on the effects of radiation from 3G towers in an attempt to allay community fears.
The move comes after many clashes between Hutchison and residents over the placement of its telecommunication towers for its new 3G mobile phone network. The ACA said the towers produce less radiation than other devices that have been around for years.
"The ACA and ARPANSA [Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency] want to allay any community concern arising from the introduction into Australia of 3G mobile phone networks, which support video and data calls in addition to the services supported by other mobile networks," said the ACA's acting chairman, Dr Bob Horton.
"The emission levels produced by 3G transmitters are considered to be low, with an average radiated power of around 3 watts. This average power is significantly lower than the power levels of some other common types of transmitters, such as two-way radios used by taxis and emergency services," said Horton. "For example, on average, a 3G mobile phone base station antenna radiates a little more than one tenth of the power of a taxi's two-way radio."
Horton said because the 3G towers use smart technology to encode information on the radio signal and the fact that each tower covers a smaller area than other radiocommunications networks, the 3G towers need lower antenna power than other transmitters, including the GSM and CDMA transmitters of 2G networks.
The fact sheet can be found here.
ZDNet Australia’s James Pearce reported from Sydney.
witchhollow:
"Does Siemens have a place over there? "
Siemens in Taiwan
The history of Siemens in Taiwan dates back to the late 1960s. From a representative engineer at the beginning to today's nearly 1000 employees, we are proud that we have been able to contribute significantly to the development of Taiwan's infrastructure. Our diverse areas of business cover energy, industry, transportation, information and communications, and healthcare, among others.
We have many significant achievements in Taiwan that can demonstrate our expertise in electrical and electronic engineering. In the Energy segment, for example, nearly one-third of Taiwan's electricity is generated by Siemens and Westinghouse equipment.
Taiwan's telecommunications infrastructure is currently ranked among the most advanced in the world. For EWSD switching systems, Taiwan represents one of Siemens' largest locations in terms of customers, key manufacturing, and R&D.
As the leading supplier of the EMU trains as well as other Electrical & Mechanical core systems for the Taipei and Kaohsiung Metro projects, Siemens has demonstrated its reputation as a highly reliable and valuable railway partner for Taiwan.
Ultimately, customer satisfaction is the benchmark for everything we do, because it is the customer who determines whether or not we will be successful. Customer requirements are constantly changing, and it is our responsibility to predict and fulfill these requirements. For this, we put new ideas to work, creating innovative products and services to benefit our customers in the end.
Siemens
http://www.siemens.com.tw
brokentrade:
What are Federal's comments to the second part of IDCC's argument?
"In the alternative, in the event the reimbursement agreement is found to be valid and enforceable, the Company is seeking a declaratory judgment that Federal is entitled to reimbursement based only on certain portions of amounts received by the Company from Ericsson, Inc. under the settlement of the litigation involving Ericsson, Inc."
9:30AM QCOM target raised to $60 at Merrill Lynch 52.39 +0.14: Merrill Lynch raises their target on QCOM to $60 from $50, saying they are finding more supporting evidence to their thesis that WCDMA will eventually be rolled out, and that competitive pressure will force the carriers to begin deployment; firm expects better 3G handset availability in Japan and Europe, which should help accelerate 3G roll out and consequently greater demand for WCDMA handsets. Maintains Buy rating.
Desert dweller:
While I agree with your premise about "pretend accounting", I think you are being a litle too critical of RIMM's accounting. Actually RIMM did report according to GAAP, but then showed the adjusted items to be in harmony with analyst's estimates. In fact they even commented that the adjusted figures may not be comparable with other reports.
As far as your comment that they would be reporting a loss if the excluded items are taken into account, I think the sentences you highlighted are poorly structured and easily misunderstood. The amounts .45-.55 for the fourth quarter, and .50-.65 for next years fiscal first quarter, represent the adjusted profit figures after the exclusion, not the excluded amounts
<<Net income for the quarter was $16.3 million, or $0.20 per share diluted, compared to net income of $2.1 million or $0.03 per share diluted in the prior quarter. Higher revenues, better than expected gross margins and operating efficiencies contributed to the strong net income growth during the quarter. Excluding the litigation provision of $9.2 million or $0.11 per share diluted, the Company's adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $25.5 million and $0.31. The adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per share do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and thus are not comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. These adjusted measures should be considered in the context of RIM's GAAP results.
RIM is updating revenue and earnings guidance for the upcoming two quarters. Revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004 is currently expected to be in the range of $195-210 million. Revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2005 is currently expected to be in the range of $220-240 million. RIM is now expecting GAAP earnings per share (EPS)for the fourth quarter in the range of 30-40 cents per share diluted and adjusted EPS, excluding the patent litigation provision, in the range of 45-55 cents per share. For the first quarter RIM is expecting EPS to be between 35-50 cents per share diluted on a GAAP basis and 50-65 cents adjusted. >>
Smart antennas to expand Wi-Fi range
They could boost acceptance of wireless networks in the workplace
Story by Tom Krazit
DECEMBER 22, 2003 ( IDG NEWS SERVICE ) - The first generation of Wi-Fi devices for corporate networks has generated a great deal of interest in the untethered workplace, but not as much revenue as vendors expected. However, several vendors hope to decrease the number of access points needed to sustain a wireless office by expanding the range of corporate wireless LANs and improving the signal quality using smart antennas.
Most antennas on Wi-Fi switches and routers are "dumb," in that they can do little more than detect electronic signals by locking onto the strongest signal they find emanating from a client device. A "smart" antenna actively searches an area for Wi-Fi signals, and can blend several weak signals into a strong signal without any prompting from the user.
Smart antennas aren't a new technology. Cell phone towers have used this technique for several years in helping to maintain a cell connection while the caller drives down the highway or walks across a city square. But the increasing ability of silicon chips to control the antenna and the cost savings that those chips offer have primed smart antenna technology for the next generation of Wi-Fi devices.
Smart antennas appeal to universities or owners of large buildings such as airports or convention centers that need to provide Wi-Fi coverage over a large area. But corporations setting up smaller indoor wireless networks probably won't see enough of a performance benefit to justify the cost, said Chris Kozup, research director at Meta Group Inc. in Stamford, Conn.
"Enterprises are looking for tools to make Wi-Fi easier to deploy, easier to manage and easier to secure," Kozup said. "Smart antennas are one of those, but they're not at the forefront of the list in providing that capability."
