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To: DaveMG who wrote (18773)	11/25/1998 11:30:00 AM
From: CDMQ	Respond to of 152472

background info: 3gpp.org eom

To: DaveMG who wrote (18773)	11/30/1998 9:24:00 AM
From: DaveMG	Respond to of 152472

December 01, 1998, Issue: 314 Section: Voices -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gadget Futures Kelly Lynch Sad but true: Commercial interests have managed to turn the U.S. mobile communications market into the very embodiment of incompatibility. If you live in America and work in telecommunications, there's a good chance you have been personally inconvenienced and professionally challenged by the free-for-all style of standards development here. Sadder still, the U.S. mobile equipment industry hasn't learned very many lessons over the years, and its approach has fragmented the market and delayed development. Industry infighting is today reigniting on a global scale. At stake: the future of mobile data services. Software and equipment companies worldwide are picking sides and pushing what they hope will become the dominant standards for mobile data. Why all the fuss, you might ask. Mobile data has been a perennial nonstarter. But let's say, as some do, that the future will be filled with machines talking to machines over the naked airwaves. And let's say that consumers will all run out and buy those wireless laptops, palmtops and other multimedia gadgets. Microsoft sees this as the big picture and recently struck an industry-rattling joint venture with the wireless manufacturer Qualcomm. WirelessKnowledge, as it's called, is seeking the support of wireless network operators. The question is whether the venture will get that support. These two companies have been characterized as bullies in their respective markets, which could put off more than a few service providers. That the two profess to be standards-agnostic, ready to push the Windows CE operating system equally across CDMA, GSM, TDMA, CDPD and Mobitex standards, will only become reassuring as it becomes a reality. Qualcomm has played hardball to promote its interests in the development of third-generation wireless standards. Work on the 3G air interface specification is expected to conclude this month at the International Telecommunication Union without consensus on a single standard (see "It's Downright Disagreeable," November 1998). Talk about incompatibility: Four U.S. standards and one European standard have been proposed for this 3G specification alone. Meanwhile, the six-month-old Symbian joint venture is preparing to take on WirelessKnowledge. In October, Motorola finalized its participation in Symbian, a European initiative by Nokia, Ericsson and Psion (maker of one of Europe's predominant palmtops). They are banking on Europe's single-standard approach to wireless, an approach that has given GSM dominance in the current global market. How these competing titans move forward could determine whether the mobile data services market has a chance to flourish or not. Service providers need to step in where their suppliers have failed, to address the need for speed and reason in standards development. It's an old admonition, but it bears repeating: Service providers can and should vote with their pocketbooks. They haven't often done so. But they can no longer afford the multiyear squabbles and the compromise of multiple incompatible systems by their suppliers. This market is tough enough already. -klynch@cmp.com Copyright ® 1998 CMP Media Inc. techweb.com

To: DaveMG who wrote (18773)	11/30/1998 9:30:00 AM
From: DaveMG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Pay attention at the bottom of this article: Palm IV debut pushed to new year Palm Developers Conference to focus on consumers and wireless links By Robert Lemos, ZDNN, and Matt Loney, ZDNet (UK) The next Palm Pilot model from 3Com Corp. -- alternatively thought to be Palm IV or a thinner device code-named Razor -- will not be shown at next week's Palm Computing Platform Worldwide Developers Conference, according to several analysts. "The bottom line is that the new thinner version [Razor] is not going to be out this year," said Tim Bajarin, principal analyst for PC watcher Creative Strategies Inc. "They [3Com] don't want to impact Christmas sales." Razor is a slimmed-down version of the Palm III, while the Palm IV is expected to use built-in wireless technology to deliver the Internet directly to the user. Other features expected in the Palm IV include a better display, 4MB of RAM and an extra 2MB of ROM. Power up your PalmPilot with 14 apps from Computer Shopper While no new products will be on display at the show, 3Com is expected to make a major wireless announcement and talk more about its initiatives in the consumer market at the PalmDevCon in San Jose, Calif. Razor out next year This is not the first time that Palm IV/Razor expectations have been quashed. Widespread media reports predicted the new Pilot's release would happen earlier this year. When speculation of a Comdex announcement fell flat, analysts pointed at the departure of three key execs as possibly scuttling those plans. Palm Computing founder Jeffrey Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky -- formerly chief technologist and president, respectively, of 3Com's subsidiary of the same name -- left 3Com in early July to establish what has now become Handspring Inc. The new company is working on consumer versions of the Palm device and is planning an announcement next Wednesday at the conference. "3Com's not going to have the thinner Razor, which would have been pretty good," said Ken Delaney, principal analyst and vice president of mobile computing for market research firm GartnerGroup. Delaney blames the changing of the guard for the delay. "There's a couple of us that are sensing they lost a great visionary [in Hawkins]." Ed Colligan, former vice president of marketing at Palm Computing, also joined Handspring later. Hawkins dismissed the trio's departure as a reason for any delay. "There is no truth at all about any product being delayed because myself and others left the company," said Handspring's Hawkins. Wireless to be big Without the new Pilot as the star exhibit, Wireless applications will be the big focus of the show, said analysts. Products on display at the conference will include Qualcomm Corp.'s previously announced PdQ smart phone, which uses the Palm operating system. The phone, which the company says will go on sale next year, has a PalmPilot-type screen and a flip-down keypad. All Palm III applications will run on the phone, which will come with a browser and e-mail in addition to the regular Palm functions. Users will be able to make calls or send emails by tapping a name in the address book and can access a Web page by tapping on a URL. GartnerGroup's Delaney thinks the PdQ is interesting, but will not sell well. "They basically stuck a speaker on the Palm Pilot," he said. "When you want to look at it, you have to pull it away from your ear." zdnet.com