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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: foundation who wrote (29080)	11/19/2002 7:15:20 AM
From: John Biddle	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 197238

Qualcomm Technology Bypasses PCs for Data Transfer, Taps USB By Carmen Nobel, eWEEK extremetech.com Mobile phone chip manufacturer Qualcomm Inc. has plans for technology that lets small devices transfer data via a Universal Serial Bus interface without having to use a PC as a middleman. The San Diego company last week announced it has licensed USB On-The-Go technology from TransDimension Inc., a small company in Irvine, Calif. Many devices currently support USB, but it does not allow them to act as hosts. This means that users who want to move data from one device to another must plug a device into a PC to download files, then plug the other device into the PC to upload the files onto the new device. USB On-The-Go will eliminate the middle step, meaning a cell phone equipped with USB On-The-Go will be able to trade data with any device that has a standard USB port—such as a printer, a digital camera, an MP3 player or a keyboard. "It also standardizes the connector, which has been an issue with many peripheral products," said Rick Goerner, TransDimension's CEO. Qualcomm has licensed controllers, drivers and related software from the company and has announced plans for it in upcoming chips. Qualcomm officials said USB On-The-Go will be part of the company's upcoming MSM6500 chip set, which has the primary function of allowing roaming between CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) networks. Qualcomm plans to start sampling the chip set in the second quarter of next year. A consortium called the USB Implementers Forum released USB On-The-Go as a self-approved protocol in December of last year. But Qualcomm is the first company to announce definite plans to get it into devices. USB On-The-Go Cuts out PC as middleman for USB data connections Allows USB-enabled devices to act either as host or peripheral and to switch back and forth Lowers the power requirements for USB on small devices Officials acknowledged that it took a while to persuade licensees to adopt the technology. "After nearly nine months of discussion and negotiation, they chose us as their source for the On-The-Go technology on their next-generation phones," Goerner said. Qualcomm support is generally a boon for any technology because the company owns the better part of the CDMA chip market. "It really wasn't until Intel [Corp.] put it into the chip set that USB really took off," said Dave Murray, vice president of marketing at TransDimension. TransDimension officials said they hope to win broader backing for USB On-The-Go by getting additional support from competing companies that focus primarily on GSM. "We hope to have one [licensing announcement] a month within the next few months," Goerner said.

To: foundation who wrote (29080)	11/19/2002 7:52:27 AM
From: foundation	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 197238

China Unicom, Qualcomm launch alliance to develop BREW platform AFX - Asia November 19, 2002 SHANGHAI China Unicom and Qualcomm have launched an alliance to focus on developing applications for Qualcomm's BREW (binary runtime environment for wireless) platform, the International Finance News reported, citing sources at Qualcomm and China Unicom. Qualcomm and China Unicom are also awaiting government approval for a planned venture to help promote the development of applications on the platform, the report said. BREW is an open platform that will support various data services including game downloads and wireless shopping. It is compatible with all Qualcomm chipsets and different languages including Java and Flash, it said. China Unicom has already selected five suppliers, including International Business Machinces Corp, Siemens Ag, Motorola Inc and two domestic companies to develop the company's BREW capability during the second phase construction of its CDMA network. China Unicom and Qualcomm will levy only small charges on service developers and suppliers working on the BREW platform, and will not charge for the right to use the platform, it said. Wang Yingpei, business department manager at China United Telecommunications Group Corp (China Unicom Group), said most handsets for the company's nationwide CDMA 1X network, which should become operational next February, will be based on the BREW platform and will be provided by manufacturers within the BREW alliance. Wang also said the group has a target to recruit 7 mln subscribers to its CDMA mobile network by the end of this year and add a further 13 mln subscribers next year. It had more than 5 mln CDMA subscribers by Nov 12, he said. For more information and to contact AFX: www.afxnews.com and www.afxpress.com