Enterprise technology buyers tend to feel overwhelmed by new technologies that are more difficult to understand, Kozup said. While a company might have several staff members comfortable with networking technologies, it might not have IT staff comfortable with managing radio frequency (RF) devices and would find it easier to just buy cheap access points from an established vendor like Cisco Systems Inc. to guarantee coverage, he said.
The smart antenna vendors present a solid case that it might cost more to manage a disparate network of access points than it would to acquire more sophisticated technology, "but the best technology doesn't always win," Kozup said.
Vivato Inc. uses the technology in its 802.11b Wi-Fi switches for large indoor or outdoor coverage areas, said Phil Belanger, vice president of marketing at San Francisco-based Vivato. The switches use antennas called planar phased array antennas, which are actually several antenna elements built into a flat-panel device, he said.
The antenna itself doesn't move, but the antenna elements create a coverage pattern that changes as each packet of information is delivered to the antenna, Belanger said. This allows the switch to send and receive data across a 100-degree swath up to about 1,000 feet, depending on line-of-sight restrictions.
The range of wireless LAN devices built using the 802.11 standards varies from about 50 feet for 802.11a devices to about 150 feet for 802.11b or 802.11g devices. These ranges can vary quite a bit, however, based on the types of construction materials used in a building and the amount of interference from other devices.
Each switch can support about 100 clients, Belanger said. Florida State University in Tallahassee purchased an outdoor switch that normally costs $13,000 and installed it in its Doak Campbell Stadium. The device covered the entire football stadium, including coach Bobby Bowden's offices underneath the grandstand, he said.
American University in Washington recently purchased two outdoor switches from Vivato to cover some external spots that couldn't be reached by the school's extensive indoor WLAN setup, said Carl Whitman, executive director of e-operations at the university.
American is trying to get students to move to cell phones and voice-over-IP technology so the university can stop maintaining a traditional phone network, Whitman said. It has wired about 40 buildings on campus for both networks based on the 802.11b and GSM/GPRS (Global System for Mobile Communications/General Packet Radio Service) standards. The original plan had been to cover outside areas with spillover from the inside networks, but coverage was added for those outside areas to ensure students and faculty could have a seamless connection, he said.
Bandspeed Inc. in Austin also sells WLAN access points with smart antenna technology. The company's Gypsy line of switches divides the coverage areas into six unique segments in which up to two radiating elements can be placed, said Blaine Kohl, Bandspeed's vice president of marketing.
Because the radiating elements have to focus on only a 60-degree area, the switches can send signals across a long distance, as much as 1,500 feet, Kohl said. The switch can also host different 802.11 networks, depending on bandwidth needs, she said.
While the antenna is pretty smart, the real intelligence lies in the software Bandspeed has developed to run the switch, Kohl said. Over time, the company wants to move that intelligence into silicon, which would reduce the cost and complexity of both the antenna and the software, she said.
Motia, a semiconductor company in Stamford, Conn., is working on chips that would do that. The company is developing a chip that combines signals from different antenna elements and optimizes the signal, said Jack Winters, chief scientist at Motia.
Some access points with multiple antennas merely select the strongest signal to pass onto the user, and drop the signals on the other antennas, Winters said. Motia's chip allows access points to blend different signals together in order to create a signal whose total is greater than the sum of its parts.
Each chip can support an access point with four antennas, Winters said. The technology is designed for indoor corporate environments, and each chip is expected to add about $20 to the cost of an access point when it is released in the first quarter of 2004, said Robert Warner, vice president of sales and marketing at Motia.
redhot;
What exactly are you talking about. According to his IDCC bio, in addition to his position with IDCC his only other activities were as a director of a small state bank and a college foundation trustee.
JOSEPH S. COLSON, JR., 55, became a director of the Company in April 1998. Mr. Colson retired as President of International Regions & Professional Services at Lucent Technologies, Inc. in April 1998, where he was responsible for sales of network systems products and services to global service providers since June 1997. Mr. Colson has been a director of Crescent State Bank since December 1998. Mr. Colson is also on the Board of Trustees of North Carolina State Engineering Foundation, which supports the School of Engineering at North Carolina State University, his alma mater.
Sloane6:
If you were thinking about patent litigation, state law does not apply. Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over patent infringement claims.
In regard to triple damages, it can be awarded for willful infringement. Willful infringement involves intentional disregard for another's patent rights. Willful infringement encompasses both direct and intentional copying and continued infringement after notice.
(A quick non lawyer summary)
UPDATE - LG Elec handset sales volume hits record high
Monday December 22, 2:47 am ET
By Jean Yoon
(Adds handset margins detail, analyst comment)
SEOUL, Dec 22 (Reuters) - LG Electronics Inc (KSE:066570.KS - News), South Korea's top home appliance maker, said on Monday it sold a record number of handsets in November, bolstered by healthy U.S. shipments that offset slumping domestic demand.
LG, a late-comer to an overcrowded, saturated mobile phone market, confirmed it expected mobile phone sales volume to top 26 million this year, up 63 percent from 2002. It sold about 24.8 million phones in the first 11 months of this year.
LG, which competes with Samsung in producing mobile phones, televisions and refrigerators, sold a record 3.23 million handsets in November, against 3.04 million in October and 1.60 million a year ago.
"It looks like we will easily sell more than 26 million cellphones this year," a company official told Reuters by telephone. "Domestic demand remained weak, but exports showed steady growth."
LG, the world's fifth-largest mobile phone maker according to research firm Strategy Analytics, said revenue from its telecoms division, made mostly by selling handsets, rose 5.7 percent to 800 billion won ($670.6 million) in November from October.
But analysts said the rise in LG Electronics's handset profit margins had not kept up with shipment growth as it strove to win market share. LG's margins were well below those of rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KSE:005930.KS - News), they said.
"LG's handset operating margins are recovering from lows in the second quarter, but they are not rising as fast as shipment growth," said Yu Chang-eyun, analyst at BNP Paribas Peregrine.
LG's margin stood at 2.1 percent in the second quarter and 5.8 percent in the third. Samsung has a margin of over 20 percent.
LG also competes with global handset giants Motorola Inc (NYSE:MOT - News), Nokia (NOK1V.HE) and a joint venture between Sony Corp (Tokyo:6758.T - News) and Ericsson (Stockholm:ERICb.ST - News).
According to Strategy Analytics, LG recently overtook Sony Ericsson as the fifth biggest cellphone producer. LG now has a 5.8 percent of the global market while Sony Ericsson has 5.4 percent.
