The Wireless World - NEWS & VIEWS

palmOne has announced a $30 price drop on the Palm Tungsten T2 making it now only $299. Save $30.00! Plus Free Overnight Shipping!
And just to make things exciting, palmOne has announced a $50 REBATE on the ZIRE 71, making the Palm Zire 71 now only $199 after $50 mail-in rebate. Save $50! Plus Free Shipping!

So, if you haven't been lucky enough to win one of the excellent PALM ADDICT contest's, here is two great new opportunities to get yourself a new palmOne T2 or ZIRE 71.
Ron P.

On Monday 2-26-2004, Motorola announced the Motorola MPx — a part of the Motorola MOTOPro series of handsets featuring Microsoft Windows Mobile software. The dual-hinge device opens both lengthways as a clamshell phone and in landscape mode as an email device with a wide screen and full QWERTY keyboard.
The Motorola MPx aims to replace use of multiple devices by blending the essentials of a mobile phone, personal data assistant (PDA) and email messenger in one device. By opening the device in landscape mode, Internet browsing, streaming video and access to corporate applications are all supposed to be within easy reach using the Motorola MPx.
The tri-band GSM/GRPS Motorola MPx is a business tool, with advanced features such as built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and Infrared support for data exchange. The MPx also sports a 2.8 inch, 16-bit color display providing a resolution of 320x240 pixels.
The device is built on the MOTOPro Innovation Platform, a feature rich software and hardware platform that leverages Motorola’s design and technologies, as well as the Microsoft Windows Mobile software. The Motorola MPx boasts up to 1GB of expandable memory through a SD/MMC slot, an integrated 1.3 mega pixel camera with flash, and Java technology.
The Motorola MPx will be shipped with Windows Media Player for playback of video clips. Video clips and pictures taken by the integrated camera can be sent via e-mail, MMS, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
The Motorola MPx is expected to be available in the second half of 2004, while pricing will depend on operator.



-Ron Pendleton WebMaster, Palm Place and Wireless World

CANNES, France (AP)—Seven of the world's biggest mobile phone makers have agreed to make changes to handset designs to combat soaring rates of wireless-related crime, an industry group announced Tuesday.

Nokia, Motorola, Siemens, Sony Ericsson, NEC, Panasonic and Sagem have signed on to an initiative to hardwire codes called IMEIs—or International Mobile Equipment Identities—into the circuitry of their handsets, the GSM Associated said.
Codes belonging to stolen cell phones could then be posted on an international database. Wireless service providers who join the initiative could then use the blacklist to block any stolen phone connecting to their networks.

So far, 24 mobile operators have signed on, Rob Conway, chief executive of the GSM Association, told a keynote session at the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, southeastern France.

Mobile phones already carry IMEIs, but the codes can often be reprogrammed by thieves before being resold.

Crime rates linked to mobile phones have risen sharply across Europe, Asia and North America in recent years.

In Britain, where a special police unit was recently set up to deal with the problem, official figures show one in every two street crimes involves a mobile phone.

And GSM Association spokesman Ian Volans said there were increasing signs that mobile phone theft was becoming a major activity for international organized crime.

The trade group said it was encouraging more of its service provider members to join the initiative.

"As soon as you have all the operators in one country running it, it a major disincentive for the casual thief," Volans said. "Taking it global would be a serious deterrent to organized crime."

According to researcher In-Stat/MDR, nearly one third of all U.S. wireless subscribers will not have residential landline phone service by 2008. The study claims the advent of wireless number portability will drive the trend to "cut to the cord" as consumers look for ways to increase their mobility and cut their phone costs. The study also predicts that increased wireless network quality will drive subscribers to end their landline phone service. The trend will be most prominent among young people, who have less attachment to landline phones.

