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3G Features October 2006
3G Features October 2006
3G Press Releases
3G Press Releases
A major shift is taking place in the way people are communicating using their mobile phones. No longer content to just use calls and texts to chat to friends and family, mobile users are now adopting instant messaging in droves. Comarco is extending its popular Prizm Scanning Receiver System to support the emerging TD-SCDMA standard currently being deployed in China. The Prizm System is an advanced scanning receiver used by cellular carriers to deploy, monitor and troubleshoot cellular networks that conform to the TD-SCDMA 3G standard. T
Huawei Technologies confirmed that Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (“Etisalat”) has selected Huawei as its major supplier for the construction of its nationwide UMTS/HSPA network. Sierra Wireless and Tomen Electronics have signed an agreement that designates Tomen as the primary distributor for all Sierra Wireless products in Japan, marking the formal entry of Sierra Wireless into the Japanese 3G wireless market.
Catapult Communications has been selected by Korea Telecom (KT) to provide simulation and load testing capabilities for the addition of IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) services to their existing IP network. Catapult's distributor, Tricomtek Co., Ltd., will provide local technical expertise to assist Korea Telecom. Comlent Technology Inc., the only Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC) corporate member of China's 3G standard TD-SCDMA Industry Alliance (TDIA), announced today that it starts sampling RFIC transceiver and analog baseband (ABB) chipset in advanced CMOS technology for TD-SCDMA, the world's first in its kind.
3 announced the launch of six new phones for the Christmas season. The Sony Ericsson W950i offers the most cutting-edge music applications while for those after the latest technology and good looks. Actix, the supplier of performance optimization solutions to 9/10 of the world’s wireless operators, announced today that they have completed the delivery of a full GSM/GPRS/UMTS optimisation and roll-out solution for O2 Ireland.
Mobile networks will provide coverage to 90% of the world’s population by 2010, compared with 80% today, despite the misplaced policies of many governments, who continue to subsidize the rollout of fixed-networks, according to a study commissioned by the GSM Association, the global trade association for mobile operators. 3ple-Media, the Mobile Multimedia infrastructure company, has launched a new platform to enable Mobile Operators to kick-start MMS and Video Streaming services for 2.5G and 3G subscribers, making two clear and important advances.
LG Electronics (LG) has signed a contract for technical cooperation with Germany's Schneider-Kreuznach, since long known for the world's highest quality camera lenses. Eamon Dunphy, Ireland’s infamous and most talked-about sports pundit has signed a ground-breaking deal to present Ireland’s first “made for mobile” TV series - exclusively on the 3 mobile media network.
Ericsson has been selected to supply, install and integrate Bouygues Telecom's WCDMA/HSPA radio equipment in the Greater Paris area and Rhône-Alpes. NetHawk has released a new comprehensive solution for Rel5 HSDPA and Rel6 HSUPA testing. NetHawk provides a full set of features for monitoring, functional simulation and load testing of HSPA.
A fleet of 64 specially equipped test vehicles is travelling more than 10,000 kilometres a day testing Telstra's Next G™ network - helping Telstra get even better coverage on Australia's largest and fastest 3G network. roadcasting giants, BBC and Sky, dominate the third screen in the U.K., according to Telephia, the largest provider of consumer research to the communications and new media markets. Telephia recently expanded its consumer research program in the U.K. to track mobile content consumption at the channel, website and content title level.
Japanese and South Korean consumers are early adopters of new technologies, and today, nearly 14% of all mobile handsets in South Korea support Digital Mobile Broadcast television. Hutchison Telephone (Macau) Company announced that it has been awarded a 3G licence by the Direcção dos Serviços de Regulação de Telecomunicações
Nokia launched of the blockbuster movie M:i:III on memory cards to coincide with the film's DVD release. This exceptional quality, full length version of M:i:III will be available on memory cards exclusively with Nokia Nseries multimedia computers. iPoint-media announced that Siemens, a major 3G infrastructure provider, has completed implementation of the iPoint-media Vitrage™ media platform at Seat Pagine Gialle, one of the world's leading telephone directory companies.
HP and Cingular Wireless announced that beginning Oct. 31 Cingular will be the first carrier in the United States to offer a new HP iPAQ handheld device with five wireless communications technologies. Actix announced the launch of HSPA upgrades to their performance optimization software suite, enabling strong productivity improvements and faster time-to-market for W-CDMA wireless network operators.
