InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[nieves]

In Cannes, the wireless industry still hopeful, and a row in the making



CANNES, France, Feb 17, 2003 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- As the wireless industry still holds onto hope that its doldrums are near an end, two industry giants set the stage Monday for a showdown that could lead to how mobile users surf the Internet, get messages and make phone calls.

The annual 3GSM Congress, held in Cannes, began in earnest Monday, with no killer application dominating or creating a buzz. Instead, it was the making of a rivalry that could likely go global as Microsoft Corp. and Symbian PLC readied themselves to capture the hearts, minds and pocketbooks of fancy phone buyers. The conference is scheduled to run through Friday.

London's Symbian turned a licensing agreement with South Korea's Samsung Electronics into a personal stake, as the company paid US$27.2 million for a 5 percent stake in the software maker.

The deal, signed on Samsung's yacht just outside the convention center where thousands of industry workers, analysts, journalists and the curious strolled by, gave the software developer, spun off by Psion in 1998, the five biggest handset makers as shareholders. Others include Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Psion, Motorola, Samsung, Matsushita and Siemens.

"For the past 100 years, we've built phones for the ear," said Symbian chief executive David Levin. "Now, we can build phones that connect to the eye."

Samsung isn't putting itself into the Symbian camp completely, either. The company's wireless service general manager, Park Sang-jin, said Samsung isn't forsaking its deals with Microsoft and Palm.

On Monday, Samsung unveiled a wireless device powered by Microsoft.

The SGH-i700 is a GSM/GPRS-enabled PDA with a built-in phone and camera, much like devices sold by Sony Ericsson and Nokia.

Analysts said that's what it will take in an industry that has sold more than 1 billion handsets around the world since the early 1990s.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said that's why the use of its smartphones, portable digital devices that feature PocketPC and other applications like MSN Messenger and MSN Network, are critical to gaining more customers in the coming years.

"It just looks familiar," said Vassili le Moigne, MSN mobile manager for Microsoft's MSN network in Europe. "If you make it very different on the phone, they don't get used to it."

Microsoft said Monday it will offer its smartphone and MSN instant messenging and network through T-Mobile this summer, in Europe. Orange SA, the English-French wireless provider, launched its own version in October 2002.

Moigne said an exact release date hasn't been decided, but it would come with a massive advertising and public relations push.

By using a familiar interface - Hotmail, for example, has millions of users worldwide - they will migrate easily to a new Windows-powered smartphone because they know its icons from their laptop or PCs.

"You don't want to scare the users with something new," he said.

Symbian, however, is widely used on phones made by Nokia, Sony Ericsson and others. It's got a reputation for stability and ease of use, but is its own operating system.

It's also feature-rich, running built-in cameras, short messaging services and calendar's and planners and e-mail clients.

The market isn't huge - of the 405 million handsets sold in 2002, less than 1 percent were personal digital devices, but the market is there and the developers need to think of the users who will buy the products.

"We have to stop thinking about technology for technology's sake and really think about the user," said Don Listwin, Openwave Systems' CEO told the conference.

But the biggest need will be the development and deployment of the networks that will let users trade photos via smartphones, or even regular handsets, and download polyphonic ringtones or logos for their phones.

Bengt Nordstrvm, the CEO of Northstream, a Stockholm, Sweden-based strategy company, said the established players in the industry, are delaying 3G investments, but still promising service developments and product launches.

"What we see is that established players are delaying 3G and infrastructure investments while prioritising service development and launch," Nordstrvm said.

Third-generation networks are expected to offer faster delivery of data and pictures than current networks, but operators across Europe have slowed the launch of 3G amid questions about demand for the new services and delays in the arrival of 3G phones.

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On the Net:

3GSM: http://www.3gsmworldcongress.com

Symbian: http://www.symbian.com

Samsung: http://www.samsungelectronics.com

Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com


By MATT MOORE AP Business WriterCopyright 2003 Associated Press, All rights reserved

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