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

To: John Biddle who wrote (33091)	3/4/2003 5:10:10 PM
From: John Biddle	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 196652

PCTEL Software Roams from Cellular to Wi-Fi By Eric Griffith, March 4, 2003 80211-planet.com PCTEL (Quote, Company Info) of Milpitas, CA, has launched its Dual-Mode Segue Roaming Client, software for users of Windows 98SE/ME/NT/2000/XP who need to roam between Wi-Fi networks and 2.5G (CDMA2000 1X or GPRS) network data services. According to Biju Nair, Vice President and General Manager, Wireless Software Product Development at PCTEL , the software comes in two flavors, either CDMA/Wi-Fi or GPRS/Wi-Fi depending on the users needs. . "If you're away from a Wi-Fi coverage area, the client will find the 2.5G network and allow you to connect" to the Internet, says Nair. "If you've on a train and you're on a cell network, close your laptop and walked into the office, when you open the laptop, it wakes up and finds one of the Wi-Fi network" The software will hold a list of "favorite networks" and connect to them using preference rules you or your CIO dictate. Through the software, users can utilize many mobile phone features including SMS messaging. "We built a tool in client that looks like Microsoft Outlook to send and store and receive SMS messages like e-mail," says Nair. This first iteration of the software requires a 2.5G network card from Option Wireless (GPRS), NovAtel (GPRS) or Sierra Wireless (GPRS and CDMA); future versions expect to support the majority of 2.5G cards on the market. Plus it has support for most GPRS phones used as a cellular modem connected to a laptop. The software works with most 802.11b client cards, including Cisco and Agere/Proxim ORiNOCO cards. The software will be available for download as a trial, but is targeted toward phone carriers who want to provide customers with easy Internet access via their cellular wide area networks and Wi-Fi hotspots. PCTEL is currently in discussions with potential carrier partners.

To: John Biddle who wrote (33091)	3/4/2003 5:17:12 PM
From: John Biddle	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 196652

The Sky Has Eyes Arik Hesseldahl, 03.04.03, 10:00 AM ET forbes.com NEW YORK - Picture this situation if you will: You're out and about on company business, perhaps making in-person sales calls. With some time between appointments, you break for lunch a half-hour early. No one, it seems, is watching over your shoulder--and the company-issued mobile phone you're carrying has been blessedly silent all day. You pull up to a restaurant thinking of an extended lunch. Before your feet cross the threshold of the entry, the phone starts to chirp. The boss wants to know why you're parked in front of a restaurant and not on your way to a sales call. It seems for a minute they have eyes in the sky. In a manner of speaking they do. Sound a little disconcerting? It's not terribly far from reality. The combination of wireless networks, such as those used for mobile phones and pagers, with the 24-satellite constellation that makes up the Global Positioning System is what makes the above scenario possible. Small devices that can receive location data from the GPS system and then transmit their location over the Internet via wireless networks have been available for a few years now. They come in handy for companies managing a fleet of field personnel or repair crews. It helps for a dispatcher watching a computer screen with a map updated in real time to know if a high-priority repair job suddenly needs attention--as well as which repair truck is nearby and can drop what they're doing to rush right to the scene. But these devices have more often than not been attached to a vehicle, not a person. One company that has built a profitable business selling such products is @Road (nasdaq: ARDI - news - people )--pronounced "AtRoad." Last year it did almost $44 million in sales tracking mobile services workers for companies like Verizon (nyse: VZ - news - people ) and the city of Oakland, Calif. It has yet to turn a profit--it reported a $14 million loss for 2002, but year-on-year sales were up almost 62%. This week it will announce a service that will be available on mobile phones from Nextel (nasdaq: NXTL - news - people ) that also support GPS technology. The service will be called Pocket Edition, and will work on Nextel's i88s and i58sr phones, both of which are manufactured by Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ). The phones can read location data from the GPS system and transmit that data over the wireless networks to the Internet, where each phone's location can be monitored live using a PC and Web browser. @Road's service works with several wireless phone networks, including those run by Verizon Wireless--a joint venture of Verizon and Vodafone (nyse: VOD - news - people )--as well as AT&T Wirless (nyse: AWE - news - people ) and Southern LINC, a wireless outfit run by energy giant Southern Company ( nyse SO) . It also works on the network run by Telus Mobility (nyse: TU - news - people ) in Canada. It's a perfect example of what the wireless industry calls "location-based services." GPS-ready phones have been available for some time. But wireless carriers have as yet shrugged their shoulders in trying to think up ways to make location services generate revenue. One idea floating around has been to send text-message ads to phones advertising businesses nearby where the user happens to be--though many have complained that would amount to sending wireless junk mail. Most consumers won't want to be trackable in real time using a service like @Road's Pocket Edition, though parents of wireless-crazy teens might appreciate the service--much to the chagrin of their kids. The FCC has said that, by 2005, it will require all new mobile phones to be locatable either by GPS or some other method when the phone's user dials 911. But wireless companies have had trouble deploying the technology--and missed their first deadline in 2001. The main complaint from the carriers has been that the technology doesn't exist for them to carry out what the FCC wants. Meanwhile, cash-strapped local emergency-service agencies have found it hard to find the money to pay for the gear they need to find phones of people in distress. For now it seems that the best use of location-based services is tracking people in the course of doing their job. It may seem a bit creepy and intrusive at first. We've heard a few reports of micromanaging bosses using similar services that call workers using company cars to ask why they're driving faster than the speed limit. From an employee's point of view, it may be intrusive. But it's the kind of tool that management will love. They'll see it as a way to boost productivity, manage costs and streamline efficiency. Public safety agencies will like being able to track police officers and paramedics for safety reasons once they leave their vehicles. The fact is that people in certain professions will likely have to learn to live with the fact that when they're tempted to goof off, the sky has eyes.