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Technology Stocks : 3Com Corporation (COMS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Al Cano who wrote (30760)	5/10/1999 2:36:00 PM
From: Mang Cheng	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 45548

"3Com Gets A Line On Wireless New Division To Unveil Host Of Products" Date: 5/10/99 Author: Michele Hostetler 3Com Corp. - maker of the best-selling hand-held, the Palm Pilot -wants people to be able to hook such devices to networks, no matter where they roam. So it's formed a new wireless connectivity division, which hopes to make some hay when it unveils its first products Monday at one of technology's largest trade shows, Networld+Interop. ''People want to be attached to information where and when they want it,'' said Rich Redelfs, general manager of this new division. ''You have to have wireless to truly have pervasive networking.'' 3Com plans to unveil its AirConnect Wireless LAN product line, which it hopes to ship by the third quarter. The line consists of a bunch of gear: access points , or ''boxes'' of circuitry that sit in a corner of a room to accept the radio waves sent by wireless devices. From such access points, transmissions make it onto a local-area network. notebook and desktop adapter cards, or circuit boards that go inside devices to enable wireless communications. network management software, to help wireless devices talk to networks. Wireless local-area networks long have held promise. They've gained in some specific markets, such as among stock brokers on trading floors who need devices to record trades, but simply can't be tethered by wires or cables. But in general, wireless has been too costly, unreliable and slow to gain much ground. More widespread adoption is taking place as wireless networks get faster and cheaper. But just when wireless becomes a force is the question. ''Is it going to happen overnight?'' said Jeff Abramowitz, president of the Wireless LAN Alliance and a 3Com consultant. ''No, I don't think so. IS (information services) managers are very conservative.'' This is a transition year, he says. ''These are the kinds of markets that build on themselves.'' The speeds, at least, are getting there. Wireless LANs can move data at 11 megabits per second, says Fran Firth, a Boston-based analyst with Cahners In-Stat Group Inc., a market researcher. That's in line with the basic speeds for a normal, Ethernet, wireline network. Wireless isn't the newest technology in town anymore, but people still are unaware of the gains made by wireless technology, Firth says. ''It's a time when wireless networks can enter the wider marketplace,'' she said. Aside from faster speeds, prices are falling. Three years ago, it cost $800 per wireless connection. That cost should drop to $200 or $300 by year's end, Firth says. And there are more wireless players, lending more credibility to the market, Firth says. Other makers include Lucent Technologies Inc., Motorola Inc., Proxim Corp. and Symbol Technologies Inc. ''We've been waiting for years to hear about (3Com's wireless plan),'' Firth said. Investors Business Daily, Inc. Mang