I was in transit on Monday and don't know if the following was discussed:
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Monday, February 8, 1999
Mobile Phone Technology Advancing
By DAVID E. KALISH, AP Business Writer
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EW YORK--A flurry of industry alliances is expected to hasten the day when consumers can use their mobile phones and portable computers to check their e-mail, navigate the Internet and access data from their desktop PCs.
Motorola Corp., the big mobile-phone maker, and Cisco Systems Inc., the dominant maker of computer-networking equipment, said Monday they will create a set of common technical standards to enable equipment used by different wireless systems to easily work together.
The standards, due out in May, should make it easier for operators of wireless networks to offer services such as e-mail and voice mail without worries about compatibility. The companies said they will spend a total of $1 billion over five years in the effort, which should result in new products in a few years.
Monday, the first day of the wireless industry's annual trade show in New Orleans also featured the announcements of a wireless alliance between Microsoft Corp. and British Telecommunications, and a separate Motorola collaboration with mobile service provider Nextel Communications and Web software makers Netscape Communications and Unwired Planet.
"I have never seen so many companies talking to so many other companies," said Andrew Seybold, an industry expert who publishes a Boulder Creek, Calif., newsletter on mobile computing.
The increased availability of go-anywhere Web access through "smart phones," laptops and handheld computers could help boost Internet usage from about a fifth of the U.S. population to more than a third by 2002, analysts say.
About 2.5 million American households are expected to have Internet-ready phones by that time, estimates Jupiter Communications LLC, a New York-based research firm.
Some manufacturers already sell phones that let people exchange e-mail and offer limited online access.
But they don't always work well, especially for people traveling long distances, and they can be expensive. Nokia's 9000 series mobile phone, which features a big screen that flips up, sells for $700 and up.
However, competition is pushing down prices.
Innovative Global Solution Inc., for example, unveiled a smart phone expected to cost less than $300. The NeoPoint 1000 lets people hook into the Internet, use a modem, send faxes and exchange e-mail.
Also on Monday, Microsoft and British Telecom agreed to develop and market wireless Internet and corporate data services for mobile phone users outside North America. Trials will begin in Britain this spring and services should become more widely available by early next year.
Microsoft, which is supplying operating software for the service, hopes to head off competition from Symbian, a rival wireless group that includes Motorola, Nokia and Ericsson. Symbian uses an operating system from Psion PLC of Britain.
For British Telecom, the use of Internet technology to become a full-service provider of data and video services is a key part of its $10 billion planned alliance with AT&T Corp.
I recall Terry talking about FastLane's development with MSFT and since NN's also deep inside BT, I'm wondering if this new connection between BT and MSFT is significant.
Food for thought. . .
Pat
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