KDDI, Sanyo Win 3G CDMA Awards
The 3G CDMA award winners were announced in Miami last night and several Japanese companies are coming home with some shiny hardware. KDDI for International Leadership; winning top share of net subscriber increase in the Japanese market and its leadership in 3G in Japan, as well as for its launch of 1xEV-DO services, branded as WIN. Sanyo Electric won the Subscriber Technology Innovation award for their innovative Infobar handset design.
This year, the CDG added new award categories to recognize the most innovative applications and developers in both the consumer and enterprise markets. Ralph Simon, chairman of the Mobile Entertainment Forum’s Americas group, selected and presented the consumer awards, while Ed Meskill, publisher/founder of Mobile Enterprise Magazine, selected and presented the enterprise awards.
“The CDMA community is leading in the delivery of 3G wireless services across the globe, and there are many accomplishments to recognize,” said LaForge. “The CDG congratulates all recipients of this year’s awards, and applauds their contributions to making CDMA2000 the technology of choice for 3G.”
This year’s 3G CDMA Industry Achievement Award recipients are:
— Industry Leadership Award: Mr. Wang Jianzhou, China Unicom
This award is given to the individual who has provided dynamicleadership in 3G CDMA industry activities, including contributionsto standards development and the growth and evolution of CDMA.
Wang Jianzhou of China Unicom, for demonstrating extraordinaryleadership in CDMA activities throughout Asia and worldwide.
— International Leadership: KDDI, Reliance Infocomm
This award is given to the company that has contributedsignificantly to the expansion of 3G CDMA through systemdeployments.
KDDI, for its top share of net subscriber increase in the Japanesemarket and its leadership in 3G in Japan, as well as for itslaunch of 1xEV-DO services, branded as WIN.
Reliance Infocomm, for emerging as the largest wireless operatorin India since deploying CDMA2000 in March 2003, with more than 8million customers.
— Service Innovation: SK Telecom
This award is given to the carrier that has leveraged thecapabilities of 3G CDMA to introduce innovative services to themarket.
SK Telecom, for launching the world’s first video telephonyservice over 1xEV-DO.
— Subscriber Technology Innovation: SANYO Electric Co., Ltd.
This award is given to the company that demonstrates forwardthinking in terms of services supported and terminal design.Resulting products take advantage of the inherent benefits andlatest technological developments of 3G CDMA, offering consumersstate-of-the-art terminals in terms of both features andpackaging.
SANYO Electric Co. Ltd., for INFOBAR, a design-centric slimcandybar handset offering a variety of multimedia capabilities.
— Network Technology Innovation: Lucent Technologies
This award is given to the company that has introduced networkcapabilities that allow CDMA carriers flexible and cost-effectivesolutions for implementing advanced features and an easy solutionpath to further enhancements.
Lucent Technologies, for demonstrated global leadership in thedevelopment of CDMA2000 standards, contributing to the growth ofCDMA2000 worldwide.
— Innovative Solutions: Comverse
This Award is given to the company that has brought new ideas anddifferent approaches to product deployment. Solutions providevalue-added, cost-effective implementations for operatorssupporting the advancement of CDMA into the market.
Comverse, for the implementation of its Multimedia MessagingService Center and eXtensible Messaging Framework, which enableusers to send and receive messages with media elements such astext, image, sound and video.
In the Consumer awards category, the winners are:
— Innovative Application of Music/Audio: WIZ Technologies
Given to the application developer that has leveraged thecapabilities of the 3G wireless medium to offer unique andappealing music and/or audio applications to the consumer market.
WIZ Technologies, for its CrazyTones ringtone application thattakes advantage of QCELP to provide truly unique ringtones.
— Innovative Mobile Game Development: JAMDAT Mobile Inc., Sprint
Given to the game developer that has leveraged the capabilities ofthe 3G wireless medium to introduce a unique title or re-develop aconsole game with broad appeal to the consumer market.
JAMDAT Mobile Inc., for its JAMDAT Bejeweled and JAMDAT Bowling 2Multiplayer games, offering a real-time, one-on-one mobilemultiplayer gaming experience.
Sprint, for the Sprint Game Lobby, the first carrier-based gamecommunity in the world, which attracted more than 150,000subscribers in just a few months after launch.
— Innovative Use of Messaging: LightSurf
Given to the application developer that has leveraged thecapabilities of the 3G wireless medium to offer applications tothe consumer market that have an innovative use of messaging.
LightSurf, for its PictureMail picture messaging service, a user-friendly system that manages more than 5 million picture messagesa month.
— Innovative Entertainment Technology Development: Tira Wireless
Given to the platform developer that has leveraged thecapabilities of the 3G wireless medium to develop technologiesthat enable developers to create innovative entertainmentapplications.
Tira Wireless, for its Tira Jump patent-pending software platformthat enables handset manufacturers, mobile operators, applicationdevelopers and publishers to overcome the challenges of devicefragmentation and port applications across a broad range ofhandsets, languages and mobile operator requirements.
In the Enterprise awards category, the winners are:
— Innovative Wireless Enterprise Solution Implementation: ValkyrieCommissioning Services, Inc.Given to the company that has implemented a wireless enterpriseapplication via a 3G network with the aim of streamliningoperations, increasing worker productivity and achieving acompelling return on investment.
Valkyrie Commissioning Services, Inc., for implementing a CDMA2000wireless productivity mobile application solution using mobilephones to access e-mail and supplier information.
— Innovative Wireless Enterprise Solution Development: TelefonicaMoviles (Peru)
Given to the application developer that has leveraged thecapabilities of the 3G wireless medium to offer innovative mobileapplications that enable companies to streamline their operations,increase worker productivity and achieve a compelling return ontheir investments.
Telefonica Moviles (Peru), for its wireless security applicationdesigned to let users send alarms, emergency signals and eventlocation data remotely to security management centers. Used by theSan Miguel Municipality Security Division, Peru.
— WWJ Editors