Subject: [NEXTEL-1] News & Analysis 4Mobility - 20 December 2002

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2002 17:51:47 -0500

Today's Topics:

1. Only Consolidation Will Save Many Wireless Startups
2. Home Entertainment: The Next Frontier For Wireless
3. GSM/TDMA Carriers Bet On Questionable Position Location and E911 Technology
4. Microsoft Smartphone Efforts Failing
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Only Consolidation Will Save Many Wireless Startups

Many of the "wireless startups" got to go public during the bubble but really never
managed to become profitable and get out of the startup mode. AvantGo has a lot of great
technology so it is nice to see it going to stay around at Sybase. I expect we will see
more consolidation with "wireless startups".

The News [Image]

Sybase plans to get AvantGo
By Margaret Kane and Ben Charny Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Sybase will acquire mobile communications company AvantGo in a deal worth about $38
million, the companies said Friday. Sybase, which makes software for corporate use
including databases and portals, said AvantGo will be combined with its iAnywhere
Solutions subsidiary. AvantGo's software lets people transfer data to mobile devices. The
AvantGo assets will help Sybase crack the market for the software and hardware needed to
connect hundreds of wireless devices to corporate databases, said Sybase Chief Executive
John Chen.

More @ http://news.com.com/2100-1001-978554.html?tag=fd_top
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Home Entertainment: The Next Frontier For Wireless

Philips, a huge consumer electronics company, has purchased a company that provides
802.11a and 802.11g chips (54 Mbps). It continues to look like 802.11a and g will be the
conduit for shipping audio and video around the home. I believe 802.11g will prevail in
most installations because it its better coverage. It is going to be exciting as wireless
becomes part of distribution audio and video around the home---goodbye cables.

The News [Image]

Philips hooks up for wireless chips
By Michael Kanellos, Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Philips Semiconductor on Thursday announced it will buy Systemonic, which designs
high-speed wireless chips that will eventually be incorporated into televisions and other
consumer-electronics products. Systemonic specializes in chips that use the 802.11a and
802.11g wireless standards. Higher transfer speeds mean that consumers can swap videos,
digital camera photos, and MP3 files between PCs and entertainment devices once the
infrastructure is established.

More @ http://news.com.com/2100-1040-978461.html?tag=cd_mh
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GSM/TDMA Carriers Bet On Questionable Position Location and E911 Technology

Cingular says that EOTD doesn't meet the FCC requirements and switches to U-TDOA but AT&T
Wireless and T-Mobile are sticking with EOTD. If Cingular can't make it work how will the
others? I believe even Cingular's new choice is risky. Nextel did test a couple of years
ago using the major locations technologies and found that only the handset GPS-based
technology met the FCC requirements. I believe that AT&T, Cingular and T-Mobile are still
making the wrong bet and will cost them a lot in the long run. The FCC does not appear to
be giving much leeway on this issue---the FCC wants E911 to work.

The News [Image]

Cingular switches emergency phone gear
By Ben Charny, Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Carriers AT&T Wireless, Cingular and T-Mobile had originally chosen to use a technique
called Enhanced Observed Time Difference (EOTD), which uses up to four cellular base
stations to pinpoint a cell phone's location by measuring the arrival times of the call at
various cellular antennas. EOTD works well in cities, where cell phone antennas are
plentiful, but in rural areas cellular antennas are sometimes miles apart. Instead of four
base stations, often there are just two to help determine a location, which makes the
measurement less accurate, said Chris Wade, chief executive of EOTD inventor Cambridge
Positioning Systems.

In October, Cingular said EOTD equipment was having trouble meeting the level of accuracy
that the FCC wants. The replacement technology, called Uplink Time Difference of Arrival
(U-TDOA), determines a phone's position by measuring the time a call reaches "location
measuring units" inside a cell phone network base station.

More @ http://news.com.com/2100-1033-978277.html?tag=lh
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Microsoft Smartphone Efforts Failing

This is a good editorial about Microsoft losing in the Smartphone arena---so far. Indeed
it looks like Microsoft will need to change its strategy. Maybe an acquisition--but whom?
I believe one of the problems for Microsoft is that the wireless industry doesn't want
Microsoft to become a serious competitor in the market and will continue to be good
competitors. Microsoft has not helped itself by sticking to PC type licensing policies.
Microsoft doesn't release and source code or allow modifications. How can the phone makers
differentiate their products---they can't. The wireless phone business is too big and Java
is gaining a significant foothold for Microsoft to walk away. I expect them to make a big
move once they believe the current strategy isn't working. We shouldn't need to wait much
longer now.

The News [Image]

Microsoft Struggling In The Wireless Market
By Rick Rowell, it.director.com

Microsoft's Smartphone platform, Stinger, is clearly failing to sting like a bee. Nearly,
if not all the wireless projects that were using the MS OS and SDK for mobile are being
cancelled or have limited shipments - that are not expected to be extended. Another
worrying development for Microsoft in the mobile market is the prevalence of Java. Java is
hot in mobile because it is essentially free and it is also definitely not .NET.

More @ http://www.it-director.com/article.php?id=3431
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