For more on the In-Stat/MDR study:
- see this story from CNET

Spring time is approaching, so it must be time for the rumors of upcoming palmOne handhelds to come in earnest, as palmOne, previously Palm, has traditionally announced new devices in the Spring and Fall. Why last year, the handheld company, released the Tungsten C and the Zire 71, two devices that helped complete a successful product turnaround for the company, which had seen its PDA line-up eclipsed by the likes of Sony and HP for excitement and the latest features.
The most recent rumor, as reported by Palm Addict, places a sequel to the Zire 71, which was palmOne's first PDA with an integrated digital camera, as appearing this spring. This device, the Zire 72, may look like the Tungsten E, palmOne's popular mid-level business PDA released last fall, and include 64MB of RAM with 56 MB available to the user, and like the Zire 71, a digital camera.

The Zire 71 only has 16 MB of memory and the camera on the Zire 72 is purported to be a far superior at 1.3 megapixels. The handheld would run Palm OS 5.2.1, now called Garnet. It may bring Bluetooth to the Zire line also.

Other rumored new handhelds from palmOne include a successor to the Treo 600. This would be the first Treo to come to light after PalmOne's merger with Handspring, the original designer

I use X-10 Home Automation all over my house. In fact, I have actually had X-10 since I was 12 years old. I have the original walnut grained control panal from Radio Shack and the Brown modules from them as well. The stuff does last. I don't wanna telll you how long ago that was, but it is long enough. I have X-10 software/modules turn my lights on automatically, make tea in the morning and automatically turn my lights on and off when I am away. It is worth a look, and it is inexpensive, very inexpensive. So if you have not looked at X-10 check 'em out, they have neat stuff.
Note: I just added a tabletop controller on my Mom's nitestand and gave her a PalmTop Controller for the Living Room/Rest of House. She wakes up, Hits "3 On" and the Tea Pot Starts" I am a hero, she still is not over it! She comes upstairs and forgets to turn the lights off in hallway or downstairs, "4 Off" and she is done. And thank God, No Clapping!! LOL. You can do much more if you use the software, but in her case just the standard controllers was all that was needed. If anyone has questions about X-10 stuff, drop me a line be glad to help you with it.

Wireless carriers are working hard on next-generation networks that will send data to phones much faster, making it possible to deliver something resembling true full-motion TV, while new smart devices that tap those networks could have screens larger than the teabag-size LCDs on today's handsets.

Of course, we don't live in the future. Today's wireless networks and phones are much better than a few years ago, but don't quite have the horsepower required for TV.

MobiTV (www.mobitv.com), launched in November by a Berkeley company named Idetic, is available for an additional $9.99 a month to Sprint PCS customers who already have the PCS Vision data plan.

What you get is unlimited viewing of 14 live cable television channels, including ABC News Live, CNBC, the Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel and MSNBC. Unlimited, that is, until your battery runs out -- after about three hours for most phones compatible with MobiTV.

What you don't get is smooth motion. Regular television runs at 30 frames a second, fast enough for the human eye and the human brain to see fluid action.

MobiTV claims to broadcast at one to two frames a second; in my tests with a Sanyo SCP 8100 flip phone borrowed from Idetic, the picture instead seemed to change every one to two seconds. The result was more like a fast-paced slide show than video, but the pictures did give me at least a sense of what was happening. The audio, meanwhile, almost always came through in a steady if somewhat tinny stream. You listen either on a speakerphone function or through a headset.

FULL STORY FROM SYNCHROLOGIC

Nokia today launched their enterprise mobility solution for corporate customers. The new Nokia 9500 Communicator is one of the first cellular devices on the market designed to meet the demands of corporate IT departments for customization, manageability and security. The tri-band device supporting E-GPRS (EDGE) and Wi-Fi 802.11b is expected to be available in volume during the fourth quarter of 2004. The price (unsubsidized) of the Nokia 9500 Communicator is expected to be around €800 in Europe or $1000 in the United States.

With the announcement of the new enterprise-class communicator series, Nokia's recently formed Enterprise Solutions business group evolves the company's portfolio of business-optimised devices to include a full range of differentiated devices.

