Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kent Rattey who wrote (43136)	10/2/1999 10:46:00 PM
From: Kent Rattey	Respond to of 152472

Wireless Web turns mobile phone into Net powerhouse BY MIKE LANGBERG Mercury News Computing Editor MOBILE phones, suddenly, aren't just for talking. A remarkable new service called Sprint PCS Wireless Web transforms ordinary-looking, affordable mobile phones into pocket-size Internet powerhouses capable of sending and receiving electronic mail, as well as grabbing snippets of information from selected World Wide Web sites. The idea isn't new. Other wireless phone companies in the United States and Europe have offered Net connections for several years. But everything before Sprint required either special phones that were very expensive or payment of exorbitant monthly fees, or both. Wireless Web, officially launched Sept. 20, costs more than Sprint's voice-only service, but not much. And the five models of phone that work with Wireless Web run from just $99 to $399, about the same price range as conventional mobile phones. For more information, call Sprint PCS at (800) 480-4727 or go to the Web (www.sprintpcs.com). The Wireless Web phones -- made by Denso, NeoPoint, Nokia and Qualcomm -- all have a small LCD display screen, a common feature on many mobile handsets. What's different is inside: a bit of software Sprint calls a ''MiniBrowser'' that displays text from Web pages specifically designed for the limited screen space in hand-held devices. Sprint, a telecommunications company perhaps best known for hiring actress Candace Bergen as a pitchwoman for long-distance service, has made deals with a number of big-name Web sites to deliver text-only information to Wireless Web phones. Among them are Bloomberg for business news, CNN for world news, Mapquest for navigation, The Weather Channel for weather updates and Yahoo for general news as well as Web-based e-mail. As Internet-enabled phones and services from many competitors proliferate, which is very likely in the next year or so, the number of Web sites offering access for hand-held devices should also increase exponentially -- giving mobile phone users ever more reasons to switch from voice-only handsets. I borrowed a top-of-the-line NeoPoint 1000 phone from Sprint, the $399 model, and started reading Yahoo news headlines even before looking at the instruction manual. Navigating from screen to screen was intuitively obvious, using selection buttons just underneath the extra-large monochrome screen, measuring 1 1/2 inches wide by 2 inches deep. The screen displays up to nine lines of text at a time, with each line wide enough for a maximum of 20 characters. I kept in touch with breaking news while traveling around town, even reading about rumors that rival long-distance company MCI WorldCom might be contemplating a bid for Sprint. At one point, I handed the phone to a friend who -- without any prompting or instructions from me -- got a mid-game score from a Detroit Tigers-Minnesota Twins game. I also checked e-mail in my free Yahoo account, and pecked out a brief response to one message using the phone keys. The system, while slow, is simple: You press the 2 key once to get an ''A,'' twice for a ''B'' or three times for a ''C.'' Keys 3 to 9 work the same way for the remainder of the alphabet. Making phone calls was no different from any mobile phone; I just entered the number and hit the ''talk'' button. Wireless Web service plans range from $59.99 a month for 300 minutes to $179.99 a month for 1,200 minutes. Those minutes can be used for either voice or Internet data, a big improvement over many earlier plans that required subscribers to buy voice and data access separately. Sprint PCS subscribers who already have a voice plan for $29.99 a month or more can add 50 minutes of Wireless Web access for $9.99 a month. Additional Wireless Web minutes, for those who exceed their monthly quota, are 25 to 30 cents each. Voice plans are still the cheapest way to talk. In Northern California, Sprint PCS is currently offering 500 minutes of talk for $50 a month. But 500 Wireless Web minutes -- which, as I said, can be used for either voice or data -- costs $89.99 a month. I'll do the math for you: The voice-only minutes cost 10 cents each, while the Wireless Web minutes cost 18 cents each. But I don't find 18 cents a minute to be unreasonable -- after all, the cheapest mobile phone rates were higher than that just two or three years ago. There are no long-distance charges on Sprint PCS calls, by the way, and the company's national network already serves most large metropolitan areas. Sprint PCS is also about to start selling a ''connection kit,'' containing CD-ROM software and a cable, for hooking Wireless Web phones to the serial port of a Windows personal computer. The software allows the phone to function as a wireless modem, a boon to laptop users who can't find a regular phone line. And there's also synchronization with organizer programs such as Microsoft Outlook, so phone numbers and appointments can be moved into the phone's memory. The connection kit is officially priced at $99, but will be available shortly at an introductory price of $29; the kit is included free with the NeoPoint 1000. I found the synchronization software easy to install and operate, although the many steps required to retrieve information stored in the phone gave me no incentive to abandon my much-loved Palm IIIe electronic organizer. The wireless modem software didn't work with my computer -- the PC successfully linked with the phone and dialed the correct number, but couldn't make a connection. Two calls to the Sprint PCS tech support department, both involving long waits on hold, didn't resolve the problem. But installing a modem, wired or wireless, is always problematic, and I'm willing to bet Sprint PCS will quickly iron out the bugs. I also ran into a few other limitations with Wireless Web. Even if the modem software worked, the connection would have run at only 14.4 kilobits per second, less than half the speed of a typical connection through a regular phone line. Also, the Yahoo e-mail service only displays messages sent directly to the Yahoo account. When using a PC and a regular Web browser, Yahoo will also fetch e-mail from a subscriber's account with an Internet service provider or corporate inbox. This is a feature Yahoo, or a competitor, quickly needs to provide Wireless Web users. And there just aren't enough Web destinations to visit with a Wireless Web phone right now, although I expect that will change. Nor does Sprint PCS offer coverage quality to match more established carriers, such as Cellular One and GTE in the Bay Area. Several colleagues who've subscribed to Sprint PCS complain of many dead spots where the phones won't work, although I expect that to change as the company slowly adds more antenna sites to its network. But none of these gripes overcomes my enthusiasm for what Sprint has done. The cost of going online with a mobile phone is now trivial in comparison to buying a voice-only phone and monthly service. I'm guessing it won't be long, perhaps no more than two or three years, before voice-only wireless phones are hopelessly obsolete.

