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Pastimes : The New Qualcomm - write what you like thread. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: S100 who wrote (2450)	12/28/2000 1:20:05 PM
From: S100	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12231

Hyper Speed in Japan TOKYO (Reuters) -Hyper-fast third-generation mobile phones are coming to japan in mid-2001, at least 18 months ahead of the rest of the world, but their landmark debut will be eclipsed by innovations in existing technology, analysts say. Japan's second generation "2G" phones, including NTT DoCoMo's popular I-mode' Web-linked service, a1ready offer Internet access, business card-sized color screens and an array of organizer functions, and more advances are planned for the first half of 2001. "The best scenario for DoCoMo would be to extend I-mode's popularity;" said Tsubasa Securities analyst Motoharu Sone. I-mode has attracted 16.8 million users in its brief 22-month history and, is still growing at the breakneck pace of 40,000 to 50,000 new subscribers each day. Still available only in Japan, I-mode has vast potential for global growth, analysts say, since European and U .S. carriers have had little success luring a wide user base to Wireless Application Protocol, a competing standard. By contrast, analysts and industry players say that advanced 3G, despite eye-popping features such as full-motion video and CD-quality sound, looks poised for a subdued debut. The first 3G services due in May, while able to deliver data at 64 kilo-bits per second, or six times faster than 2G, will still fall far short of the 384 kbps that 3G permits. Initially, corporate users will likely be the only ones interested in 3G services, which are expected to be priced beyond the reach of most individuals. No Phone(y) Web Promises DoCoMo itself has played down any suggestions that 3G phones -at least in their early phase -will be a hot new gadget for consumers to play with. "The assumed 3G model of watching video over the Net may not be the best way to generate revenue," said Keiichi Enoki, NTT DoCoMo's managing director for I-mode services. He noted that users are unlikely .to want to stare at a small cell-phone screen for hours at a time. Hyped expectations for 3G technology raised telecoms shares around the world to unseen heights earlier this year, but doubts have eroded more than $200 billion in market value from the top 10ielecoms firms in the last six months. Still, DoCoMo is confident it will be the first to find the best business model for 3G services and recoup its investments. Analysts generally agree, citing DoCoMo's lead over global competitors, such as Vodafone Group PLC, adding that its closing share price of 2.13 million yen on Wednesday, down nearly half since the beginning of the year, vastly undervalues its business. "Share performance in 2000 was at its worst," Tsubasa's Sone said. "I think we can expect a better performance in 2001." Analysts also point to changes taking place at the higher end of current technology -or "2.5G" -such as adding the versatile Java software platform, and predict. these will up- stage 3G's launch. "1 think it's going to be more a year of Java than a year of 3G," said Kate Lye, analyst at UBS Warburg. Subscribers in Japan can already check their e-mail, surf more than 20,000 I-mode-tailored Web sites and download the latest ringing tones or screensavers. Java Perks Up Options Java, a versatile programming language developed by Sun Microsystems Inc. that runs mini-programs called applets, will boost security for mobile phone-based commercial transactions by encrypting credit card numbers and bank account data. Java will also spur location-based services on 2G phones, such as chirping when the user nears a store that is holding a sale. Java-enabled mobile phones for NTT DoCoMo's I-mode service will hit the market in January, followed by competitors DDI Corp. and Japan Telecom Co Ltd's J-phone in the middle of the year. "As the world's premier wireless data provider, NTT DoCoMo is the best-positioned carrier to realize (and demonstrate) the benefits of Java," Dresdner Kleinwort Benson analyst Kirk Boodry said in a report. In addition, the already wide assortment of 2G mobile phone content in Japan is about to get wider . DoCoMo will integrate its mobile phone services with America Online Inc.'s local Internet service provider AOL Japan, allowing users to access e-mail through both providers.

To: S100 who wrote (2450)	12/28/2000 1:24:22 PM
From: slacker711	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12231

"We are surprised by Qualcomm's announcement, because Qualcomm and others have previously suggested a CDMA direct conversion solution is three to five years away," That is a pretty impressive speed-up of the roadmap. If direct conversion for CDMA is significantly more difficult for CDMA than GSM, Q could have the competitive edge they need for W-CDMA. Sawtek has begun shipping products to new clients in China, which is undergoing a. major initiative to build out its cell-phone infrastructure. The firm has a similar effort under way in South Korea. "In China it's already making meaningful revenue," May said. Who exactly are they shipping to? It is driving me nuts that Unicom still hasnt awarded contracts.... Slacker