"Nokia understands mobility better than anyone," said Mary McDowell, Nokia Enterprise Solutions' newly appointed senior vice president and general manager. "The Nokia 9500 Communicator combines our knowledge of enterprise customer needs and critical usability issues with our expertise in mobile connectivity and security, resulting in the first mobile device that enables fast and universal access to corporate services, and is backed by proven application and software support from leading IT vendors."

Like its predecessors from the first Communicator family, the Nokia 9500 Communicator takes the most popular office solutions mobile by bringing e-mail, personal information management, with PC synchronization, browsing, vertical enterprise applications and even document, spreadsheet and presentation creation into the pockets of mobile professionals, allowing them to effectively utilize their time while on the road. Other features of the sleek 222-gram (7.83 oz.) device include:

- Tri-band GSM capability (two variants: 900/1800/1900 MHz and 850/1800/1900 MHz)
- GPRS/EGPRS (EDGE)
- Wireless LAN IEEE 802.11b
- Symbian Operating System 7.0S Platform with J2ME Personal - Profile environment
- In-built VGA camera & Multimedia messaging
- Bluetooth audio and data support
- USB connectivity (Nokia Connectivity Cable DKU-2)
- 80 MB of free user memory
- Two color (up to 65k colors) displays with
- 640x200 pixels, Series 80 User Interface
- 128x128 pixels, Series 40 User Interface
- E-mail support: POP3, IMAP,
- Email: IMAP4, POP3, SMTP, SyncML
- Security: SSL/TLS, Ipsec VPN
- Browsing: HTML/XHTML, HTML 4.01, JavaScript 1.3
- Office tool support: documents, spreadsheet, presentations

Also unveiled were the Connectivity desk stand for convenient charging and synchronization with a compatible PC, the Mobile Holder, which firmly holds the Nokia 9500 communicator in place in the car, and the Antenna Coupler, which provides a connection to an external antenna. For personalization, optional color covers are expected to be available.

COMPLETE NOKIA COMMUNICATOR 9500 SITE

CHECK OUT OUR NEW WAP WEBSITE. GO TO WWW.WAPTERROR.DE FOR ALL THE LATEST ON WAP AND GASM PHONES

CANNES, France—More than 1 billion people are now using GSM-based mobile phones, the GSM Association announced this week in accordance with the 3GSM Wold Congress being held in Cannes, France.

According to the GSM Association, that milestone means the technology is used by one in six of the world’s population, in more than 200 countries and territories, and is chosen by 80 percent of all new mobile customers.

“GSM was born out of the revolutionary vision that mobile phones should keep customers connected anytime, anywhere, even when crossing borders,” said Rob Conway, chief executive of the GSM Association. “That revolution has gained currency and support faster than even the most optimistic dreams of its founders.”

3G Americas added to the GSM Association’s findings, reporting 100-percent annual growth for GSM technology in the Americas in 2003, including an increase in subscriber base of nearly 150 percent in Latin America, and 77-percent growth in the North American market.

Speaking monetarily, global revenues attributable to GSM technology totaled $277 billion in 2003, according to a new report from Deutsche Bank. The report further forecasts GSM revenues will grow to $500 billion in 2005.

Separately, 3G Americas recently announced Chris Pearson will now serve as president of the organization. Pearson has served as the group’s executive vice president and senior operating officer since it was created in 2002.

Pre-Order the Nikon D70 today!

Cingular, the second-largest US mobile phone company, has won the bid war for AT&T Wireless, after outbidding Vodafone Group with a $15-per-share bid, CNBC reported. Such a bid would value AT&T Wireless at about $40.7 billion (EUR 32.2 billion).
Yesterday Cingular Wireless increased its bid for AT&T Wireless to $38 billion, immediately followed by Vodafone Group. The bids represented $14 per share. AT&T Wireless had asked Cingular and Vodafone to make sweetened bids after both companies were offering $35 billion.

