Sharp Electronics, in partnership with Instant802 Networks, has just released the Galileo Personal Video Recorder (PVR) with wireless 802.11g video distribution technology in Japan. It has the ability to communicate and serve up video, photos, music, or any type of file on its hard drive to just about any Web enabled PC, PDA, or Cellphone.
NEC Infrontia Corp. has announced plans to develop wireless IP phones based on Microsoft Windows CE operating system. The plan was announced today, in accordance with the technical cooperation of Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corporation, at the Spring 2004 Voice on the Net (VON) Trade Show & Expo in Santa Clara, California. NEC Infrontia’s wireless IP phones will run Windows CE, Microsoft’s advanced real-time operating system, and leverage a new innovative hardware platform from Intel.
In 1973 Martin Cooper, the inventor of the first portable handset, was the first person to make a call on a cell phone (from Motorola to arch-rival Bell.) Now he’s Chairman of ArrayComm, which has developed its iBurst Personal Broadband System based on adaptive array antenna technology. According to the company, iBurst allows mega-bit-per-second cellular bandwidth with much better efficiency than anything extant 3G systems can provide. In today’s exclusive WWJ interview, Cooper argues that 4G is already here; launches broadsides at carriers, engineers, and handset makers who have yet to fulfill the promise of wireless phones; and charges that, after “years of hype,” the industry has failed to deliver on 3G. He also relates his vision for the mobile space: “The Internet will engender thousands of different [mobile] applications.” This interview is a WWJ Classic. Full Program Run-time 17:38
GRIC Communications, Inc., a leading provider ofsecure, managed broadband and global remote access solutions for enterprises and serviceproviders, today announced a milestone Wi-Fi agreement with JAPAN TELECOM, one of Japan’slargest telecommunications service providers. The agreement, the first Wi-Fi roamingagreement by JAPAN TELECOM with a partner, provides 1.7 million customers of JAPANTELECOM’s Open Data Network (ODN), the company’s ISP service, with seamless, global mobile broadband service, “powered by GRIC.” JAPAN TELECOM customers will have access to the GRIC TierOne Network(TM), which includes the world’s largest mobile broadbandfootprint, using the GRIC-branded mobile office client.
Proxim Corporation, a leader in wireless networking equipment for Wi-Fi and wide area networks, announced recently that Guangdong Unicom, a provincial subsidiary of China Unicom Limited, has selected Proxim’s Tsunami MP point-to-multipoint broadband wireless products to establish China’s largest high capacity wireless network, delivering Voice over IP and Internet connections throughout China’s Guangdong province.
NetGear has teamed with Legend Group in China and Softbank BB in Japan to sell Wi-Fi products, an effort to increase sales in Asia–the world’s second largest market for Wi-Fi networking gear. The company sees the Asian market as a major opportunity to improve its position worldwide. Japan, China and South Korea are the top three countries in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of gear sales, according to research firm Synergy Research Group.
Chip design company SyChip Inc. is testing software for its SDIO (secure digital I/O) WLAN card so it can be used to add Wi-Fi capability to smart phones. With the card and the software, smart phones can use a WLAN to transmit data and double as a cordless VoIP when linked to a corporate IP telephony service, said Navi Miglani, SyChip’s director of marketing.
Hitachi is to bring a WLAN-based positioning system to market in Japan next month. The rig uses Wi-Fi technology to triangulate the location of network clients to within one and three metres – accurate enough to detect whether a user is within the building the network serves.
The current buzzword in personal electronics is Wi-Fi, but the full potential of the latest laptops, cell phones and PDAs is being held back by batteries that last just a few hours. Major consumer electronics firms like NEC, Toshiba and Motorola, along with a number of startups.. are working on micro fuel cells, which theoretically can generate power 10 times longer than conventional batteries.
“Wireless fidelity” is allowing an ever-increasing number of laptops and personal digital assistants (PDA) to log on to the Internet with broadband speeds — cable-free — in airports, VIP lounges, planes and hotels worldwide. The momentum for Wi-Fi is beginning to reach a critical mass in the travel industry with corporate travelers leading the way.
