The Wireless World - NEWS & VIEWS

Yahoo! Reveals Top 10 Search Terms for 2003 (And it is kinda scarey!)
Yahoo! revealed the most popular search terms conducted through its worldwide portals in 2003. The Yahoo! 2003 Top 10 Searches:
1. KaZaa
2. Harry Potter
3. "American Idol"
4. Britney Spears
5. 50 Cent
6. Eminem
7. WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment)
8. Paris Hilton
9. NASCAR
10. Christina Aguilera

-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

NEWS: Wireless Number Portability
New Wireless Portability Rules Haven't Led To Switching Boom
People seem happy with their wireless phone carriers.
Since Nov. 24, cell phone customers have been able to switch to other carriers and keep their numbers. Analysts predicted that millions might switch in the weeks after number portability went into effect.
But most carriers say they are underwhelmed with demand for switching. With some exceptions, they've had few disruptions, customer defections and complaints.
Modest demand and strong preparation helped keep carriers' woes to a minimum. But they may yet see large numbers of customers switching once contracts expire and if more deals became available.
The common wisdom held that the wireless industry's customer defection rate — an average of 4.1 million customers per 153 million — would quickly get worse.
On Nov. 24, when portability went into effect, 80,000 customers switched carriers and kept their numbers, says TSI Telecommunication Service Inc., which handles many of the switches.
No Portability Flood
TSI spokeswoman Helen Harris wouldn't say what the number of switchers has been since then. But the daily number has been "steady," not going up or down, Harris said.
The overall number of switchers "has been at the low end of expectations," Harris said.
That's also the view from Jeff Maszal, a researcher with telecom consultants Management Network Group. Its widely cited survey said 30 million people would switch their numbers from one carrier to another in the first year. It also said 8.7 million would switch the first day portability was offered.
Maszal stands by his yearly estimate: If 80,000 people switched every day, that would be 30 million in a year's time.
But he concedes that the cellular industry did expect more switching to occur soon.
"The initial demand has been somewhat lower than anticipated," Maszal said.
Few Switch Glitches
That's not to say number portability has been glitch-free. The Federal Communications Commission sent a letter to AT&T Wireless Inc. (AWE) due to a high number of complaints from customers who wanted to switch, but had problems.
But most carriers say it hasn't been as big an issue as expected. Verizon Wireless spokesman Jeffrey Nelson said there's been "steady interest" in switching to or from his company's services.
Sprint PCS (PCS) said number portability will be "immaterial" to fourth-quarter earnings.
Maszal says initial demand may be stymied for a variety of reasons. Media reports of number portability glitches, along with the belief that carriers eventually would offer better deals to people who switched, may have made customers wait out the first days or even weeks.
Carriers spent a lot to make the process glitch-free — $500 mil to $1 bil according to analysts.
The costs stem from adding new customer service agents, training current employees on the issues and buying new software and hardware to handle transfers.
Verizon (VZ) spent $65 million to prepare. It added 1,000 employees to handle customer requests and opened a new call center.
Sprint PCS spokesman Dan Wilinsky said the company spent "hundreds of millions" to get ready for number portability.
Maszal says the preparations were not overkill despite the modest demand. Carriers had to plan for different outcomes.
"If they didn't staff up, I'd imagine there would have been many more problems," Maszal said.
Not that carriers are losing money. The FCC will let carriers charge all cellular customers to recoup some of their costs.
Another factor that limits switching is the cost to consumers. Customers still have to pay early termination fees if they are under contract when they switch carriers. They also may have to buy new phones.
Researcher Gartner Inc. says cellular carriers added over 4.4 million customers in both the second and third quarters of 2003. That compares with 3.2 million added in the first quarter and 2.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2002.
Gartner analyst Tole Hart says new family and teen plans, and new services like text messaging and photo sending, drove subscriber additions.
"Number portability may have played some role, but not as much," Hart said.
Nor are carriers making much hay of number portability now. Most say they aren't doing any promotions — such as free phones or increased usage minutes — to lure customers from another carrier. Only Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile Inc. are airing commercials emphasizing number portability.
Maszal says carriers are hesitant to promote portability since it could backfire. Customers could have problems when switching over to the new carrier.

-Ron Pendleton, Palm Place and Wireless World

Palm Addict's
Memo Pad as a Workout/Practice Log
Since Memo Pad remembers the order of the memos in each category, you can use it to record your excercise or practice sessions, or any other activity you do regularly which involves series of tasks you want to log notes about.
Here's an example with a work out log:

Create a category called "Working Out"
Create a series of memos, with the first line of each the name of an exercise you do. For example, "Pushups" and "Bench Press."
Create another memo called "Goal." Drag it so that it is first in the category.
When you want to work out, drag all of the exercises you want to do and place them before the memo marked "Goal." All the exercises you don't want to do go after the "Goal" memo. So if you are viewing the Workout category, it might look like this:
Push Ups
Chin Ups
**Goal**
Standing On My Head
Bicep Curls

When you begin your workout, tap the first exercise. After you do it, record the information about it in the memo.
Press the down button on your handheld. The next exercise appears.
Continue until you get to the note called "**Goal**". Then you have completed all the exercises you wanted to do. Better yet, your Palm remembers which exercises you did and in what order.
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

Netherlands broadcaster Nozema is using a their country's largest Christmas tree to promote their Wi-Fi services. The 375 meter tree -- actually a tower transformed to look like a tree, which they say is in the Guinness Book of Records -- doubles as an antenna for a hotspot in Ijsselstein. The hotspot will, naturally, only be available until the end of the holiday. Nozema is the first Dutch member of the WiMax Forum
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

HARDWARE:NEWS: Special Sale On SEIKO ThumBoard for palmOne m500 !
Usually you need to buy a Palm or something in conjunction to get the Thumboard for $9.99. But for 6 days it is only $9.99. So for you m500 (or IBM WorkPad c500) owners, you can't beat thiis deal. And NO SHIPPING COST.