Despite the rise in telecoms sales, the company's overall sales fell 2.4 percent to 1.87 trillion won due mainly to sluggish home appliance sales. LG Electronics is the world's top maker of air conditioners.
Shares in LG Electronics, the country's eighth-largest stock with a market value of $7.1 billion, gained 1.05 percent to close at 58,000 won, while the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KSE:^KS11 - News) was down 0.82 percent. Samsung Electronics fell 1.45 percent to 442,000 won.
"I think strong November handset sales added fuel to a technical rebound in LG Electronics shares after a recent drop on LG Card (KSE:032710.KS - News) problems," said a stock trader at Korea Exchange Bank.
Analysts said 2003 was the first year of significant growth for mobile phone makers since 2000, powered by a potent mix of fast-expanding markets such as Russia, India and China and the success of colour screen and camera handsets in mature markets such as Europe and the United States.
But the outlook is clouded by concerns over burgeoning oversupply in China.
LG has powered ahead in the last three years, driven by a combination of demand for their new designs and technology and aggressive marketing in the United States and emerging markets.
($1=1193.0 Won)
Vodafone to delay using Microsoft OS in phones: CEO (VOD, UK:VOD, MSFT) By Steve Goldstein
2:56am 12/22/03
LONDON (CBS.MW) -- Mobile phone operator Vodafone (VOD) (UK:VOD) will delay using Microsoft's (MSFT) operating systems in handsets that run on its service, CEO Arun Sarin told the Financial Times Monday. "In our view, it's not quite ready for prime time," he said. Sarin added that he was "fully confident" of resolving technical problems surround third generation, or 3G, phones, including difficulties handing over calls between 2G and 3G networks.
TFWG:
Agree that it is difficult for the average investor to figure out what IDCC is all about. But once they do, and that will probably happen with increased analyst coverage, as you say our ship will then come in.
Mschere:
<<The company also said this week it was dropping the Symbian OS in favor of Microsoft´s Windows Mobile >>
The posted article is the only one that I could find on a quick search that contains the above information. In fact after Motorola announced their sale of their ownership position in Symbian they stated that they would still make Symbian phones, but concentrate on Linux and Java based software.
Although Motorola did announce a MS based phone, they didn't say that would be their main software choice.
infinite:
I believe the key to whether the arbitration will go all the way is what is set forth in what ICC calls the "terms of reference". This document which is required to be prepared by the arbitrators within two months after they are appointed, and be signed by both parties, in effect sets forth what the arbitration will cover. (Note: if a party refuses to sign, the ICC Court is required to approve the document.). Once the terms of reference are prepared any new claims are generally not accepted
If, the terms of reference are based primarily on IDCC's position that the dispute is just a matter of contract language interpretation, then I believe that Nokia will try to negotiate a settlement. If however, the terms of reference include Nokia's everything but the kitchen sink approach, then it will go all the way.
In any event since we have no idea how the arbitration proceedings are progressing, unless something very unexpected happens, it will be at least two months before we may see something.
bulldzr:
This is pushing another one of Forbes special publications on wireless. Note rule #3. and what Steve Forbes says. Seems to be in contradiction to what was written about IDCC,
Welcome to the Wireless Economy
For the past 16 months, investors who have followed our advice have reaped huge rewards by capitalizing on the greatest investment trend of our times. We're talking about long-term wealth building. Forbes Wireless Stock Watch is about smart, informed investing in superbly run, dynamic, innovative, cutting-edge wireless-related companies.
Three Golden Rules for Building Your New Wireless Wealth:
* Golden Rule #1: Buy companies that are building the infrastructure of the wireless economy. Here's why. By owning the companies that control the transceivers, base stations and transmission towers now, you will place yourself in the enviable position of being a "toll collector" of the wireless economy and grow richer with every wireless phone call, email, page, instant message, and more.
* Golden Rule #2: Buy companies that are growing their customer base 15% to 20% every quarter. The reason: With thousands of wireless companies slugging it out to build their brand name and establish their technology, companies that can dominate their market and build market share will win the battle for customers and profits.
* Golden Rule #3: Buy companies that reap huge profits from licensing their wireless technologies. You see, owning these companies is like owning the rights to a hit song you wrote once-yet get paid not only every time you sell a CD but also every time your song is played on the radio.
Here's what Steve Forbes has to say about Wireless:
"Wireless really does represent the sleeping giant of Wall Street. It's the next significant opportunity to turn $25,000 or $50,000 into a million while you still have time to enjoy it."
Forbes Wireless Stock Watch focuses exclusively on investments in the exciting field of wireless technology. Since Forbes Wireless Stock Watch started its model "Stock Spotlight" portfolio in Forbes/Andrew Seybold's Wireless Outlook 16 months ago it has beaten both Nasdaq and the Dow. The portfolio is up over 80%.
Here are some of the companies already featured:
Proxim (PROX) +300%
Research In Motion (RIMM) +166%
Sprint PCS (PCS) +189%
Qualcomm (QCOM) +24%
At Road (ARDI) +148%
UT Starcom (UTSI) +
dww
Yahoo shows the higher price, but I have found that Yahoo's after hour's prices often are either inaccurate, or just represent a single oddball transaction.
IDCC 6:40PM ET 20.38 0.69 (3.50%) 0.80 (4.09%)
DoCoMo in Y37 bln funding for handset developers
Friday December 19, 1:36 am ET
TOKYO, Dec 19 (Reuters) - NTT DoCoMo Inc (Tokyo:9437.T - News), Japan's largest mobile phone operator, said on Friday it would provide 37 billion yen ($344 million) to makers of handsets for its third generation (3G) FOMA service to support development.
The funds, to be provided in the two fiscal years from April 2004, will go to Fujitsu Ltd (Tokyo:6702.T - News), Mitsubishi Electric Corp (Tokyo:6503.T - News), Motorola Japan Ltd, NEC Corp (Tokyo:6701.T - News), Sharp Corp (Tokyo:6753.T - News) and Panasonic Mobile Communications. ($1=107.57 Yen)
Petersimon: See my msg 53,055. It is the amount in dispute, not the award amount.
Mschere: Sounds like a good idea. But I think they mean the amount in dispute, not the award amount. If they are going to "split the baby" that is a good starting point.
Loophole: In regard to arbitrators being paid by the hour, that does not appear to be the case for ICC arbitration. According to their rules Arbitrator Fees are based on a sliding scale according to the dollar amounts involved in the dispute. For amounts over $100,000,000, which would be the case here, the stated fees are:
Minimum $61 750 + 0.01% of amt. over $100 000 000
Maximum $285 800 + 0.056% of amt. over $100 000 000
Article 2
Costs and Fees
1. Subject to Article 31(2) of the Rules, the Court shall fix the fees of the arbitrator in accordance with the scale hereinafter set out or, where the sum in dispute is not stated, at its discretion.