3G Americas, a trade association dedicated to the ubiquitous deployment of GSM and its evolution to 3G and beyond in the Americas, today published a white paper focused on coverage-enhancing features, products, and network design in 3G systems.  
New findings from the TNS Global Technology Insights (GTI) 2006 study, which examines cutting-edge technology issues across key markets, indicates that American consumers, like their global counterparts, haven’t fully grasped the advantages of Third Generation (3G) mobile handsets. Airvana, Inc. announced it made the industry's first Quality of Service (QoS) enabled mobile-to-mobile VoIP call on a commercially available EV-DO Rev. A network. Airvana demonstrated the call in its Multimedia/VoIP laboratory.
3, the mobile media company, is pleased to announce that it has acquired a portfolio of 95 prime-location retail stores in shopping centres and high street locations across the UK. SonicWALL introduced the SonicWALL TZ 190, a network security appliance which allows users to instantly create a secure 3G wireless broadband network without the need for a fixed Internet connection.
Ericsson and T-Mobile International have successfully trialed AMR Wideband among consumers in Germany, proving the potential of this technology thanks to a significant improvement in voice quality and the consequent end-user satisfaction.
Ericsson has been selected to upgrade Wataniya's network with full 3G/HSPA functionality that will boost the operator's mobile broadband offering to end-user in Kuwait. Commercial launch has already started.
Anite Telecoms announced the commercial launch of its first High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) test case package, from which five test cases have already been successfully validated against two or more terminals.
Kyocera Wireless and Cypress Solutions announced the Cypress Solution Chameleon CTM 152, a rugged, industrial cellular modem that integrates the award-winning Kyocera Passport KPC650 PC Card to leverage the power and speed of 3G Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) networks.
GIGABYTE Communications today unveils the GSmart i200, the first DVB-H Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU 3.0 VGA handheld device, at the 3GSM World Congress Asia 2006. In fact, a major highlight of the event is the preview of the new GSmart DVB-H digital mobile TV device, GSmart i200.
RFI Global Services Ltd (RFI) announced the launch of the first handset camera module test services. RFI is the first laboratory to be approved by the founder members of the SMIA forum, Nokia and STMicroelectronics, who have selected RFI as the first fully qualified SMIA Approved Laboratory to independently test compliance of camera modules.
POGO, a South African based company, developed the software and is looking to benefit from the growing demand for mobile phone applications in the youth market. The application entered the market in May 2006 after several months of development and testing. Siemens Networks LLC is dedicating a new 3G/IMS laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology on Monday, October 23. The new lab, co-sponsored by Cingular Wireless, the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) and the Georgia Tech Research Network Operations Center
The fring™ Mobile VoIP solution is designed to optimise the embedded internet capabilities within the subscriber handset. The fring™ solution establishes a Peer-To-Peer VoIP connection between calling parties, enabling true VoIP sessions between fring enabled handsets and also between handsets and PCs. Samsung Electronics is bolstering its brand image by showcasing state-of-the- products and technologies at Korea Electronics Show 2006. This year marks the 37th running of, Korea 's largest electronics industry event, which is being held at the Korea International Exhibition Center (KINTEX) in Ilsan October..
Huawei Technologies demonstrated its leadership in next generation wireless products and solutions at 3GSM World Congress Asia 2006, held in Singapore.  
Analysys says in its recently released report ''China's Handhold TV Annual Report 2006'', that China's total users of handhold TVs will reach 22.19 million in 2010. Nokia and the Russian operator Megafon have successfully tested data transmission at 3.6 Mbps speed using High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) technology. The test zone deployed by Nokia at one of Megafon sites in Saint Petersburg allows the testing of all new capabilities of 3G networks.
Download and store all the music you need with the ultimate music mobile – the Sony Ericsson W850i with inbuilt Walkman – now available from 3. Like to listen to music on the go? mobile’s new W850i - available in mystic black and golden white - is the ultimate 3G music mobile. Orange and Microsoft announced their first convergent Instant Messaging offering for PCs and mobile. The new service, named Orange Messenger by Windows Live, will allow users to benefit from the collaboration between Orange and Microsoft® Windows Live' Messenger.