-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World
Purchase Seiko Thumb Keyboard for the Palm m500 for JUST $9.99! **SAVE $$$ on Palm open box handhelds. New Special Offers Everyday. Plus FREE Shipping!

SOFTWARE: NEWS: palmOne Announces 5 New Games and a $5 Discount Code
I just got an EMAIL from palmOne software with the following announcement.
Dear Palm User,
Whether you're looking for a little fun and games to share with your friends and family this season, or a way to escape from the holiday fray, we've got the perfect way to pass the time. Plus get $5 off any order of $35 or more, use Promo Code 5OFFPA.
To see all the new software and games at the palmOne Software store, CLICK HERE and then select SOFTWARE.
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

HARDWARE: NEWS:Hitachi Readies Fuel Cell for PDAs
Anytime a new battery technology is released, we as Palm Users are in a position to benefit. Even in todays worlfd of glitzy technology, bells and whistles etc. it all boils down to one thing and that is we are at the mercy of our battery. No power, no work. It is just that simple. So let us hope this is another step towards improving our battery life on the device we love so much!

Hitachi Readies Fuel Cell for PDAs
Hitachi and Japanese ciggie lighter maker Tokai will ship a direct methanol fuel cell system for PDAs in 2005. And they have already built the prototype, the pair said this week.
The two companies believe they can develop the prototype into a device the size of a AA battery, as their concept design shows.
Inside the cell, the methanol fuel is mixed with air in the presence of a catalyst coats on the electrode. The catalyst comprises metallic nano particles between 1nm and 2nm in diameter. The chemical reaction generates electricity. It also produces water and carbon dioxide, making it more environmentally friendly than other battery technologies, the companies claimed.
The prototype contains a 20 per cent solution of methanol, enough, the companies say, to provide sufficient fuel to power a handheld device for six to eight hours. The water produced by the electricity-generating chemical reaction is used to dilute the fuel down to the right concentration, 3-6 per cent, needed for the reaction to take place.
Hitachi first demonstrated its fuel cell system back in March. NEC is also known to be working on a similar system of its own, as is Toshiba. Unlike Hitachi, they are targeting the notebook computer market.
In October, Toshiba showed off a PDA-sized version of its fuel system that can recharge a mobile phone. -Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

USER THOUGHT: Last Minute Gift For The PALM FANATIC On Your List
Just a reminder that it is pretty close to the dreaded "Official Last Minute". Keep in mind that the palmOne Store has come up with the great idea of EMAIL Delivered Electronic Gift Certificates. Starting off in denominations as low as $5, it is fairly easy to get that last minute gift for any Palm Addict on your list (or just maybe someone doesn't quite know what to get for you at the last minute? Can't have that now can we? !) . So save yourself some time and energy and grab an egg nog, then shop from the greatest location ever made, your couch!!. Happy Holiday's once more from the Palm Addict's.
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World


Last minute shopping? Email a Gift Certificate for $5, $10, $20 or More from the Official Palm Store!

Palm Addict's
World Clock
When your device is turned off, you can easily view the time. Just press the center button on the navigation pad, and it automatically opens up to the World Clock application.
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

Sony Ericsson tests Mobile Online Multiplayer games
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications today announced it will deploy a Trial Mobile Online Multiplayer game solution for their consumers around the globe. This trial service offers consumers the ability to play exciting interactive mobile games with their Sony Ericsson phones online.
The first games to be available will be Rally (a 4-player game) and RC Battle (an 8-player game). Both games can be played with a wide variety of Sony Ericsson phones. The Trial Mobile Online Multiplayer games will be available from Sony Ericsson's Fun and Downloads web site, enabling consumers to play online against one another from around the world. The service will be accessible across all regions, however network dependencies do apply.
"Just as the success with games played via Bluetooth and Infrared, there are great opportunities for consumers to play games also over the mobile networks. With the advent of faster network technologies and more phones capable of downloading colour games, we see that there is a great deal of opportunities for Online Gaming," says Cameron Stewart, Senior Manager Global Product Marketing.
The trial will ascertain the market demand for Online games by conducting in-depth consumer research as well as measuring the performance of 'Real time' and 'Turn Based' online gaming in mobile networks.
"We hope that our Ericsson and Sony heritage can enable operators to leverage from mobile online multiplayer gaming in the near future," Says Cameron Stewart Senior Manager Global Product Marketing
The Trial Solution is based on the networking solution for Multiplayer gaming - Terraplay Move. Terraplay recently shared the podium with Synergenix, winning the Ericsson Application Award of the year for best mobile game application with 'Rally Pro Content'
'We are very pleased to work with Sony Ericsson to launch a global trial. Demand for over-the-air real time gaming is a reality today and we have designed the solution to allow mobile operators around the world to meet that demand effectively and profitably', says Jeremy Lewis CEO of Terraplay Systems.
The trial starts in mid December and will continue into the early 2004. The trial is available for consumers who own T300, T306, T310, T316, T226, T230, T608, T610, T616, Z600, Z608 and T630 products.