2. In setting the arbitrator's fees, the Court shall take into consideration the diligence of the arbitrator, the time spent, the rapidity of the proceedings, and the complexity of the dispute so as to arrive at a figure within the limits specified or, in exceptional circumstances (Article 31(2) of the Rules), at a figure higher or lower than those limits.
3. When a case is submitted to more than one arbitrator, the Court, at its discretion, shall have the right to increase the total fees up to a maximum which shall normally not exceed three times the fees of one arbitrator.
Jim:
The following from a very detailed write up of international arbitration procedures:
<<Interest is a peculiarly difficult topic and attention must be paid to the practice of the place of the Arbitration and the place where the award is made.
That is because some jurisdictions treat interest as a procedural matter and some as a substantive matter.
For some jurisdictions, the notion of interest is anathema and an award may be contrary to public policy as endorsing usury.>>
http://www.hartwell.demon.co.uk/intaward.htm
OT Jim; Is this the one:
The Color of Money -
Paul Newman and Tom Cruise are the next generation of hustlers in the sequel to 1961´s The Hustler. Based on the novel by Walter Tevis.
desertdweller:
For NEC contract terms relative to Japan infrastructure sales, from my post 52394. They can still make a prepayment this month to get an advance payment discount and volume discount for Japan infrastructure.
Posted by: olddog967
In reply to: rmarchma who wrote msg# 52386
Date:12/15/2003 1:29:17 PM
Post #of 52911
rmarchma: "I think there is even a different NEC infrastructure royalty by certain years. "
I think the different royalty rate for different years is applicable for prepaid sales after Dec 31, 2003. For those units, inaddition to the prepayment discount there are volume discount
<<i. For Covered Infrastructure Units compliant with Narrowband CDMA and Third Generation, [**]% of the Net Selling Price of each such product sold by Licensee and/or its Affiliates; provided, however, that for sales of Covered Infrastructure Units in Japan only, for sales occurring on or before December 31, 2003,the royalty rate shall be [**]%. For sales
of Covered Infrastructure Units occurring on or after January 1, 2004, Licensee shall have the option to pre-pay additional royalties for Covered Infrastructure Units for use in Japan only, at any time, based on Licensee's good faith projection of its sales of such products over a one (1) to three (3) year period(s). Such pre-payment shall be paid to ITC prior to the start of the royalty period used in determining the pre-payment amount. Licensee's actual payment to ITC for such royalty projection shall be discounted at [**] % per annum, to reflect the time value of money over the selected period. In addition, the optional
pre-payment shall be further discounted by the
following single volume discount, applied to the present value amount, as follows:
Years Pre-paid Volume Discount
1 ............... .... [**]%
2 ................... [**]%
3 or more....... [**]%>>
While MS eventually may get things worked out , it's smartphone product offering right now are not doing too good. In the first article, WSJ's computer guru, Walter Mossberg, is critical of two recent offerings, while the second describes MS's poor market overall performance.
December 11, 2003
Microsoft Introduces Two Smart Phones That Are a Little Slow
By WALTER S. MOSSBERG
As cellphones add more features, one fact becomes increasingly clear: The cellphone makers stink at writing software. This wasn't much of an issue when all people did on cellphones was to make voice calls. But with the addition of e-mail, Web browsing, photography and other functions to phones, user interfaces have become impenetrable.
Two companies, however, know something about how to write software for hand-held devices. They are PalmSource, which makes the Palm operating system, and Microsoft, which makes the Pocket PC operating system. Both are way ahead of cellphone makers in this area.
PalmSource and its partners have already shown they can do great cellphones. The brilliant Treo 600, from palmOne, uses the Palm operating system and is the gold standard in smart phones. Samsung's less ambitious, but smaller, i500 is another very good Palm-based smart phone.
Now, Microsoft is entering the cellphone business in the U.S. with two new phones that use a spinoff of the Pocket PC software called by the ridiculously long name "Windows Mobile software for Smartphones."
I've been testing the first two U.S. phones to use this new Microsoft software: the Motorola MPx200, offered by AT&T Wireless, and the Samsung i600, offered by Verizon Wireless.
The Motorola MPx200
Neither phone is anywhere near as good as the Treo 600. Unlike the Treo, they lack keyboards for entering large amounts of text, so I can't recommend them for serious e-mail users.
They're really not even in the Treo's category. They're smart phones for people still interested primarily in making voice calls, but want a few extras. These extras include the ability to synchronize easily with PC-based calendars and address books, and to do light e-mail and a little Web browsing. The phones can also play music, and both accept expansion cards.
I liked the Microsoft Windows Mobile software on both phones, with a few caveats. Except for one big flaw, it's much better than the typical software interface from phone makers and carriers. The software allows the phones to easily synchronize calendars and address books with Microsoft Outlook on a Windows PC. I had no trouble importing scores of dates and an address book of nearly 900 names, and synchronizing changes made on the PC or the phones.
When you start dialing a phone number or entering a contact name, the Microsoft software rapidly searches even large address books to find the entry. It also does a good job of integrating voice calling, e-mail, calendar and contacts in a clear, colorful home screen that's simple to navigate with one hand. The home screen shows, at a glance, upcoming appointments, the number of waiting e-mails and recently used programs.
Of the two phones, the Motorola MPx200 is smaller, more attractive and less expensive. AT&T charges $299 for the phone. The Samsung i600 is sold by Verizon for much more -- $499, though there's a $100 rebate with certain trade-ins.
Both phones worked OK. Their big flaw is that the Microsoft software is painfully slow to identify incoming callers, even if they are calling from numbers included in the phone's address book. The process is so slow that in a dozen tests, neither phone ever identified a known incoming caller on its screen before the calls went to voice mail. Microsoft and the phone makers are working on the problem.
The Microsoft software also makes it hard to configure some third-party e-mail systems. AT&T fixes this by providing a very nice Web site that configures these complex settings automatically, over the air. Verizon doesn't do this.
But Verizon does have something AT&T lacks. It offers average consumers the ability to synchronize their phones wirelessly, over the air, with Outlook on their home PCs. I tried it and it worked, albeit slowly and inconsistently.
The Motorola phone was very slow, with irritating lags in executing commands. The Samsung was faster. Also, the Motorola has no speakerphone. while Samsung does.