Texas Instruments introduced the expansion of its FlatLinkTM3G family of high-speed interface integrated circuits that transmit true 24-bit (16 million color) RGB color data for high-resolution video content in handheld electronics such as clamshell phones, multimedia players and digital cameras. Bytemobile announced that SmarTone-Vodafone has partnered with Interactive Technology Limited (ITL) to deploy Bytemobile's Optimization Services Node (OSN) in the launch of network-wide HSDPA coverage in Hong Kong, as announced on June 6, 2006.
Owners of the Sony Ericsson P990 smartphone can now enjoy their favourite local TV shows on their phones wherever they are in the world. LocationFree™ from Sony redirects TV shows from your home television to target devices such as your P990, AirWalk Communications announced the closing of a $15 million second round of equity financing to aggressively extend its leadership position in the fast-growing CDMA network market.
As Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) technology ramps in China as the official standard for third-generation (3G) mobile telephone service, Freescale Semiconductor continues to win major wireless basestation designs. WFI announced today that it has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract to continue providing its services and expertise in the areas of 2G and 3G network design and optimization services for O2, the leading provider of mobile services in the United Kingdom. Work under the contract extension is already underway and will continue in to 2007.
Truphone announced a beta version of its free VoIP download for Nokia's best-selling, Wi-Fi-enabled N80 mobile handset. PacketVideo Corporation and NTT DoCoMo have expanded their collaboration to provide the Japanese market with six new advanced multimedia player handset options powered by PacketVideo’s Universal pvPlayer software.
Broadcom Corporation announced that its WCDMA processor is now shipping in Panasonic's new SoftBank 705P 3G/GSM mobile handset which the Japanese operator SOFTBANK MOBILE Corp. yLogic announced release 2.2 of its PSE 3G Gateway, an open-standard and protocols-compliant appliance allowing connectivity between 3G and IP networks, now available in a new version engineered on business environments’ purpose.
Panasonic Computer Solutions introduced two new rugged Panasonic Toughbook computers: The CF-19 convertible tablet PC, and the flagship CF-30 clamshell notebook.  
3 the mobile media company and Unipart Technology Logistics have signed a five-year extension to their handset logistics partnership. Twelve leading mobile operators spanning six continents are spearheading the GSM Association’s '3G for All' campaign, which aims to make third-generation mobile services accessible to a much wider user base.
High-speed mobile broadband connectivity – powered by HSDPA - will soon become a standard feature of notebook PCs following the publication of guidelines, developed by a GSM Association-led initiative, that prescribe a common approach for PC manufacturers to fully integrate 3G functionality in their product ranges. 3, Ireland’s mobile media network, today announces plans to open up to twenty eight of its own stores across the country by the end of 2007.
Vodafone announced its range of Christmas 2006 consumer handsets offering the widest choice of handsets ever and 3G phones at entry level prices. Nokia has won a contract to expand Wataniya Telecom's High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) radio and core network in Kuwait, increasing its capacity and extending the HSDPA network coverage to new areas.
The GSM Association, Ericsson and multinational telecommunications group MTN have teamed up to establish biofuels as an alternative source of power for wireless networks in the developing world. Nokia announced that it has completed its acquisition of gate5 AG, a leading supplier of mapping, routing and navigation software and services. Above shows Navigation Mode on Nokia N95.
Samsung reinforces its technology leadership by launching the world's first 10 megapixel mobile phone (model: SCH-B600) in Korean market. Mobile TV in the UK has started to become a reality and with the Oxford 3G/DVB-H Mobile TV trial revealing strong consumer demand for broadcast TV to mobiles, the Oxford University CPD Centre presents a new course in 3G / DVB-H (digital video broadcasting - handheld) Mobile TV.
NTT DoCoMo announced 14 new 3G FOMA™ handsets-the 903i series, SIMPURE™ series and N902iL. Above shows the N902iL ( left ), the 903i ( middle ) and the 903ix ( right ). Sony Ericsson announced special silver versions of the K800i and K790 Cyber-shot™ camera phones as used by James Bond in the eagerly awaited new Bond movie, Casino Royale. T
After years of eagerly anticipating video would be the "killer application" for 3G, a new survey from In-Stat finds that existing and potential 3G customers are much more interested in high-quality mapping and navigation services. Despite mobile phone providers' endeavours to recruit 3G customers, 3G technology remains a low priority for mobile users across the globe - and cost is the overriding factor.