By Bill Machrone, PC Magazine
How many megapixels do you really need? At the recent Consumer Electronics Show, I ran into my friend George Margolin, who handed me a pair of rather amazing pictures. Both were 12- by 18-inch prints of digital photographs. One was a head shot of fellow columnist John C. Dvorak, the other a picture of John and me standing side by side. The resolution of these images is startling. You can count every hair on John's head (although that task is getting a little easier these days), and you can see the subtly colored fibers in his jacket. In the picture of the two of us, you can even read the small print on my name tag.

He shot both with a 2-megapixel camera. Most people these days don't even consider 2 megapixels sufficient for a 4-by-6 print, but George loves flouting convention. As further evidence, he shot both pictures handheld, through a longish zoom lens, in a large ballroom, at 1/30 of a second, without a flash. He also likes saving a buck: He had both images printed at Costco for less than $3 apiece. His miraculous camera? An Olympus C-2100 Ultra Zoom with a 10X zoom lens.

The discontinued C-2100 is a bit of a secret weapon—it has optical image stabilization. You've seen this feature in camcorders: The camera senses your motion and moves an internal lens in the opposite direction to eliminate or minimize shake and blur. Some do this by shifting the sensor itself, so that it follows your motion. We'll come back to this point as we explore George's rules for getting the most out of a digicam, even one with limited resolution.

COMPLETE STORY FROM PC MAGAZINE

New MP3 Phones Tune Into Consumer Demand

(16/02/2004, BWCS Staff)

South Korean mobile vendors Samsung and LG Electronics have announced that their latest generation of mobile handsets will incorporate MP3 digital music players. The addition of an MP3 player will not generate extra service revenue for mobile operators because the technology is designed to download music from a personal computer. However operators and vendors are quickly realising that digital music players, like digital cameras form a vital role in positioning the mobile handset as the personal multimedia communications device of choice.

The first Samsung devices with in-built MP3 players will be shipped to operators in Korea later this month. The Anycall SPH-V4200 phones will include a 96Mb memory for storing digital tunes and pictures as well as digital rights management software to prevent the download and exchange of pirated music files. The new LG handsets will enable mobile users to download up to 16 music files to their mobile phones and then to store and play them back via an on-screen interface. Alongside the MP3 player the LG phones also incorporate a 1.3 megapixel digital camera, the ability to record up to 80 minutes of digital video and GPS positioning technology.

Get new EXCLUSIVE specials on Best Selling Palm accessories at the Official Palm Store!