-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

PALM ADDICT'S
Change Your Tune
Want to change your alarm sounds? In Date Book or Clock, select Preferences from the Options menu.

Purge Protection
Date Book's "Purge" feature can be handy for keeping the database's file small, but sometimes there are events that you want to keep on your Palm. To do this, set up that event as a repeating event that repeats after many years (say, 50 or more). Purging will not delete the first instance of a repeating event that isn't finished, so that event will not be deleted when you purge.

-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

Palm Addict's
Quickly Connecting To A Network
Use WiFi Setup in the launcher to scan for available or broadcasted networks within range. If a network is not detected or does not show up in the list, it may be a secured network. Some networks do not broadcast the SSID needed for the device to associate to. You may be required to enter the SSID manually by tapping Other and typing or writing the SSID. Other types of security may also be used depending on the wireless network settings; examples are WEP Encryption or VPN. See the handbook for more help on connecting to secure networks.

Tip For All Model Palms
Keyword Search
A quick way to search for contacts in multiple categories is by using keywords in the Note field of your contacts.
For example, if you have a restaurant listed in your address book, you can add the word "Restaurant" as well as the type of food they serve, such as "Italian," in the Note field. Then you can perform a search using "Restaurant" and "Italian," and any restaurants with those keywords will appear in your search results.
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

NEWS: WAP Energiser Breathes New Life Into Old Content
MobileAware, specialists in delivering Internet content to wireless PDA's. wireless handsets and other portable DATA devices, today announces the availability of its WAP Energiser.
MobileAware’s WAP Energiser is a plug-and-play, ‘device-aware’ real-time engine that, in a mobile environment increasingly characterised by colour screens and greater memory, overcomes the limitations of existing WAP content by inserting colour icons and images, tailoring delivery according to handset capabilities, and providing additional campaign and marketing management tools.
Today there are thousands of WAP content sites accessible by mobile devices. The problem is that most WAP site content is presented in a “one-size fits all” format targeting first generation WAP browsers, resulting in small greyscale text and limited navigation. Recognising this, MobileAware developed WAP Energiser to take bland content and, without changing the code, optimise it in real- time to transform the existing portal into an easily accessible, colourful experience. Automatic generation of access keys for one-touch navigation, softkey labelling and click-through navigation links transform the user experience and create new service and marketing opportunities.
WAP Energiser provides simple web-based site management, and allows marketing teams to become involved in the look and feel of content to deliver consistent branding, campaign management, banner advertising or the running of real-time competitions. More than just a face-lift, WAP Energiser totally revamps the WAP environment for users and creates new market and revenue generating opportunities for operators and content providers.
According to Paul Strzelecki, Executive Chairman, MobileAware: “Presentation is one of the key barriers to even greater uptake of mobile data content – and current WAP presentation is generally dull. Despite this, WAP usage is on the rise with some 29 million page impressions every day in the UK alone.”
“MobileAware’s WAP Energiser represents a huge step forwards in terms of presentation and campaign management that will excite operators and content owners, help to create new services and transform the WAP experience,”
Strzelecki believes the mobile data content market will reach mass consumer levels when the issues surrounding availability and accessibility of content from wireless handsets and its on-screen presentation have been solved.
“With WAP Energiser, MobileAware adds greater value and appeal to already existing content, and solves crucial problems that have dogged WAP from the beginning with a real solution that is available today.”
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

Remember there is 6 Days left to WIN in PROPORTA's 12 Days Of CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY and it is not to late to REGISTER to WIN!! Remember, the whole contest culminates on Decmber 24th with one lucky person winning a brand spanking new PDA. (Your Choice of a palmOne Tungsten T3 or COMPAQ IPAQ 4150 !! Not Too Shabby, Eh? ) So get off of your "Sled Seat Polisher" and get REGISTERED!!
REMEMBER THIS: When shopping for that last minute gift for your favorite PDA User do NOT forget our friends at PROPORTA!! They carry a fine line of quality accessories for most all PDA makes and models, and of course the full palmOne line, past and present. Also, PROPORTA now charges only $3.50 to ship your order to the United States, ONLY $3.50 for your entire order!!.


$50 Price drop on the Zire 71 handheld. Now only $249! Plus FREE MP3 Audio Kit and FREE Overnight Shipping!
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