AT&T has crippled one of the best features of the Microsoft software -- a toolbar at the top line of the home screen that shows the most recently used programs. On the AT&T phone, this has been changed to a fixed list, prominently featuring an icon for the company's mLife service offerings. Verizon also has altered the home screen to point users toward its online services, but in a less destructive way.
Both AT&T and Verizon charge an arm and a leg for monthly data plans. Both favor plans that force you to estimate how many megabytes of e-mail and Web pages you'll use in a month, and then charge you extra for going over. They do have unlimited-data plans, but they're very expensive. Verizon's costs $50 a month, in addition to voice-call charges, and AT&T's costs $80 a month, on top of voice charges. By contrast, Sprint charges only an extra $15 a month for unlimited data on the excellent Treo 600.
Microsoft has a good start with its software for smart phones. But until Microsoft and the phone makers fix the awful caller ID problem, and AT&T and Verizon cut unlimited data prices, I can't recommend these two phones.
Write to Walter S. Mossberg at mossberg@wsj.com
Microsoft struggling in smartphone market
22 July 2003 Microsoft is making little headway in the market for smartphone operating systems, with the Nokia-backed Symbian consortium virtually monopolising the sector, new research has found.
Only 6% of the 1.1 million smartphones shipped in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in the second quarter ran Microsoft's SmartPhone OS, according to UK researcher Canalys. The rest are powered by Microsoft's arch rival, Symbian, whose investors include smartphone makers Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, Sony and Samsung.
The figures are the first real sign that Microsoft has a big fight on its hands to control the market for mobile applications. Microsoft hopes to leverage its OS and wireless .NET strategy in order to dominate the increasingly important mobile computing sector.
A further worry for Microsoft is the fact that the smartphone seems to be becoming the mobile computing device of choice, albeit among ordinary consumers rather than business people. Canalys's figures show that smartphones (voice-based advanced wireless devices) are outselling personal digital assistants (PDAs, or data-centric wireless devices) almost two to one.
Microsoft has been more successful in licensing its OS to PDA manufacturers, including Hewlett-Packard (HP). Microsoft has about 53% of the market for PDA operating systems, ahead of Palm on 42%.
But Microsoft's problems are compounded by the recent weak performance of HP. Last year, following its acquisition of Compaq, HP was ranked number-one in PDAs, with 36% of the market. But its share fell to 25% in the second quarter of 2003, behind Palm's 34%.
Canalys director and senior analyst Chris Jones expects HP to have a better third quarter, however. "HP has been focused on clearing the channel to make way for a raft of new models, the effect of which will kick in over the coming months," he says. "Palm has done well though. It has a better range of products now than at any time in its history and is hitting customers on many different levels."
http://www.infoconomy.com/pages/news-and-gossip/group82927.adp
Lucky: From latest 10Q report:
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Outstanding at November 12, 2003...... 54,937,814
WEIGHTED AVERAGE NUMBER OF COMMON
SHARES OUTSTANDING—DILUTED 60,109,000
mschere:
Not that it should make much difference, but has there been any announcement where the arbitration will be held? IAW NEC's and Sharp's 2G agreements, any arbitration will be by the American Arbitration Assn. in Wash D. C; while NEC's 3G agreement calls for arbitration by ICC in London.
"Perhaps Nokia is seeking to reside close to the site of their Arbitration."
ams: Approx 34NT$ = 1US$
HTC Announces 2003 3Q Results
Taoyuan, Taiwan, R.O.C. October 30, 2003 – High Tech Computer Corp. (TAIEX: 2498) today announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2003.
Total revenues of the third quarter of 2003, ended September 30th, reached NT $ 4,657 million, up 6.22 percent sequentially and up 3.72 percent year-over-year. Net income after tax was NT$ 227 million, down 20 percent sequentially and down 31.13 percent year-over-year. Earnings per share after tax was NT$ 1.12.
Total revenues of fiscal year 2003 are estimated to be NT$24,955 million with a 20.88% of YoY growth rate since wireless products will keep their growth momentums. Net income will be NT$1,651 million and earnings per share after tax based on forecasted weighted average capital will reach NT$8.10.
For the first three quarters of 2003, revenues totaled NT$ 13,752 million. Net income before tax and after tax reached NT$ 1,049 million and NT$ 994 million respectively. Earnings per share after tax was NT$ 4.90.
[download financial statements]
Newcomers take on Nokia, Motorola
MOBILE-PHONES: Original-design manufactures in Taiwan and Israel are taking the market by storm by contracting with service providers around the world
BLOOMBERG
Thursday, Jul 03, 2003,Page 11
"A branded company will sell the same device to every client. They can't customize for operators."
Martin Liu, High Tech Computer's marketing director
Entrepreneur Fredrik Blomkvist says his new mobile phone is the best he's ever owned. It has a speakerphone, a large color screen, a camera and Microsoft Corp software that lets him answer e-mails and consult agendas stored on his computer.
"This is the phone I've been waiting for," said the 37-year-old, who just opened a restaurant in Stockholm. "This is the device of the future."
The phone, which had people lining up on sidewalks when it went on sale in Sweden last month, wasn't made by Nokia Oyj, Motorola Inc or any of their biggest competitors. It was built by High Tech Computer Corp (????), a Taiwanese handheld-computer producer.
High Tech is one of a new breed of mobile-phone makers, many of which started out designing, testing and packaging handsets for industry leaders, that now are challenging Nokia and its rivals.
Called original-design manufacturers, the upstarts may have as much as 40 percent of the US$100 billion cellular-phone market by 2005, four times their share today, Stockholm-based market researcher Northstream says.
Contracts with such service providers as AT&T Wireless Services Inc in the US, Orange SA and Deutsche Telekom AG in Europe and the Philippines's Smart Communications Inc could cripple efforts to revive sales growth by the established phone makers, whose shares are floundering at three-year lows.
"It is clearly a potential threat," said Richard Champion, who helps oversee US$4.7 billion including Nokia shares at Pavilion Asset Management in London.
"There's a battle between operators and manufacturers going on given the market dominance of Nokia," he said.
Mobile-phone makers worldwide are emerging from the industry's first slump. Nokia's sales fell for the first time since 1992 last year. Motorola cut its sales and profit forecasts for this year last month.
The top five mobile-phone makers have lost about US$220 billion in market value combined since 2000. Samsung Electronics Co, ranked No. 3, is the only one of them whose stock has risen.
