Samsung
Samsung

Samsung

Samsung's 1.5-GB HDD Phone

Samsung Electronics have unveiled the SPH-V5400 handset [.jpg image], the first-ever mobile phone with an internal hard disc drive. The company’s latest innovation, which also comes with a mega-pixel camera, is currently being exhibited at ITU Telecom Asia 2004. The phone is equipped with a 1-inch diagonal, 1.5-GB hard disc drive; conventional cellys have a maximum of about 100MB of RAM memory. The breakthrough product will be available for Korean consumers in mid-September.

Samsung Plans NCF Function

Samsung and Philips announced they are teaming up to incorporate Near-Field Communication technology in future cellphone models from Samsung, giving users the ability to use their phones to make payments. Incorporating an NFC chip from Philips in Samsung’s phones will effectively turn the handsets into contactless smart cards, with the ability to make payments, according to a joint statement. The phones could also be used as a key card to enter a building, for example, this is the same technology, by Sony, that powers mobile FeliCa by in Japan.

Samsung: World's First Amorphous Silicon 2.6-inch VGA LCD

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, the world’s largest provider of TFT-LCD display panels, today announced the world’s first a-Si (Amorphous Silicon) 2.6-inch TFT LCD with VGA image quality. Using a-Si technology, mobile phone displays are now capable of displaying the same VGA format found on notebook PCs and desktop monitors. With almost seven times the resolution of a 42-inch high-definition LCD TV at 300 pixels per inch (ppi), an a-Si enabled mobile phone can be used as a high quality mobile TV.

Taiwan 3G Hopes to Break Even

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.

Symbian Settles Share Structure

Symbian announced today the completion of the preemption process for the sales of Psion’s shares confirming that all the shareholders (except Samsung) were to exercise their rights. The real significance of today’s announcement is the clear roadmap, supported by a cash injection and an increase in headcout of 300 over the next 18 months, to drive the Symbian OS into mid-tier devices by, among other things, bringing down the bill of materials for the OS phone from today’s minimum of $132 to $78 by 2008.

Dilithium Enhances Industry-Leading Test Tool For 3G Video Applications

Dilithium Networks, a leading provider of wireless multimedia solutions, today announced a major new release of its industry-leading 3G protocol analysis and test tool. The Dilithium Networks Analyzer (DNA) diagnoses, analyses and monitors all aspects of 3G video telephony calls and enables 3G operators and network equipment vendors to identify and address service issues which are critical to providing a high quality user experience and successful uptake of video telephony. The new release adds the ability to gather key performance indicators of network statistics related to video telephony.

QUALCOMM Announces Extensive Adoption of its Integrated QTV Solutions

QUALCOMM Incorporated, pioneer and world leader of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless technology, today announced strong customer demand for its single chip, fully integrated Qtv(TM), Qcamcorder(TM) and Qvideophone(TM) multimedia solutions. These enhanced video solutions are part of QUALCOMM’s suite of Launchpad(TM) technologies integrated into QUALCOMM’s chipset solutions; Qtv is a real-time decoder that enables the streaming and downloading of video content, Qcamcorder is a real-time encoder that records video, and Qvideophone is a two-way, video telephony solution that enables mobile videoconferencing. QUALCOMM’s mobile video solutions have been chosen as the multimedia implementation for more than 30 different handset designs from seven wireless device manufacturers, representing global markets including Europe, Japan, South Korea and North America.

Korea to Combine Fixed & Mobile Services

KT Corp., the country’s largest fixed-line and broadband carrier, has been granted a license for its “One-Phone” services, allowing customers to use both fixed-line and mobile phones with one device, the Information and Communication Ministry said yesterday. Inbound fixed-line phone calls will transit automatically to the mobile handset when the user is inside the house or office.

NetFront Microbrowser Selected for New NEC Handsets on Hutchinson 3G

ACCESS, a global provider of Internet access technologies, today announced that its NetFront v3.0 microbrowser has been deployed in NEC’s new e616, c616, e313 and c313 handsets for use on Hutchison 3G’s W-CDMA network in Europe and Asia. NEC also selected ACCESS’ AVE(TM) -SSL encryption modules for the handset deployment.

Japan Prepares to Export 3G Phones

Originally published as a guest column in Fierce Wireless, 9 June – Ed.
If 2001-2003 has been Phase 1 of Japan’s 3G era (all three major carriers launched W-CDMA or CDMA 2000 networks in this period), then 2004 is definitely shaping up to be Phase 2 — and the difference is that now Japan 3G is moving overseas. The assault is being led in part by Japan’s keitai makers who, under NTT DoCoMo’s lash, have invested heavily in sophisticated new terminals and are now looking to markets further afield in order to generate additional ROI.