EDITORIAL: DOES YOUR BUSINESS CARD USE STARBUCKS AS YOUR ADDRESS?
It seems that there is an evergrowing trend now for todays upwardly mobile professional to setup shop at the local Starbucks or maybe Borders Cafe. Grab a table, get a cup of Java and open up your PALM with WifI and get to work. Well it seems that more and more are doing just that. Check out this article in SiliconValley.com:
Technology Lets Coffeehouse Regulars Tend To Business
Like millions of working people, David Smith heads off to work each day, grabs a cup of coffee, socializes briefly, then gets down to business.
However, Smith's workplace isn't actually an office -- it's Legal Grounds, a Dallas coffee shop where the freelance graphic artist has been working on his computer and meeting with clients for the last four years.
He's one of a growing number of people who -- thanks to laptops, cellphones and wireless Internet -- don't need to be tethered to a traditional office to do a day's work, and prefer to be out among people instead of alone in a home office. ``When I started freelancing, I was working mostly out of the house. I think when you have that type of time free you can linger over a cup of coffee,'' said Smith. ``I'd usually take the laptop and do some work.''
National coffeehouse giant Starbucks has embraced the trend, and about a year ago decided to try providing wireless Internet access for customers who were working out of the cafes. Dallas was a test market for Starbucks' wireless Internet service.
``This is one of the areas where we really sensed a trend where our guests were using Starbucks as a place away from the office,'' said Starbucks Regional Vice President Tim Casey. ``The pilot was very successful and it's being rolled out.''
While telecommuting has been touted as the high-tech future of work life, people such as Smith have found that the solitude of the home office isn't ideal -- and that the coffee shop blends the independent work style and comfortable, social work routines nicely.
``People are social animals,'' said John Slocum, who holds the O. Paul Corley Professorship of Management at the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. ``They need social interaction, whether they get it from work or Starbucks, it doesn't matter.'' Slocum said the coffeehouse provides officelike connections, but with the added benefit of no office politics.
``You're working, they're working -- there's social cohesion,'' he said.
Smith, 50, who hasn't worked in a traditional office setting since the `80s, when he was a photographer for North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas), said there are many parallels between working out of Legal Grounds and working in an office.
``There are people I look forward to seeing, just like in an office, and people that you dread to see as well,'' he said. ``Before you can work, you definitely need to do some socializing. I'm just a regular coffee shop customer for the first half-hour.''
But after the morning rush slows, he opens his PowerBook and begins working on Web site design and other projects, including his avocation of composing techno music.
He said there are advantages to working out of a coffee shop rather than an office, such as having no time clock and -- he said with a laugh -- way better coffee. But there are also downsides.
``You get all the colds ... you have to be able to work through loud noise, you have to be able to focus and tune out even more so than in an office,'' he said. ``Babies are one of the biggest hazards. The screaming child at the table next to you ... you don't get that at work.''
As a person who spends hours each day at a coffeehouse, Smith is always mindful of the fact that he is in someone else's place of business. He doesn't go behind the counter to help himself to a refill, even though he knows where everything is as well as any employee, and he always dresses nicely as if he were going into the office -- albeit a casual one.
Legal Grounds owner Leslie Murphy, who has several regular customers who work out of her shop, said consideration is the key to making the relationship work.
END OF STORY
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World


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How PalmSource Fits Into the Smartphone Equation
While Microsoft battles it out against Nokia and Symbian for dominance of the mobile software market, one company waits on the sidelines, largely ignored in the smartphone contest. That company is PalmSource, the developer of the Palm OS, which--despite the fact that it is the most popular PDA operating system in the world, with 30 million units sold--has gotten the shaft in recent debates over smartphone technology. While PalmSource may dominate the wireless organizers and PIM devices of the world, critics have panned the OS, calling it too slow and not robust enough to handle the new demands of mobile data. Theyve derided Palm-based wireless handsets, saying theyre not true smartphones but rather hybrid PDAs. Theyve pointed at Palms insignificant penetration outside of the CDMA market. Overall, the industry perception is that PalmSource is not a true mobile OS. David Nagel, PalmSources CEO, isnt just out to correct a few misconceptions about his software--hes set to destroy its critics perceptions entirely. And with the help of a few recent product launches, PalmSource may not have too much more convincing to do. For the last few years, weve been hearing Oh, you cant do that on a Palm, Nagel said in a recent interview. The perception was that Palm just wasnt a powerful enough platform. Well, weve blown those perceptions out of the water. In October, PalmSource licensee Tapwave released the Zodiac, a gaming device that could easily be mistaken for one of the handhelds produced by Nintendo. The device handled graphics intensive action and sports games like DOOM II and Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 with ease. While the Zodiacs wireless connectivity is limited to Bluetooth and as of yet doesnt handle voice, Nagel said the Zodiac definitely disproves any notions that Palm devices cant handle hardcore computing. Moreover, in recent months Kyocera, Samsung and PalmOne have offered up new smartphones, all a far cry from their bulky predecessors. The Kyocera and Samsung devices are now among the smallest smart devices on the market, dispelling any misconception that Palm devices are merely wirelessly souped-up PDAs, Nagel said, adding Weve proven that Palm OS has what it takes to compete in the smartphone industry. A veteran of both the computing and telecom industries, Nagel probably doesnt need to prove he can make the Palm OS a viable and formidable platform. He worked in product development at Apple Computer between 1988 and 1996, when the Macintosh OS came into its prime, giving Microsoft its first major OS competition and spurring the PC software giant to create Windows. Nagel was later appointed chief technology officer of Concert and AT&T, serving as President of AT&T Labs before he joined the Palm board and was named CEO of Palm Source in 2001. So while Nagel is no stranger to innovating new technologies, he admits PalmSource could be doing more to sell itself in the wireless space. While so much attention was focused on the development of Symbians modular operating system and Microsofts scaled-down version of Windows, Palm continued to focus on the PDA market. While the Palm OS produced the first smart wireless devices in the market long before Nokia and Ericsson released their first Symbian devices, Palm still positioned itself as a PDA company. At trade shows as recently as three years ago, Palm downplayed the viability of voice in the Palm architecture. The first--and most successful--Palm-based converged devices were all released by Palms licensees. Though the significance of the smartphone may not have been immediately obvious to Palm, it certainly came to the realization last year. After optimizing its most recent versions of OS-5 for wireless connectivity, PalmSource immediately began work on its next generation of code, deciding to build OS-6 entirely on a network architecture (and therefore a wireless-based architecture). Additionally, PalmSource freed itself from its parent company last December--one of the conditions Nagel made when he took his job as CEO in late 2001--when Palm merged with Handspring to form PalmOne, spinning off PalmSource. Free from conflicting competitive interests, PalmSource is now signing up new licensees and dedicated to developing its wireless OS. Despite a few faltering steps, to say PalmSource has been left behind the smartphone industry would be a foolish statement. Microsoft made a big splash in October when it beat Nokia to the CDMA market with a Windows-based Samsung smartphone. The announcement was certainly significant for Microsoft, but its important to remember that smart devices have been operating over U.S. CDMA networks for years, and the Palm OS powered 90% of them. And while Microsoft and Symbian boast of their ever-increasing developer programs, Nagel is quick to point out there are already 20,000 applications already developed for the Palm OS today. The smartphone market is still taking shape. Barely 10 million converged devices have been sold to date and true 3G networks are in their infancy. The next few years will determine the winners and losers. This is a market in which its impossible to judge if youre too early or too late, Nagel said. Would I have liked to have been nine months ahead of where we are now? Sure, you can say anything in hindsight. But I dont think weve missed any opportunities here.
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