Nokia announced that they will work with Orb Networks to integrate Orb MyCasting into the Nokia N80 Internet Edition. The integration will arrive initially in the United States when the device begins to ship November of this year. 3UK, Orange, Telefonica, and Vodafone announce the launch of a technical trial of TDtv, the UMTS TD-CDMA-3GPP Multimedia Broadcast andMulticast Services (MBMS)standard-based solution.
Novatel Wireless announced that it has begun commercial shipments of its Merlin XU870 ExpressCard to leading HSDPA and UMTS carriers worldwide. Designed to operate on both North American and European HSDPA networks, Groove Mobile announced that it powers music on 8 of the world's top 10 selling mobile phones during the month of September.
PacificNet has taken another step in its strategy of capturing market opportunities with the impending launch of 3G in China. GPS in the GSM mobile phone has always seemed to be a year away. But 2007 may be the year that it finally arrives, and 25% of WCDMA handsets will offer GPS by the end of 2008, according to a new study from ABI Research.
Vidiator, a leading provider of mobile streaming, encoding, mobile TV and 3D messaging solutions, announced today that it has started supporting NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode™ service with their Xenon™ Encoder. 3, Ireland's mobile media network, announced that its products and services are now on sale in over 270 outlets nationwide
3UK, the mobile media company was last night awarded two top honours at the 2006 Mobile Choice Consumer Awards in London. The International 450 Association (IA450) was elated to receive the news from TRAI about the spectrum allocation. As promoters for the use of CDMA2000® in the 450MHz band
Novatel Wireless announced a next generation HSDPA design win at one of the Company's existing OEM customers -- one of the world's leading laptop manufacturers.  
Infineon Technologies announced that its GPRS/UMTS multimedia platform powers Panasonic Mobile Communications Co., Ltd. newest commercially available Softbank 705P mobile handset Australia has joined the rapidly growing list of countries with live 3G HSDPA high speed mobile networks, following Telstra's nationwide service launch today - three months ahead of schedule.
More than 85 million mobile subscribers worldwide are already enjoying a new generation of compelling mobile multimedia services on around 120 WCDMA networks that have been deployed commercially. 3D and multiplayer games may grab the games technology headlines, but it is mass market casual games that will drive market growth over the next three years, says Juniper Research in its latest study of the global mobile games market.
LG.Philips LCD has developed the industry's first TFT-LCD panel for next-generation mobile phones.
Axesstel announced the new MV400 ( above ) Series of 3G Wireless Broadband Gateways at Futurecom being held in Florianopolis, Brazil. The MV400 Series, including the MV410 (450 MHz), MV420 (800 MHz), MV430 (1900 MHz) and MV440 (800/1900 MHz), combines CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev A wireless wide area networking (WWAN), a Wi-Fi wireless local area networking (WLAN) router, and a four port Ethernet switch. The Helio Hybrid combines a 3G card and a laptop’s built-in Wi-Fi with easy software that switches between a nationwide 3G network, private and free Wi-Fi signals and a network of commercial Wi-Fi hot spots, all for one simple monthly fee.
Comverse announced that VIBO Telecom, Taiwan's newest operator, deployed Comverse’s InSight™ Open Services Environment and advanced messaging services for its new 3G network in Taiwan. Dilithium Networks confirmed that Mobitel Slovenia, the leading national mobile telecommunications operator in Slovenia, has selected the Dilithium DTG 2000 multimedia gateway for the delivery of multimedia and enhanced video services across mobile and broadband networks.
Kenwood Martin heads up RFI’s new Dallas-based office as a key US account manager. Establishing a US presence is the first step in RFI’s drive to increase its unique 2G/3G cellular approval services to mobile handset and chipset manufacturers in the US and Canada.  
Aplix Corporation confirmed its JBlend(TM) Java platform has been deployed in K610im ( above ), Sony Ericsson's first i-mode phone. Call Direct Cellular Solutions (CDCS) has launched their series of HSDPA Routers based on their successful CDM800 series platform. The new devices will cover all of Australia's HSDPA frequencies of 850/2100MHz plus 1900MHz.