To: Kent Rattey who wrote (43136)	10/2/1999 10:50:00 PM
From: Kent Rattey	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 152472

quote.bloomberg.com Iridium May Get $300 Mln Investment from Craig McCaw, People Familiar Say By Josh Fineman Iridium May Get $300 Mln Investment From McCaw, People Say Washington, Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Motorola Inc., the biggest shareholder of Iridium LLC, told creditors of the bankrupt satellite-telephone network that Craig McCaw may inject as much as $300 million into the company, said three Iridium creditors who requested anonymity. Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates also may invest an undetermined amount in Iridium, the creditors said. Gates and McCaw, a billionaire who started one of the first cellular-phone companies, are backers of satellite-phone network Teledesic LLC. Officials of Motorola told creditors of the possible investments at a meeting in New York City yesterday with executives of banks that lent $1.5 billion to Iridium, creditors said. Motorola executives said there's a 50 percent chance Gates and McCaw would invest after holding negotiations with the company since July, one of the creditors said. ''It makes sense and is bound to eventually happen,'' C.E. Unterberg analyst William Kidd said. ''Iridium's troubles are likely to allow a strategic player to pick those assets at fire- sale prices.'' Motorola didn't say how large a stake McCaw and Gates would get if they invest, the creditors said. The meeting was held to discuss a 60-day waiver of loan payments, they said. A spokesman for Eagle River Inc., which oversees McCaw's investments in communications companies, declined to comment. Microsoft declined to comment. Spokesmen for Washington, D.C.- based Iridium and Motorola declined to comment on what the companies said was speculation. Teledesic's Service Teledesic said Monday it's considering ways to have its service begin earlier than a 2004 expected start date. ''We are at the early stages of exploring a variety of opportunities,'' Bellevue, Washington-based Teledesic spokesman Roger Nyhus said. ''We have not committed to pursue any particular opportunity at this point.'' Schaumburg, Illinois-based Motorola, the biggest company that makes both semiconductors and cell phones, helped found Iridium to build a global satellite system that would provide cell-phone reception almost anywhere in the world. Consumers rejected the company's large, expensive phones, and after Iridium couldn't agree with creditors on a debt- repayment plan it filed for bankruptcy protection in August. Iridium's 14 percent notes due 2005 are being bid for at 11 cents on the dollar, down about 88 percent since February. Shares of Iridium World Communications Ltd., the publicly traded arm of Iridium LLC, are halted. They last traded at 3 1/16.