LONDON — Ericsson Technology Licensing said several manufacturers of Bluetooth-enabled products have shown interest in an interoperability testing initiative the company has just started.

Focus of the interoperability testing will be at the application level to ascertain which functionality different Bluetooth products support when communicating with each other and which user scenarios they can handle.

Testing will be done at Ericsson's independent Bluetooth Qualification Test Facility to ensure confidentiality.

Johan Åkesson, marketing director of Ericsson Technology Licensing , said: “Consumers should not have to care about technical details. All they want to know is what their products can do together."

Products submitted for the optional interoperability testing will already have been qualified according to the mandatory Bluetooth qualification program, which guarantees a correct Bluetooth implementation

Ericsson plans to make public the results of the interoperability testing with the agreement of the manufacturer and publish a cross-reference list in selected publications.

December 14, 2003
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Eight months after the fall of his government, Saddam
Hussein was captured by coalition forces near his hometown of Tikrit, where
he was hiding in a farmhouse cellar, U.S. officials said Sunday. The arrest
was a major victory for the coalition that has been battling an insurgency
for months.

Sources from the U.S. Military Intelligence Division familiar with the
details of his capture disclosed today they had been monitoring cellular
telephone activity in Hussein's hometown of Tikrit using sophisticated
satellite eavesdropping technology. Apparently Hussein, in an effort to
further confound U.S. coalition efforts to capture him, had placed a
cellular call to a major cellular carrier in order to port his cellular
number to a new carrier pursuant to the Wireless Number Portability (WNP)
Act enacted on November 24, 2003. Not knowing they had Saddam Hussein on
the line, Customer Service representatives from the new cellular carrier had
placed Hussein on hold for over an hour while they attempted to transfer his
service to a new carrier thereby allowing intelligence officials to
intercept the call and trace it to Hussein's hiding place in Iraq where the
deposed dictator was soon thereafter captured in a pre-dawn raid by the U.S.
4th Infantry Division.

Major General Ricardo Sanchez, Supreme Commander of the coalition Occupation
Forces in Iraq, told the press in an early briefing that Hussein was
"cooperative and seemed resigned to his fate that it would take at least
five days more before his new cellular carrier would be able to complete the
transfer."

Thus far calls to President George Bush and White House Press Liason went
unanswered this morning as their telephone numbers were still in the process
of being transferred to new carriers.

A joint press release from AT&T, Verizon, Cingular, T-Mobile, Sprint PCS and
Alltell today said, "We are working as hard as we can to expedite the
porting of numbers and improve the process by lowering hold and transfer
times now that this evil dictator, the world's greatest terrorist has
finally been captured."
(I saw this on Newsgroup, have to give the writer credit, Good Stuff!!)

In one fell swoop, Think Outside announces a royalty free Bluetooth HID profile for device manufacturers and hints of an upcoming Bluetooth version of the Stowaway keyboard
Think Outside, the company behind the much-acclaimed line of Stowaway Portable Keyboards for a variety of handhelds, today announced that it has created a royalty-free keyboard driver that utilizes the Bluetooth Human Interface Device (HID) profile. The company said it will make this available to any device maker interested in including it in a smartphone or PDA design, in anticipation of increased support for external, Bluetooth-based keyboards in the future.

Due to the manner in which Bluetooth is created and managed, device makers must license or develop a Bluetooth software stack to enable Bluetooth operation in their devices, and also license or develop desired Bluetooth profiles. With the advent of Think Outside's royalty free HID profile, device makers will at least have one less hurdle to overcome towards implementing HID support in devices.

The HID profile itself lists a series of devices and the rules by which the Bluetooth radio should obey to communicate with a specific device. Should a Bluetooth product not have a particular device listed in its profile, it will not be able to communicate with it.

In related news, and likely to be the driving force behind Think Outside's generousity, the company today also announced that it will bring a Bluetooth version of its Stoawaway Wireless Keyboard to market. A Think Outside spokesperson confirmed to infoSync World that although a final release date has not been pegged, the company expects to have operational units ready in time for the CES fair to be held in mid-January next year.

Currently, few - if any - mobile devices support the HID profile as no accessories have been available, although this is likely to change rapidly when accessories utilizing the profile begin to surface.