A serious Bluetooth security vulnerability allows mobile phone users' contact books to be stolen. You've heard of bluejacking - now meet 'bluesnarfing'
A security flaw has been discovered in Bluetooth that lets an attacker download all contact details along with other information from a vulnerable phone, while leaving no trace of the attack.
Unlike bluejacking, which is where users can send a message to Bluetooth phones without authorisation, this latest discovery for the wireless-data standard allows data, such as telephone numbers and diary entries, stored in a vulnerable device to be stolen by the attacker. The new exploit is called bluesnarfing.
Bluesnarfing is said to affect a number of Sony Ericsson, Ericsson and Nokia handsets, but some models are at greater risk because they invite attack even when in 'invisible mode' -- in which the handset is not supposed to broadcast its identity and should refuse connections from other Bluetooth devices.
Adam Laurie, chief security officer at UK networking and security firm AL Digital, told ZDNet UK that the Nokia 6310, 6310i, 8910 and 8910i models were at greatest risk. "On some models of phone, you are only vulnerable to attack if you are on visible mode; however, there are other models of phones where you are vulnerable even in non-visible mode," he said.
Laurie said he discovered the problem when he was asked to test how safe Bluetooth devices actually were. "Before we deploy any new technology for clients or our own staff, one of my duties is to investigate that technology and ensure it is secure. Actually rolling your sleeves up and looking at it, not just taking the manufacturers' claims at face value. When I did that, I found that it is not secure," he said.
According to Laurie, he can initiate a bluesnarfing attack from his laptop after making a modification to its Bluetooth settings: "It is a standard Bluetooth-enabled laptop and the only special bit is the software I am using in the Bluetooth stack. I have a modified the Bluetooth stack and that enables me to perform this attack," he said.
Bluesnarfing has huge potential for abuse because it leave no trace and victims will be unaware that their details have been stolen: "If your phone is in your pocket, you will be completely unaware," he said.
Laurie said he has had trouble getting the major handset manufacturers to admit the problem exists: "I have had experts telling me that it can't possibly exist because they have been trying to do this and failing."
Although the problem may affect other Bluetooth devices, such as laptops, Laurie said they are more difficult to target because the systems are more complex: "Mobiles are liable to be more vulnerable simply because the resources for menus and configuration are limited. Manufacturers try and make Bluetooth simple to use on phones, so you don't have much granularity in setting options. On a lot of phones, Bluetooth is either on or off," he said.
Laurie said that for now, there is no fix available. He said that the only way to be completely safe is to switch off the Bluetooth functionality.
AL Digital has developed several proof-of-concept utilities, but has not released them into the wild, said Laurie. They include: Bluestumbler, to monitor and log all visible Bluetooth devices (name, MAC address, signal strength, capabilities), and identify the manufacturer from MAC address lookup; and Bluesnarf, which can copy data from a target device.
According to the AL Digital's bluestumbler Web site, vulnerable phones include: Ericsson T68; Sony Ericsson R520m, T68i, T610 and Z1010; and Nokia 6310, 6310i, 7650, 8910 and 8910i.

Nokia and Sony Ericsson were not immediately available for comment.

The Palm operating system is moving forward in two directions, with the announcement of two next-generation versions of the Palm OS that will appear on devices later this year.

The two upcoming releases, mainstream Palm OS Garnet and enterprise-oriented Palm OS Cobalt, are being previewed at the PalmSource Developers Conference in San Jose, California, this week.

Both new versions of the Palm OS are intended to make the popular handheld operating system more powerful than ever, and able to support an even wider range of hardware than the current array of Palm-based personal digital assistants and wireless communicators.

Cobalt's Shine
Palm OS Garnet corresponds to version 5.4 of the Palm OS, while Palm OS Cobalt is the equivalent of version 6. PalmSource hopes that by not using version numbers it will keep prospective Garnet customers from thinking they're getting an old or outdated product, but the bulk of the innovation is clearly going into Palm OS Cobalt
New features in Cobalt include improved graphics and multimedia support. Its customizable status bar will look familiar to owners of recent Tungsten PDAs, and the OS has a more robust contact manager with room for more data and a tabbed layout. PalmSource has also improved its support for various types of connectivity, including simultaneous voice and data sessions.

Under the hood, Cobalt will also have support for much more memory--up to 256MB each in RAM and ROM. PalmSource hopes the memory boost plus better security features will make the OS more suitable for heavy-duty enterprise applications.


Garnet Builds on OS 5
Palm OS Garnet, meanwhile, will basically improve on the most recent Palm 5 release. Among its features are support for higher screen resolutions (including 240 by 320) and a software-based Graffiti input area that can vanish as required (and which will look familiar to Tungsten T3 owners), plus enhanced tools for finding and using Bluetooth networks. Garnet stays within the current memory limits of 128MB in RAM and 16MB in ROM.

PalmSource expects that Cobalt's features will encourage development of new Palm-based devices such as tablets, electronic book readers, game players, and other types of hardware.

Meanwhile, to attract new Palm customers who may not care about the OS's core calendar and datebook features, PalmSource is seeking greater visibility for the 20,000 or so applications for Palms.

To that end, PalmSource's Web site now features a series of expert guides to Palm applications in categories ranging from knitting and religion to law and medicine.