Small and independent, original design manufacturers say they can react more quickly to customers' needs than bigger rivals, and at lower cost. Their ranks include AlphaCell, a unit of Israeli software producer Emblaze Systems Ltd, BenQ Corp (??), Taiwan's biggest mobile-phone maker, privately held Microcell Oy, a Finnish company which moved its headquarters to Zug, Switzerland last year, and London-based Sendo Plc.
"When we approach the operator, we tell him that this is the platform, we'll do whatever you wish," AlphaCell chief executive officer Avner Mor said in the single-floor office that houses his 80 employees in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ra'anana.
"We'll add applications, we'll add hot keys. We will change the icon, we will change the language, we will change the text. You'll have a full reflection of your brand on the handset,'' he said.
Flexibility like that is key for operators trying to induce customers to spend money sending photos, video clips and e-mails on their phones. After paying more than US$100 billion for licenses to offer faster services, phone companies need to make the most of the services they offer.
In developing the Qtek phone with Microsoft and High Tech, TeliaSonera Oyj, the Nordic region's largest phone operator, had 1,000 business customers test a version for three months. It found that access to e-mail and calendar functions were a top priority.
"For us it doesn't matter who made the phone, that's not our business," spokesman Bengt Olsson said. "It had to be simple and quick to install. With Microsoft, you get the absolute advantage that you have the same menu as the one you're faced with at work."
The Qtek 7070 sells for 5,500 Swedish kronor (US$685), about the same as for a Nokia Communicator. The Qtek 1010, which looks more like an organizer with a larger screen, sells for 6,600 kronor. TeliaSonera wouldn't say how many it has sold.
Nokia CEO Jorma Ollila says he isn't fazed. Original-design manu-facturers are "basically too small to compete," he told investors at a June 11 briefing in Helsinki.
Microsoft doesn't scare him either: "If we look at the largest global software player with a PC legacy, clearly that software player lacks the experience, with the inevitable outcome," the 52-year-old Finn said.
The primary market where the Illinois-based Motorola has seen competition from original-design manufacturers is in China, said spokesman Alan Buddendeck.
For Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd, which has been unprofitable since it was formed in October 2001, they are complementary, taking responsibility for some products.
"In theory, they may become a threat in the future," said spokesman Ted Kanno.
Founded in 1997, High Tech Computer makes the XDA, a pocket organizer with an integrated phone, for MMO2 Plc in the UK, and a similar device for Deutsche Tele-kom's T-Mobile International AG unit. It also produces Orange's SPV, which was the first phone to use Microsoft's Smartphone software based on the Windows operating system.
Marketing director Martin Liu says the company can compete with bigger rivals because it can tailor-make the phones.
"A branded company will sell the same device to every client," Liu said in a telephone interview. "They can't customize for operators."
It became easier to enter the market after Texas Instruments Inc, the world's biggest maker of semiconductors for mobile phones, Motorola and Sweden's Ericsson AB started licensing the technology needed to build the brains of the handsets.
"Nowadays, anyone can become a mobile-phone maker," said Per Lindberg, an analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in London.
"The technology is available for everyone." he said.
The rise of original-design manu-facturers has allowed Microsoft to enter the equation, because most newcomers aren't tied to using soft-ware developed by their own engineers or Symbian Ltd, a venture whose owners include Nokia, Moto-rola and Samsung.
"Nokia owns many customers and the operators want to change that," said Peter Wissinger, who heads Microsoft's European mobile-phone unit, from Stockholm.
This story has been viewed 1433 times.
8:08AM UTSI: rising competition engenders risk to 2004 forecasts -- Lehman 36.86: Despite firm's confidence in UTStarcom's leadership in P.A.S. handsets, Lehman believes rising competition engenders risk to 2004 forecasts; firm believes that competition in the P.A.S market has increased substantially, noting that several local vendors expect 50+ brands by mid-04.
rmarchma: Thanks for the update.
Sanyo sub-sonic mobile phone to ship by month's end
By Tony Smith
Posted: 15/12/2003 at 14:36 GMT
Japanese electronics giant Sanyo has developed a truly silent mobile phone. Instead of a loudspeaker, the handset, the TS41, uses the user's own skull to transmit the incoming call.
Using bone to conduct sound waves isn't new, but this is the first time we've heard the technique being used for a mobile phone. Sanyo claims it's a world's first.
When you hold the handset against your cheekbone, it vibrates and the vibrations are transmitted through your skull to the bones in your inner ear. They vibrate in turn, just as if they were under the influence of a sound wave and send signals into the brain accordingly.
The upshot: the user hears a 'sound' that isn't actually there. Sanyo claims bone conduction makes the 'sound' easier to hear, especially in a noisy environment.
Sanyo's handset will be offered by Japanese network provider Tu-Ka at the end of this month.
The clamshell handset weighs 98g. Inside is a 2.1in, 176 x 132 16-bit colour LCD. On the back is a 1in, 64 x 64 16-bit colour screen that display the time. It can play 40-voice polyphonic ringtones.
The TS41 contains a conventional speaker. Using it, the phone can provide 140 minutes' worth of talktime. With the sub-sonic speaker, it can only manage 130 minutes. Standby time is 400 minutes. ®
Research forum leader takes on wireless challenge
HE SEEKS AGREEMENT ON THE FUTURE OF 4G
By Jon Fortt
Mercury News
Posted on Mon, Dec. 15, 2003
Mikko Uusitalo resembles a Finnish Clark Kent with his thin-rimmed oval glasses, buttoned-up white shirt and boyishly cleanshaven face. It may be a good thing, too; if Uusitalo is to succeed at his mission, he could use some super-human luck.
As chairman of the Wireless World Research Forum, Uusitalo's task is getting dozens of self-interested manufacturers, service providers and governments across the globe to agree on a vision for the nuts and bolts of tomorrow's cell phone networks. This technology, often called fourth-generation or 4G wireless, probably won't arrive for 10 more years.
When 4G does arrive, it could operate at 100 megabits a second -- nearly 10 times faster than most of the wireless hot spots that laptop users are gushing about today.
Uusitalo's mission offers a glimpse at the ways the global wireless business can imitate politics. The U.S. approach has been to let companies and technologies joust for survival, expecting that the best will prevail. The European approach, which Uusitalo is following, has been to gather everyone around the table and try to find a single solution. Once there is a standard, battle begins.
