Wireless News
Wireless News

Wireless News

QUALCOMM Introduces First Dual-Mode Chip for WCDMA and GSM/GPRS/EDGE

QUALCOMM Incorporated pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, today announced further steps to reduce development costs for WCDMA (UMTS) markets worldwide with the introduction of the radioOne(TM) RTR6275(TM) solution. The RTR6275 device is the wireless industry’s first single-chip RF CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) transceiver for dual-mode WCDMA (UMTS)/HSDPA and GSM/GPRS/EDGE (EGPRS) terminals.

New Nokia 3G Mobile Phone for Japan

The dual-mode GSM / W-CDMA “Nokia 7600” handset which was announced last October will finally hit the streets in Japan by middle of June. At the suggested retail price of 73,290 yen (or approx. $700 usd) and apparently not supporting Vodafone Live, although it conforms to the .3gpp standard, we wonder just how well this will be recieved. The unit does have a camera built-in its stylish Euro design [.jpg image] to compliment the bluetooth and global roaming sim card functions, and will be available at Nokia shops online and at Narita airport.

New Digital TV Phone from KDDI

KDDI R&D Laboratories announced that they have developed Japan’s first digital TV cellphone. Developed in cooperation with NHK Science and Technical Research Laboratories (NHK STRL), the new mobile phone is fully compatible with Broadcasting Mark-up Language (BML) to enable interactivity between mobile content and terrestrial digital TV services. Japan’s cellular terrestrial digital broadcasting service is set for launch in 2005.

DoCoMo Set to Shift Focus

NTT, the majority shareholder of DoCoMo, is set to announce the appointment of Masao Nakamura as the new president of Japan’s largest mobile operator in a move that is expected to increase the influence of its parent company and shift the mobile group’s focus to the domestic market. Until recently, DoCoMo had been widely expected to pick Shiro Tsuda, also a senior executive vice-president, to replace Keiji Tachikawa, the group’s president for the past six years.

UPDATE: It’s official Masao Nakamura is set to become President and CEO.

Sony TV Module w/Built-in FM Tuner

Sony will soon commercialize the BTF-ZK48X [.jpg image] a postal stamp-size, miniature TV tuner module with a built-in FM tuner. The device consumes 0.63W, 20% less than its predecessors, and is designed for use in cellphones and other mobile devices. The product supports both terrestrial TV and FM signal reception at a signal-to-noise ratio of 47dB.

SKY Perfect, DoCoMo Field Test 3G FOMA

Digital Satellite TV provider SKY Perfect Communications and NTT DoCoMo announced that the two companies have agreed to jointly field test mobile video-clip streaming services and program-related information services by integrating the 3G FOMA and SKY PerfecTV! networks. The test is scheduled from June 15, 2004 to November 30, 2004 in Japan.