-Ron Pendleton WebMaster, Palm Place and Wireless World

Nokia buys majority stake in Symbian for $252.25M

Nokia today agreed to acquire Psion's 31.1 percent stake in smartphone OS developer Symbian for $252.25 million. The move will give Nokia a 63 percent stake in the company, making it the majority owner. This move puts Nokia firmly at the lead of Symbian. Analysts, however, are mixed on the deal. Some claim the deal will give Nokia a strategic advantage as it fights to dominate the mobile phone market, letting it steer Symbian's tactics and partnerships. Others claim it could backfire on Nokia, alienating Symbian's partners, like Sony Ericsson, and tempting some of these companies to look at rival mobile operating systems, like Microsoft's Smartphone or Palm. This is the second large deal involving Symbian in the last six months. Psion in October inked a deal to acquire Motorola's stake in the venture. Symbian's remaining shareholders include Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Panasonic, and Siemens.

For more on Nokia's acquisition of Psion's stake in Symbian:
- read this article from Reuters



-Ron Pendleton WebMaster, Palm Place and Wireless World

As smartphones and enhanced mobile phones gain popularity, PDA shipments are slipping, Gartner Inc. reported today.

Shipments totaled 11.5 million units in 2003, a 5.3 percent dip from 2002, according to the research firm.

"Through the end of 2004, smartphones will generally have a negative impact on the low end of the PDA market, as many individual users will find the personal information management (PIM) and e-mail capabilities of smartphones acceptable," said Todd Kort, a principal analyst at Gartner, in a statement. "These users will tend to become less interested in low-end PDAs that have provided these capabilities.

"This will primarily impact the Palm OS because a relatively high percentage of Palm OS users rely on these devices solely for their PIM capabilities. Smartphones will become more important in the enterprise market in 2005, at which point we expect to see increasing erosion of the Microsoft side of the market," said Kort.

BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion (RIM) thrived in Q4 2003, as shipments totaled 259,000 units, nearly equaling the total it shipped in all of 2002. RIM posted the strongest growth rate among top-tier vendors in 2003, as shipments increased 121 percent from 2002. Approximately 35 percent to 40 percent of the company's recent shipments were upgrades of older RIM devices, according to Gartner, which puts RIM's subscriber base at close to a million users.

Hewlett-Packard was the most aggressive vendor in the second half of 2003, as it released seven new PDA models that hit price points ranging from $199 to $599, Gartner analysts said. PalmOne did well with the Tungsten T3 in the midrange PDA market, but palmOne, Sony, Dell and Toshiba found the majority of demand for their products in the December quarter was for sub-$250 models, the firm noted.

In the U.S. PDA market, palmOne held the No. 1 position based on shipments in 2003; however, it suffered a double-digit decline, slipping to 43.3 percent, Gartner said.

"The U.S. market continues to consume just over half of all PDA shipments, and the U.S. PDA market is the key segment for overall growth," Kort said. "However, a weakening U.S. dollar is forcing U.S. PDA prices up because most PDAs and their components are manufactured in Asian markets, particularly Taiwan. Therefore, we expect good results in Europe, but mediocre sales in North America in 2004."


-Ron Pendleton WebMaster, Palm Place and Wireless World

Security company AL Digital has issued a warning over some Bluetooth mobile phones that could enable a hacker to obtain access to the devices.

The company claims that a hacker could use a phone's Bluetooth connectivity to obtain a wide range of information such as a user's identity, bank account details, sales leads, business contacts and other confidential information. All this could reportedly be downloaded to the hacker's mobile phone using a wireless Bluetooth connection without the victim being aware of the theft.

AL Digital also said that the safety of vulnerable lone children or women could be compromised if their mobile number got into the wrong hands.


-Ron Pendleton WebMaster, Palm Place and Wireless World

-Ron Pendleton WebMaster, Palm Place and Wireless World

Q4 2003 may have been a boom time for the European PDA market, but it was an even bigger period for smartphones. According to new figures from market researcher Canalys, 2.24 million smartphones shipped in Europe, the Middle East and Africa during the quarter, compared to 1.23 million PDAs.

