Wireless News
Wireless News

Wireless News

Fuel Cells Unveiled at Last

The day of the battery may finally be over as manufacturers usher in the age of the fuel-cell. To prove the point, an engineer from the Japanese electronics company Hitachi yesterday showed the world the pack that will power tomorrow’s mobile phone, laptop computer and personal organiser. The promise of fuel cells has built steadily over the years, with sporadic breakthroughs in size and efficiency. As gadgets from iPods to mobile phones become more complicated, their power demands will be greater and batteries will not be up to the task.

3G Roll-out in Singapore

Unless there are dramatic improvements in quality, it’s hard to see how video phone calls can become a killer application for 3G. If video calls are not likely to be so hot, then what will be? That is the million-dollar question. The search for the killer application for 3G mobile services has become a sort of Holy Grail for mobile service operators worldwide. This is because operators have to provide the customer with sufficient and compelling content so that the larger bandwidth is put to good use.

PCCW Eyes 3G in China

PCCW Chairman Richard Li, who negotiated a $1-billion investment from China’s second-largest phone company, plans to start businesses including broadband television and 3G mobile services in mainland China to make up for slumping Hong Kong sales. China is planning to issue licenses to operate 3G networks and Li said there is “a good chance” China Network will win a permit and that regulators will allow PCCW to take a 49-percent stake in cell phone ventures.

Software Lets Mobiles Control PCs

Toshiba has developed software to remotely operate a PC using a mobile phone over a cellular network. The software will be available in Japan, in cooperation with one of Japan’s cellular networks in late March, a Toshiba executive said in a press conference today. The software, called Ubiquitous Viewer, is installed on the mobile phone and on a client computer running Windows. The software recreates the desktop of a PC or notebook PC on the mobile phone’s screen, allowing the user to complete tasks such as reading e-mails and editing documents on the PC via the phone.

Bitfone Expands Asia Operations, Relocates China Development Center to Beijing

Bitfone Corporation, the company that pioneered firmware over-the-air (FOTA) update technology for mobile phones, today announced it is expanding Asia Operations and has relocated the company’s China Development Center (CDC) to Beijing to support growing device management opportunities in the Asia Pacific market. This expansion includes the addition of Dr. De Ji, vice president of the CDC and Asia Pacific Professional Services, as well as increasing resources in Asia to 20 percent of Bitfone’s workforce.

Samsung Announces Record Profit

Samsung, announced that its net income for last year exceeded 10.7 trillion won (US$10.3 billion), making it the first company in South Korea to achieve the landmark figure. Last year, Samsung said it sold 86.53 million handsets worldwide, up 55 percent from a year ago. For all of 2004, Samsung’s net income jumped 81 percent to a record 10.7 trillion won. Full-year sales rose 32.2 percent to 57.6 trillion won, the company said.