Nearly 10 percent of current wireline customers surveyed by Standard & Poor’s Equity Research Services said they would take their wireline numbers to wireless carriers based on the recently implemented local number portability mandate, which S&P noted could intensify wireless substitution efforts next year and lead to greater access line losses for wireline operators.
S&P telecommunications services equity analyst Todd Rosenbluth added that the survey results found no evidence that the youth market is more prone to cut the cord, although he did admit the prepaid market, which traditionally targets the youth market, is just emerging.

While wireless carriers are expected to see an influx of former wireline customers beginning next year, Rosenbluth noted he does expect a sizable increase in customer churn from one wireless carrier to another as a result of LNP, with 4 percent of current wireless customers suggesting they would switch carriers regardless of when their current contracts expire and an additional 16 percent of those surveyed planning to switch once their contracts are up.

For those carriers looking to attract those potential customers, S&P’s survey found a majority of respondents believe price and quality of service are the most important factors when choosing wireless operators, suggesting aggressive minute packages and wireless capital spending should increase next year.

The survey also questioned the ability of aggressive bundling of data services with traditional services to increase customer loyalty, though S&P said telecommunications providers could find success with bundled calling minute offerings spread between wireline and wireless services.

“We expect all carriers to develop aggressive bundling strategies, particularly wireline and wireless services under one plan, as they try to reduce customer churn, and we believe bundling should be catered toward sharing minutes between wireline and wireless services,” Rosenbluth said.
_Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, PalmPlace and Wireless World

NEWS: Wireless2Web Founder Receives Patent for LinkPush Technology
Dec. 12, 2003 12:31 PM EST

LOS ANGELES—Richard Helferich, Wireless2Web founder, has been awarded a patent from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for its LinkPush technology included in Wireless2Web’s multi-modal TalkBack feature that enables wireless phone users to verbally respond to text messages.
With LinkPush, cell-phone users receive short text messages indicating they have a message waiting and an option of acting on the message, by retrieving, deleting or forwarding it. The solution minimizes clutter on the handset and conserves bandwidth, according to Wireless2Web. “It is as if we sent the user an Internet hyperlink, wirelessly, directly to their wireless device, Smartphone or cell phone,” said Helferich.
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

EDITORIAL: BLUETOOTH, Still Plugging Away At It!!
The more I use Bluetooth, the more I like it. The more I use Bluetooth, the more I see potential uses. And finally, the more I use Bluetooth, the more articles I read that it is a struggling technology that is not being accepted by the consumer. So LISTEN UP PEOPLE!! If you all cause me to lose Bluetooth, and slow down the advancement of more neater and cooler Bluetooth ideas, IM GONNA BE MAD (milder word, I prefer starts with a "P" and rhymes with KISSED). I just don not get it. It is very easy and simple to setup (Yes there can be a snag or two like with anything) All in all, it does what it is supposed to do, and that is basically eliminate wires, (That is a good idea, is it not?) and help us communicate between our different devices and keep them synchronised. (The basics, yes I know it does more) So what is the problem? OK, mini rant is over, here is the intro to an article that started me off today.

Bluetooth: At a Crossroads?
Fierce Wireless
Bluetooth is at a crossroads: the technology is appearing on more devices than ever, but it has failed to excite consumer interest. At this week's Bluetooth Americas conference in San Jose, Bluetooth insiders debated the future of the technology. Some claim that given its penetration on mobile devices, Bluetooth could take off in the next year. The Bluetooth SIG plans a number of branding and marketing exercises in 2004 designed to raise the technology's awareness among consumers. Critics, however, remain skeptical citing Bluetooth's continued inability to live up to its promise. Many analysts think Bluetooth's time has passed. Competition from WiFi and emerging rival standards such as Ultrawideband and ZigBee will, they claim, spell the end of the standard. END

Ok, now back to me. Some of the issues related to adoption of Bluetooth is cost, of course. An interesting bit of conversation follows: Analysts studies have shown that consumers will pay significant premiums to eliminate clutter, especially on the desktop. But to truly take off, Bluetooth headsets have to become a smaller percentage of that overall cost, said Michael Sharer, OEM sales manager at Fellowes Manufacturing Co. of Itasca, Ill., wandering the show floor in search of contacts. "As companies put more technology into phones, it will drive the price up," Sharer said. "But paying $100 for a headset is not going to be something people who buy these cheap, refurbished phones are going to do. It's like saying, OK, you're going to buy a $400 PC as well as a $400 Klipsch speaker system? That's as much as the PC. That doesn't happen."

That, makes good sense. The industry has to realize that while these phones and our beloved Palms come bundled with Bluetooth capability, the average person who spent $400 for a Tungsten X, (Generic Palm with BT I just made up, don't wanna be quoted tomorrow that I have announced the release of the new PALM X at $400 LOL) is not going to turn around and spend another $100 ( one quarter of the purchase price) just to lose the wire going from their PDA to the headset. (Except maybe Sammy)
So in closing, I guess I have talked myself into blaming the industry as well as the consumer for hindering the growth of a very cool and benefical technology. If any one cares to join in, maybe you could drop a line or two into your PALM stories that you all are sending in, and give us a quick Bluetooth opinion. I for one, would like to hear it.
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World



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REVIEW: Zodiac Not Quite Star in Handheld Market
I found this review rather enlightening and objective. Picks up on some interesting quirks about the Zodiac. Sounds like SONY is got the "ZODIAC KILLER" in the wings, or so the author believes. And then there is those guys at NOKIA....... Sounds like it's gonna be an interesting future in mobile gaming with integrated devices. Or is it integrated devices with built in mobile gaming? Or is it......