Bringing the WWRF's European approach to the world stage will be a challenge -- and it's part of the reason why Uusitalo visited Silicon Valley this month to gather support for his eclectic group. Its 150 members include the Department of Trade and Industry in the United Kingdom, the Institute for Infocomm Research in Singapore, Samsung in South Korea and Intel in the United States.
``It would be a win-win situation for all if the competition for the right approach was made at an earlier stage -- that would be a major change,'' said Uusitalo, whose day job is manager of research cooperation for cell phone giant Nokia's research center. ``This has some aspects of what you might call gentleman's war.''
The goal, in part, is to avoid a repeat of the situation in the United States where there are three major incompatible cell phone networks, CDMA, GSM and iDEN, fighting for survival. In Europe there is one: GSM.
Still, the global climate right now can be harsh toward diplomats.
``It's very hard to reach consensus on much of anything right now because we seem to have a clash of ideas and ideals,'' said Nancy Snow, a communications professor at California State University-Fullerton. ``It affects the business sector; it affects politics.''
Not everyone thinks the European early-consensus approach is better than gloves-off competition from the start.
There are advantages to both approaches: The largest U.S. carrier, Verizon, maintains a CDMA network different from the dominant global standard, and the company is pushing ahead with an upgrade called 1x EVDO that will offer data speeds faster than what Europe has to offer. On the other hand, consumers in Europe have a choice of more advanced cell phone technologies, and can switch more easily between wireless providers.
Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is among those who question the necessity of the united approach. During a visit to the Mercury News, he pointed out that while European countries all operate on the same type of GSM/GPRS network, the monolithic approach hasn't helped them bring the faster 3G EDGE wireless networks into being.
``They destroyed 3G for themselves, for the most part,'' Powell said. Plus, he suggested, future cell phone chips will enable phones that operate on any global network. ``If your phone has a chip in it that can pick any spectrum, why do you care what they pick? You've swung the intelligence to the handset, and the handset makes those decisions for you.''
Uusitalo wants to have basic 4G blueprints hashed out by 2007, when his group is scheduled to present a plan to the International Telecommunications Union, a United Nations agency that designates certain bands of frequencies for use in regions across the globe. His task, for now, is to grow his coalition and keep most people feeling like harmonious shepherds, not rebellious cowboys.
That could require a man of steel, but Uusitalo does like a challenge. Rather than use the bridge and drive to work every day in his native Finland -- he lives across a lake from his Nokia office -- during the warm season he pulls out a kayak and paddles himself to work for 20 minutes.
``Certainly there will be some cowboys,'' Uusitalo allows. ``This is a free world. If you want to be a cowboy, that's good for you. Be a cowboy.''
Desert dweller: jaykajones has other things on his mind today.
Posted by: chartex
In reply to: chartex who wrote msg# 52428
Date:12/15/2003 6:29:56 PM
Post #of 52497
OT Jaykajones just called me from San Antonio. His mother, in her 80's, had come from England to visit he and his family
in Fort Worth. They took her to San Antonio to show her the sights. While walking on the Riverwalk she collapsed and was taken to a local hospital where she remains. JKJ indicated
the doctors thought the problem was her heart. He will remain
there with her. He is without his computer and was at a loss
as to what IDCC had done today. He didn't ask me to say this,
but I am requesting your thoughts and prayers for his mother
and for her full recovery.
rmarchma: "I think there is even a different NEC infrastructure royalty by certain years. "
I think the different royalty rate for different years is applicable for prepaid sales after Dec 31, 2003. For those units, inaddition to the prepayment discount there are volume discount
i. For Covered Infrastructure Units compliant with Narrowband CDMA and Third Generation, [**]% of the Net Selling Price of each such product sold by Licensee and/or its Affiliates; provided, however, that for sales of Covered Infrastructure Units in Japan only, for sales occurring on or before December 31, 2003,the royalty rate shall be [**]%. For sales
of Covered Infrastructure Units occurring on or after January 1, 2004, Licensee shall have the option to pre-pay additional royalties for Covered Infrastructure Units for use in Japan only, at any time, based on Licensee's good faith projection of its sales of such products over a one (1) to three (3) year period(s). Such pre-payment shall be paid to ITC prior to the start of the royalty period used in determining the pre-payment amount. Licensee's actual payment to ITC for such royalty projection shall be discounted at [**] % per annum, to reflect the time value of money over the selected period. In addition, the optional
pre-payment shall be further discounted by the
following single volume discount, applied to the present value amount, as follows:
Years Pre-paid Volume Discount
1 ............... .... [**]%
2 ................... [**]%
3 or more....... [**]%
NEC to deliver 2.5 mln 3G phones to Hutchison
Sunday December 14, 11:12 pm ET
By Rico Ngai and Tony Munroe
HONG KONG, Dec 15 (Reuters) - NEC Corp (Tokyo:6701.T - News), whose slow delivery of phones has been blamed in part for the behind-target rollout of Hutchison Whampoa's 3G mobile telecoms business, said on Monday it will provide the company with 2.5 million units of its new 616 model by the end of the first quarter.
Hutchison Whampoa Ltd (HKSE:0013.HK - News) Managing Director Canning Fok, at an event to announce the launch of the company's "3" service in Hong Kong after two delays this year, also downplayed investor worries the company might need to inject additional funds into its European 3G operations.
"We have loads of money," Fok told reporters.
Hutchison, the most aggressive investor in European 3G telecoms, said it is investing about 16 billion euros (US$19.5 billion) in 3G, with about nine billion spent thus far. It said that under a worst-case scenario it would inject another 1.5-two billion euros into the business.
Earlier this month, the head of the company's Italian 3G affiliate said it may need further funding from Hutchison if it continues to have difficulty obtaining new handsets.
But NEC President Akinobu Kanasugi said on Monday that his company would deliver one million units of its 616 model by the end of this year and a further 1.5 million in the first quarter.
Fok said that 700,000 of the clamshell-shaped handsets were in stock, and that the Hong Kong arm had ordered 50,000 phones.
Motorola Inc (NYSE:MOT - News) is Hutchison's other 3G handset provider, and Fok said he did not expect the U.S. firm to deliver 500,000 handsets ordered by the end of the year.
Hutchison said on Monday that the average revenue per user (ARPU) for its network in the UK was 44.26 pounds (US$77) a month while its ARPU in Italy was 50.5 euros (US$61.61).
It said it had enlisted 210,000 customers in Britain, 340,000 in Italy and 110,000 elsewhere. The company has also launched services in Australia, Austria and Sweden.
The UK and Italy user numbers compare with 155,000 and 300,000, respectively, as of August.