Like IDC before it, Canalys' numbers put Palm in second place behind HP in the PDA market, and ranks them three and two in the overall handheld device market, respectively. Ahead of them both sits Nokia, which shipped 1.74 million devices last quarter to HP's 406,420 and Palm's 307,100.

The three companies achieved market shares of 50.2 per cent, 11.7 per cent and 8.8 per cent, respectively. Compared to Q4 2002, those shares represent a big gain for Nokia, a small rise for HP but a disappointing dip - unit shipments were down 19 per cent year on year - for Palm. Canalys' Q4 2002 numbers give Nokia on 42.4 per cent of the market, Palm 23.8 per cent and HP 9.5 per cent.

Palm's decline comes despite a 56 per cent increase in the number of units shipped in Q4 2003 over the same period the year before.

HP and Palm were the only PDA-specialists to make Canalys' top five device makers' table: they were followed by smartphone vendors Sony Ericsson (216,990 units shipped for a 6.2 per cent share) and Motorola (142,200, 4.1 per cent). All the others took 18.9 per cent of the 3.47 million devices shipped during the quarter.

Canalys agrees with IDC's conclusion that bundle deals, particularly of GPS kit, helped boost the sales of PDAs during the Christmas quarter. Indeed, navigation solutions are becoming de rigueur: "Vendors without navigation bundles will find it harder to get shelf space - Palm and Sony have some catching up to do in this area," warned Canalys senior analyst and director Chris Jones.

"In some countries - Germany being a prime example - major retailers are now insisting on navigation solutions in preference to standalone handhelds," he added. "It will become more and more difficult to sell such devices purely on the basis of personal information management."

Canalys also pointed to renewed enterprise spending - which has favoured HP, in particular - but reckons it won't be long before smartphone vendors start winning corporate business over PDAs. Nokia certainly has its eye on the market, as its 6600 handset shows, as does Sony Ericsson with the much-improved P900. Nokia dominates the smartphone sector, with a 77.9 per cent market share.

Both handsets are based on the Symbian OS, which accounted for over two million of the smartphones shipped in the region last quarter, Canalys' numbers show - pretty much all of them, in other words.

"The Symbian OS is now reaching the shipment levels needed to make it a contender in the enterprise," said analyst Rachel Lashford. ®


-Ron Pendleton WebMaster, Palm Place and Wireless World

Get new EXCLUSIVE specials on Best Selling Palm accessories at the Official Palm Store!

The total number of WAP page impressions viewed in the UK during December 2003 topped 1 billion for the first time, according to figures announced today by the Mobile Data Association (MDA). This shows an increase of 50 million on November's total and provides the highest monthly total since the MDA began collating figures in September 2002. The total, from GSM Network operators O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone, takes the daily average to 33 million, compared to 13.5 million per day in December 2002.

December's figure provides a year end total for 2003 of 9.2 billion, compared to the MDA prediction in January 2003 of 8 billion. For the year ahead the MDA forecasts continued growth with WAP page impressions expected to reach 13 billion for 2004. The MDA will monitor the situation with a monthly statistics review - every month the MDA will post the numbers along with a reconsidered forecast for the 2003 figures on its website www.text.it.

In releasing today's figures, Mike Short, Chairman of the MDA commented: "Mobile access to Broadcast and Internet Content continues to astonish us in both its variety and in volume growth. Mobile Content is becoming more inclusive and accessible to all. Partnerships are key to the next phase of innovation, solutions development and growth to meet these diverse customer needs."

Rob Conway, CEO of the GSM Association commented: "Globally, the GSM world will be marking One Billion connected GSM customers during first quarter 2004. Against this backdrop, the GSMA is pleased to see competitive mobile data services continue to evolve, innovate and grow. Exceeding one billion WAP page impressions in one month for the first time in the UK is a very encouraging and positive sign - and we congratulate the UK operators on this milestone."

