South Korea’s IT exports topped $6.19 billion in July, up 30.8 percent from a year ago, despite external environmental factors such as high crude oil prices and hikes in U.S. interest rates. Exports of cellular phones rose to $1.95 billion last month, up 55.3 percent from a year ago, with exports of digital televisions increasing 12.8 percent to $130 million, thanks to a growing demand in the U.S. market coinciding with the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics.
Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless Communications Inc., Taiwan’s first 3G mobile operator, said it hoped to get into the black early next year helped partly by better cost efficiency through internal resource integration, a company executive said yesterday. “With the help of resource integration and improving 3G coverage, we expect Asia Pacific to break even in the first quarter of next year,” chairman Wang Lin-tai said.
The Ministry of Information and Communication decided to adopt the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16x , the broadband wireless access platform as the standard of WiBro (Wireless Broadband), portable Internet service that will be commercialized in Korea from 2006. The MIC also said that it would designate a portable Internet service provider that can offer broadband Internet services available on the move in February 2005.
Japan, China, and South Korea are likely to reach an agreement to standardize integrated circuit tags in fiscal 2006, sources said Saturday. A single tag consists of an IC microchip, each side measuring 1 millimeter thick or smaller, which includes an antenna for wireless communication. The product’s details are entered into the chips and can be read by a device through a signal emitted from the antenna. The technology, which may replace bar codes, provides a better method to monitor stock and manage distribution.
ACCESS, a global provider of Internet access technologies, today announced that ACCESS has partnered with Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co., Ltd. (Datang), to provide the enabling technology for advanced mobile services over TD-SCDMA networks. Datang of China is a leading mobile technology provider and the creator of TD-SCDMA, China’s homegrown 3G standard. Under the agreement, ACCESS will work closely with Datang to jointly develop technology specifications and go-to-market business strategies for new client-end data solutions on 3G handsets. Further, ACCESS will provide its industry leading NetFront Mobile Client Suite, including key applications such as the micro-browser, messaging client and Java virtual machine to TD-SCDMA related handset vendors.
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications announced that it will take control of Beijing Ericsson Putian Mobile Communications Co., Ltd. (BMC), a joint-venture mobile-phone manufacturing facility, by raising its share holding to 51 percent. Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (China) will increase its stake in BMC from 10 to 26 percent, while Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications in addition will acquire a 25-percent equity stake in the company.