The company, which had earlier set a target of enlisting one million customers each in the UK and Italy by the end of 2003, now hopes to hit that target in the first half of 2004, Fok said.
Hutchison also holds 3G network licenses in Denmark, Ireland, Israel and Norway.
HANDSET DELAYS
Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison has partly blamed delays in handset deliveries for the slower than hoped-for rollout of its 3G business in the UK and Italy. Hutchison said last month that handset delays would push the company's 3G break-even target from 2005 into 2006.
NEC said previously it had received orders for six million handsets from Hutchison, and had supplied about 600,000 through mid-October.
Hutchison said on Monday it would not subsidise its handsets in Hong Kong and will sell NEC's c616 Chinese-language model in the city for HK$4,380 (US$562), or HK$3,980 when customers buy two or more. Service packages will cost HK$263 (US$33.71), HK$383 and HK$533 per month, Hutchison said.
In Europe the company launched aggressive price promotions earlier this year to woo subscribers.
Hutchison, the world's largest container port operator with holdings in retail, energy and property, already owns the largest of Hong Kong's six intensely competitive mobile carriers.
Shares in Hutchison, controlled by Asia's richest businessman Li Ka-shing, have underperformed the benchmark Hang Seng index (HKSE:^HSI - News) this year as investors question its $16.7 billion commitment to the commercially unproven 3G.
Hutchison shares rose 1.32 percent on Monday morning to HK$57.75, while NEC shares were up 2.32 percent to 751 yen.
China tries to establish homegrown tech rules
By Dan Gillmor
Mercury News Technology Columnist
Posted on Sun, Dec. 14, 2003
HONG KONG - Early this month, China's government mandated an encryption standard for wireless data communications. It may force U.S. and other Western companies into unwanted joint ventures with Chinese companies if they want to sell computers and other WiFi-equipped technology in the world's most populous nation.
The move drew largely justified howls of outrage from American technology companies, because there were some protectionist aspects to the way Chinese officials handled the new rule. But the standard also should be seen in a context that may, in the long run, be even more important than trade-rule gamesmanship.
Today's vital technology standards are largely controlled by companies and consortia from the developed world. China and other nations effectively pay taxes to American, Japanese and European companies in order to use these standards in a variety of fields including computers, communications and personal technology.
But China, unlike other developing nations that lack its growing clout on the global stage, isn't planning to keep paying these taxes. It's political-economic establishment is absolutely determined to set its own path in the Digital Age.
China isn't just reluctant to pay what amount to taxes to the developed-world owners of global technology standards. With the largest domestic market on the planet, at least potentially, plus an increasingly creative and well-educated workforce, China is creating its own competitive set of standards for its own market, although the global potential is obvious.
After some false starts, for example, China is adopting open-source software in a big way. The government, working with software companies, major universities and even other governments in East Asia, is pouring resources into the Linux operating system and related applications.
The Chinese effort goes far beyond simply replacing the costly Microsoft Windows as the operating system of choice. Other proprietary software, including Microsoft's ubiquitous (at least in the West) Office product, is ripe for replacement.
Another example: In November, China announced it was going to create a video-disk standard to compete with the DVD standard, which is owned by a consortium of home-entertainment manufacturing companies in Japan and the West. Early versions of China's Enhanced Versatile Disc, or EVD, are using some technology from American companies. But Chinese officials say they want homegrown technologies wherever possible.
EVD is much more about the next generation of video recording and playback devices, not the current one. And again, it could save Chinese companies enormous amounts in royalties currently paid to owners of today's standards -- and boost business for Chinese video-machine makers at the same time (not that China's manufacturing sector needs much boosting at the moment).
Fundamental high-tech hardware, including microprocessors, is hardly immune from this trend. China's semiconductor researchers and manufacturers are working on chip designs that, in theory, could reduce or ultimately even eliminate the need to buy Intel's chips.
The ``Dragon Chip' -- a homegrown processor running Linux -- made its debut last year. There hasn't been a lot of news about it since then, and semiconductor companies such as Intel continue to sell and invest widely in China. But Dragon and upcoming processors developed and made in China are plainly aimed at reducing if not ultimately eliminating the reliance on, and the cost of, outside technology.
Another long-running effort at developing homegrown technology is China's next-generation mobile phone standard, known as TD-SCDMA. It is widely viewed as inferior to competing standards and has no traction outside of the country. Even Chinese carriers are hedging their bets with other technologies.
But adopting the technology (co-developed with Datang, a Chinese telecom company, and Siemens, the German equipment maker) has brought benefits anyway to China, says Peter Lovelock, director of MFC Insight, a research firm in Beijing. Lovelock and his colleagues keep especially close tabs on the nation's telecommunications markets.
TD-SCMA was about many things apart from avoiding unnecessary royalties, he says. It helped China learn the ins and outs of global standards-making bodies such as the International Telecommunications Union. It has helped jump-start a variety of related domestic industries, including the manufacture of chip sets for mobile phones, spectrum management and other developments ``across the value chain of the industry,' Lovelock says.
This month's wireless encryption standard stems, in part, from an ongoing failure on the part of the wireless data industry. WiFi has been notoriously insecure, and although the WiFi companies have been working on a solution, China's initiative can't be entirely denounced as unnecessary -- especially in a country that is increasingly relying on wireless data in its communications infrastructure.
I'm betting that global trade rules will overrule at least part of China's gambit on the WiFi encryption standard. But in the meantime, it could give a boost, however unwarranted, to the local industry. Rough tactics, but then again the U.S. hasn't been shy about blatantly illegal protectionist measures, either, when the political circumstances deemed to warrant them.
For the companies that hounded China for years to adhere to Western copyright and patent rules, there must be some painful irony when they observe China's recent evolution. When China was a haven for infringement, at least it was using our standards.
This will be long, long campaign. In the end, we're likely to see several globally accepted standards.
Maybe that will be a bit less efficient in some purist's sense. But it will be competition nonetheless, and customers always do better when there's more choice.
OT: sloan6: Where did you see that gold and oil were up sharply? The Reuters reports I have seen indicated that gold has dropped $7 and oil $1.
sloane6: Here is the Chicago Mercantile Exchange site that I use. Latest reading is +29.50. The CNN site that dishfan noted also shows fair value, which is a good comparative figure.
http://www.cme.com/dta/del/globex.html
If it holds up should be a good opening tomorrow . NASDAQ futures + 28.50
NSDQ100... MAR04... 1451.00... +2850
E-NASDAQ.. MAR04... 1451.00... +2850