The MDA's WAP initiative is supported by a web site, www.text.it which includes information on other forms of messaging. WAP information currently available on the site allows new users to learn more about services available to them including how and where they can configure their phones. The site will also provide users with regularly updated top ten mobile URL's and additional mobile services; and for those developing WAP services, there is a tips and style guide section.


-Ron Pendleton WebMaster, Palm Place and Wireless World

Complete with a digital camera and built-in flash with auto sensor, the new CDM-8910 mobile handset from Audiovox was unveiled at CES 2004.

The handset will give users the option to send and receive photos right from their wireless phone. Weighing just 3.2 ounces and measuring 3.5 x 1.9 x .9 in the tri-mode (800 MHz mps/CDMA, 1900 MHz PCS), CDMA2000 1X Capable (system dependent) features the MSM6100 Chipset and is GPSOne Capable (E911 Phase2 Supported), also system dependent.

The full color handset has dual LCD displays with a main 260K TFT 1.8" LCD display (128x 60) and sub 260K TFT 1" LCD Display (96x 64) as well as a built-in two-way speakerphone, a built-in CMOS 1.3M Pixel with Macro Function, voice activated dialing and 32 polyphonic ringers. The phone is Java/BREW capable, data capable with USB interface (up to 144 kbps), TTY capable, ERI capable and has 2-way short message service, all system dependent.

"The CDM-8910 will be a great addition to the growing line of camera phones that ACC offers," said ACC President and CEO, Philip Christopher. "With a built-in flash and lightweight design, the CDM-8910 is perfect for people who want more features in a smaller handset."



-Ron Pendleton WebMaster, Palm Place and Wireless World

NEC Corporation today announced that it has succeeded in creating a card-shaped, camera-equipped mobile phone, which it will launch on the China market, one of the world's largest and most competitive mobile markets, in February, 2004.

NEC's own cutting-edge technology has enabled an ultra-compact, attractively packaged mobile phone boasting measurements of 85mm (width) X 54mm (height) X 8.6mm (depth), and a light weight of 70g. This mobile-internet product supports GSM/GPRS, and is equipped with a 1.8 inch (120 X 160 dot) TFT color display and a digital camera (300,000 pixels). Loaded with 40-polyphonic ring tones, and installed with camera functions including a mobile light, and consecutive shooting ability etc, this phone is used in conjunction with an earphone and a mike.

"This world's smallest and slimmest mobile phone is a symbolic flag-ship product representing NEC's leading position in mobile terminal technology," said Yoshiharu Tamura, General Manager of Mobile Terminals Division, NEC Corp. "NEC will continue to offer new, innovative mobile terminal solutions, which offer compact shape, and the latest product technologies, allowing users use of a variety of mobile phones for different situations."

"By combining NEC's competence in mobile and basic R&D technology, we can realize completely new-concept mobile phones" said Hisatsune Watanabe, Associate Senior Vice President and Executive General Manager of Central Research Laboratories, NEC Corp. "Ultra-slim mounting technology is an important and constant R&D theme for NEC."

Together with NEC in Japan, the Mobile Terminals Development Center based in Beijing, China, has significantly contributed to product planning and in enabling this competitive product to be brought to the market.

This product has been realized through the following:
- Multi-layered slim structure.
- Slim and highly stiff case structure.
- Thin printed circuit board.

Along with a slim case, this product also boasts a slim structure that was realized through optimized space layout of stackable function modules (circuit board, display, key-sheet, battery, and embedded antenna). High stiffness was enabled by a compound structure of metal and resin. NEC also developed new thin printed circuit board by decreasing thickness by approximately 40%. In addition, equipment reliability is heightened through stress reduction realized by our original process technology. The core LSI employs very small CSP (Chip Size Package), and the most advanced high-density surface mounting technology.

NEC intends to further advance this technology toward broader application use in areas such as mobile terminals, PDAs and micro PCs etc.



-Ron Pendleton WebMaster, Palm Place and Wireless World