Ireland’s mobile media network, today announced that its leading range of handsets and mobile services are on sale in all forty eight Carphone Warehouse stores nationwide. Top Globaland Airpath Wireless announced the combination of the MobileBridge ( above ) with the Airpath Wireless Broadband Operational Support System (WiBOSS) platform, allowing Wi-Fi carriers and businesses to quickly deploy mobile/portable hot spots.
Axesstel announced it received a purchase order valued at approximately $1.8 million from a large infrastructure provider, headquartered in China, for Axesstel D1900 (1900 MHz) and D800 (800 MHz) Wireless Broadband Modems. Axesstel has begun shipments of both modems to the company. The patent encompasses the use of GSM / 3G mobile devices, be they phones, PDA’s or other similar devices for authenticating users and transacting mobile commerce.
National Semiconductor unveiled the industry’s first 14-bit, dual, 1 GHz-input bandwidth analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with serial low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) outputs for demanding communications, test and measurement, and imaging applications. A definite development schedule has been given to the third generation or 3G, as it’s known commonly, mobile telecom in China. A broad range of new telecom services like multimedia services, mobile banking etc. will be offered by 3G
The fourth-generation mobile network is called NGMN – Next Generation Mobile Network. As part of an in-house exhibition at the Siemens Forum in Munich, Siemens held a live presentation of the functionality and advantages of this network for the first time worldwide. Palm’s Treo 750v isn’t the first Treo labelled smartphone from the company, nor is it the first Treo to sport Windows Mobile. But it is the first time we’ve seen the combination in the UK.
NTT DoCoMo announced it has co-developed a portable, seven-inch 3D display system with Associate Professor Yasuhiro Takagi of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology.  
LG Mobile bring the KG920 ( above ) 5 Mega-Pixel digital camera phone to the UK in silver with a unique camera-style form, the KG920 boasts an innovative twist design that allows the camera to rotate up to 180 degrees. Palm and Microsoft announced the first Asian availability of the new Palm(R) Treo(TM) 750v smartphone, bringing for the first time to Asia the hallmark Palm experience on Microsoft(R) Windows Mobile(R) 5.0 over a wireless 3G/UMTS network.
Nokia is expanding mobility into a new arena by bringing wireless wide area connectivity for notebook users. Nokia has developed an HSDPA connectivity module for notebook computers Sierra Wireless announced support for Intel Corporation's 3G-enabled Ultra Mobile PC platform, shown today at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco.
 
Vodafone unveiled its first Vodafone-only branded 3G consumer handset, the Vodafone 710, which will see the mobile network operator become a brand name in its own right in the consumer handset market.
 
SeeMeTV passes 12 million downloads since launch 3’s SeeMeTV service, which allows customers to share videos and make “cash for clips” from viewings, has seen more than 12 million downloads since its launch last October. In the same time period there have been in excess of 100,000 uploads to the service, generating more than £250,000 for contributors. Considering the imminent Olympics 2008 in Beijing, issuing of 3G licenses to ensure high-speed mobile networks is probable this year. This is likely to drive demand in the wireless test and measurement equipment.
Ericsson has been chosen as the sole supplier to build and integrate TelstraClear's 3G/WCDMA/HSPA high-speed mobile broadband network in Tauranga, New Zealand. In 2011, the total population of GPS-enabled location-based services (LBS) subscribers will reach 315 million, up from 12 million in 2006, according to a new study from ABI Research.
Sandbridge Technologies is sampling its SB3011 chip that implements a complete third-generation (3G) mobile handset capable of operating virtually any radio protocol required for a common (universal) multi-mode, multi-function mobile platform and significantly reducing the time to market and total cost of ownership for OEMs and carriers. A web site entirely focused on Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology, the 3GPP global standard for fixed-mobile convergence, was unveiled. The site, www.umatoday.com, is dedicated to providing the latest news, information and discussion on UMA-based services, products and events.
This launch of high-speed mobile data connections is taking place just 10 months after Sonofon purchased the 3G licence. To begin with, coverage will extend to the centre of Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg, Odense and a number of other cities in Denmark. Nokia unveiled music editions of three Nokia Nseries multimedia computers, the Nokia N70 Music Edition, Nokia N73 Music Edition and Nokia N91 8GB. The Nokia Nseries Music Range combines sleek black design with heightened mobile music experiences appealing to the music en