Video Gaming Never Looked So Good On A Handheld Computer.
By ERIK STETSON Associated Press writer
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -

The Zodiac from Tapwave Inc. is a first: a portable digital assistant based on the Palm operating system that's built mainly for playing games.
With a sleek oval design, a snazzy gray-and-silver finish and a thumb joystick, the Zodiac makes Nintendo's Game Boy Advance look like a blocky, budget-level Toyota. Yet while its vivid, 16,000-color display is gorgeous, the Zodiac does have its shortcomings.
Tapwave got plenty right: the six-ounce Zodiac boasts a screen about 50 percent bigger than Palm's top models and on par with Sony's best multimedia handhelds.
Game Boy Advances have twice as many colors, but only a quarter of the screen resolution.
Nokia's new N-Gage, a combination cell phone/gaming device, places dead last here, with only about 4,000 colors, a screen resolution roughly equal to the Game Boy's and contact-lens sized games that are difficult to install.
With a built-in eight-megabyte graphics accelerator, the Zodiac has almost unheard-of muscle among handhelds. And it has stereo speakers and support for headphones and external speakers that enhance music- and video-playing.
The Zodiac offers more input options to game makers and players, with two shoulder buttons and a set of four-way buttons - in addition to the joystick and stylus.
A Zodiac with 32 megabytes of built-in storage costs $300. For $400 you get 128 megabytes. Other high-end handhelds can cost $600 or more. This one even vibrates, and its screen display rotates horizontally or vertically with the tap of a stylus.
But the Zodiac's beefy specs alone won't win it converts.
For one thing, the Game Boy Advance has an overwhelming edge with its titanic library of more than 550 game titles.
Both the Zodiac and N-Gage are scheduled to get less than 25 titles each so far, with the Zodiac getting a few top titles the N-Gage won't, including the role-player Neverwinter Nights and shoot-em-ups Doom II and Duke Nukem.
Also, the Zodiac can't do two things at once. For example, it can't play music while showing stored pictures. This is common in handhelds, but walking and chewing gum at the same time ought to be easy for a comprehensive new entertainment device like this.
Zodiacs also lack certain features increasingly common in high-end handhelds, such as voice recording and a thumb keyboard - or the ability to attach one. The software doesn't link with Microsoft Outlook's e-mail program as a standard feature.
The Zodiac also comes up a little short on multiplayer gaming, offering it only via a Bluetooth wireless connection, which has a range of just 30 feet.
Bluetooth-networked games tended to take at least a minute on average to start when I tested them with two Zodiacs.
A few games didn't connect at all and others, including top offerings like Spy Hunter, were rather sluggish and difficult to control.
Tapwave aimed to beat Sony to the punch with the Zodiac. Sony's PlayStation Portable, promised for late 2004, is being touted as the ``Walkman of the 21st Century.''
Tapwave has partly succeeded. But Zodiacs are only evolutionary, not revolutionary.
I think I'll wait for Sony's attempt
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World


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In the two weeks since wireless carriers in the top 100 MSAs implemented the FCC’s local number portability rules, thereby enabling consumers to switch carriers and “port” their telephone number to the new carrier, the Commission has received approximately 600 informal consumer complaints as of 4 PM, Monday, December 8.

The majority of these complaints allege delay in moving a number from one wireless carrier to another. There are similar complaints, although fewer in number, alleging delay in moving from a wireline carrier to a wireless carrier. The second biggest category alleges refusal or failure by carriers to “port” a number after receiving a consumer request.

The six carriers most frequently mentioned in the complaints are: AT&T Wireless (332 complaints); Verizon Wireless (129); Cingular Wireless (98); Sprint PCS (94); Nextel Communications, Inc. (46) and T-Mobile USA, Inc. (44). The Commission receives many complaints that do not involve violations of a Commission rule or order. Therefore, the receipt of these complaints does not necessarily indicate any wrongdoing by any of the companies involved. Further analysis is required to determine what, if any, violations occurred. In addition, these statistics do not reflect the number of complaints against a particular carrier relative to the number of porting requests made to the carrier.

On December 4, noting the pattern of complaints and various press reports, the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau sent a letter to AT&T Wireless asking for information about the nature of the problems the company appeared to be facing with the porting process and what the company was doing to remedy the situation. AT&T Wireless has until December 10 to respond.

In releasing these latest complaint numbers, K. Dane Snowden, the chief of the FCC’s Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau, said. “Since implementation of wireless local number portability on November 24, many consumers have changed companies and kept their numbers. Number porting is a complex procedure and, as with any new system, we expected a few bumps along the way in the beginning. We will continue to work with the companies to overcome any initial glitches to ensure that consumers who wish to take advantage of this very popular option can do so easily and quickly.”

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—Motorola Inc. announced a new version of its text input system the company said could predict and suggest entire sentences based on users’ past typings.
“Our aim with iTAP 6.0 is to make text messaging from a mobile device keypad simple and efficient so these devices are used as much for business communication as for casual communications,” said Neal Campbell, general manager of the Lexicus Division of Motorola. “The iTAP 6.0 input method makes it much easier to construct full concise sentences. This novel approach to inputting text was well received by all categories of users, including youth as well as business professionals in limited trials in Europe and North America.”
Motorola said the iTAP 6.0 technology will ship in its handsets early next year.
Other predictive text providers include Zi Corp. and its eZiText and eZiTap products.

NEWS: TMOBILE Reports Systemwide TEXT Messaging Problem
For our readers using the TMOBILE USA Network, I have just been informed by Customer Service that since December 1st, their system has been experiencing a Nationwide problem with the Sending and /or Receiving of TEXT messages. This appears to be either an intermittent problem with some subscribers, or a constant issue with others (and yours truely is an "others") If your not a heavy user of TEXT Messaging or SMS, you may not have noticed it. Anyway, it is a problem and TMOBILE is unable to give a time frame on a resolution to the problem. The phone that I first realized was a "No Receivo" was my TMO EasySpeak PrePaid that I have setup to receive all my Day to Day alerts, messages and SMS (TMO EasySpeak Prepaid is Free Unlimited Incoming and with the new 1 Year Expiration of Airtime, quite a handy little deal) and they gave me a $5 credit on that account (Without asking I may add) Therefore,I forsee a subsequent couple of phone calls while the outtage is going on that will top me off with some extra $$ quite nicely. Anyway, in closing, check your TMOBILE phone for Send/Receive capability, remember that even if it does work, it currently is not dependable for receiving of any form of TEXT message. So, please stay tuned here at Palm Addict and I will keep you posted as best I can. Although Palm Addict is dedicated to the PALM User , we must realize that with the advent of the SmartPhone and Wireless PDA'S, we find that Wireless News does effect the PALM user more and more each day. So STAY TUNED, WE GOT YA COVERED!!
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World


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HARDWARE: CNET REVIEWS THE TAPWAVE ZODIAC 2 w/128 MEG
The Zodiac is a slick multimedia Palm and portable gaming device, but its success will depend on its game library
The Good: Palm OS 5.2; sleek design; impressive screen; ATI graphics accelerator; Bluetooth; MP3 support; dual SD expansion slots; healthy battery life.
The Bad: Limited number of launch titles; no included conduit for Outlook synchronization; no built-in Wi-Fi.
If you're in the market for a new Palm and you have a bit of gamer in you, Tapwave is hoping you'll consider its Zodiac entertainment console, a groundbreaking PDA that doubles as a portable gaming device. The Zodiac2, which has four times the memory (128MB) of its less expensive little brother, the 32MB Zodiac1, costs $400. That's a lot of scratch for the Game Boy Advance audience but not an outrageous sum to pay for a Palm featuring an impressively sharp, high-resolution screen with landscape and portrait orientation; dual expansion slots; ATI's new handheld graphics accelerator; and a built-in analog game controller.
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-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World


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Before President Bush visited London last month, the English press indulged in frenzied speculation about the extraordinary security measures that would be taken to protect him. The papers fretted about a number of humdrum potential hassles (street closures, monstrous traffic jams), but they also raised a more peculiar concern: Would the government of Britain selectively block cell-phone signals along President Bush's route? If they did—whether they switched off the cellular networks along his path or jammed local cell-phone signals—nearby mobile phones would become inoperable.

As it turns out, they didn't jam cell phones. But this arcane-sounding precaution was no figment of the English imagination. Cell-phone jammers—already available on the Internet to security honchos and average Joes alike—are a surprisingly useful (and widely used) tool, and they could easily become as popular as cell phones themselves.

A cellular "security bubble" in London could have protected Bush from a very real threat: terrorists who use cell phones to detonate bombs from miles away, or even another country. By connecting a cell phone to hidden explosives, and then calling that phone, one can detonate a bomb (the electrical charge that activates the ringer on the cell phone serves as the triggering signal). In May 2002, Palestinian militants in Tel Aviv nearly caused a major explosion when they placed a bomb wired to a cell phone in a fuel truck headed for Israel's largest fuel depot. (The bomb detonated, but the fire was put out.)
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AT&T Wireless Services Inc., which last week received an inquiry request from the Federal Communications Commission regarding consumer complaints related to its local number portability efforts, said it has implemented software improvements that allow number porting to and from the carrier “in times on par with other carriers—in some cases in just a few hours.”

“Unfortunately, the first group of customers who have tried moving their wireless numbers to a different carrier have had a frustrating experience,” said Michael Keith, president of mobility services at AT&T Wireless. “AT&T Wireless has certainly not been satisfied with the performance of our porting systems in the first few weeks of the LNP process, and we regret inconveniencing our customers.”

The carrier noted problems with its software in acknowledging requests from other carriers to move a customer’s number that eventually created a bottleneck in the system.

“As a result of changes we made in conjunction with the software provider, we are now responding to more than three-quarters of these requests in 30 minutes or less,” Keith noted.

While taking some of the blame for the porting difficulties, AT&T Wireless also placed some of the hardship on its competitors, which it said experienced periodic outages in the weeks prior to the implementation of LNP, inhibiting the ability of AT&T Wireless’ vendor to test its software.

“We have identified and begun to solve the problems affecting AT&T Wireless and have improved the customer experience as a result,” Keith added. “Neither we nor our industry have all the issues licked yet, but we are making steady, solid progress in these early days of an unprecedented process.”

Analysts have noted that AT&T Wireless used a different vendor to handle its porting system than its five nationwide competitors, which all reportedly relied on Telecommunications Services Inc. to provide their porting services. AT&T Wireless was also reportedly hindered by a software glitch dating back to Nov. 1 that hampered the carrier’s ability to access information for its GSM customers and delayed its ability to sign up additional subscribers to the network.
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