Wednesday, August 23, 2000

BBC charges for WAP content
The BBC is to start charging WAP operators for its digital news content just days after rival ITN officially complained to the Office of Fair trading that it was unfairly providing such services for free. The Corporation said this weekend it was in negotiations with Vodafone and BT Cellnet to strike long-term commercial deals to offer BBC news on their WAP services having run free trials for the past six months.
posted by Ben Gladstone 11:07 AM

Monday, August 21, 2000

Nokia Unveils WAP Browser 2.0 - With Source Code
Nokia looks set to rock the WAP (wireless application protocol) boat this week with the release of its own WAP browser v2.0. As well as supporting the WAP 1.2 standard, the browser technology is being released to third-party firms along with the source code.
This is the first time a WAP software vendor has released its source code to the industry at large, and is certain to cause a stampede of firms for the licensable technology. It could also threaten the dominance of Phone.com in the WAP/microbrowser world.
posted by Ben Gladstone 8:26 AM

Saturday, August 19, 2000

Telia forms e-commerce joint venture with Swedbank
Swedish incumbent Telia announced Friday it has formed an alliance with national bank ForeningsSparbanken (Swedbank) to develop electronic marketplaces with an initial focus on public-sector procurement.
posted by Ben Gladstone 9:05 AM

German 3G auction ends with Hutchison's exit
Winners were: Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobil; E-Plus, KPN and junior partners BellSouth and NTT DoCoMo; Mannesmann (Vodafone); Viag Interkom, backed by British Telecommunications; France Telecom-backed MobilCom; Group 3G, made up of Spain's Telefonica and Finland's Sonera
posted by Ben Gladstone 9:04 AM

Friday, August 18, 2000

Overseas, People Use Mobile Phones To Bank, Buy Wine, and Pay Rent
Juri Kriisemann pulls into a parking space and taps a few keys on his mobile phone. Seconds later a message from the local parking authority flashes on the screen, confirming that he has paid 11 crowns (65 cents) from a "virtual account" for an hour of parking.
posted by Ben Gladstone 3:12 PM

Wednesday, August 16, 2000

Motorola Teams with Mercedes-Benz to Offer New Mobile Phone
Motorola and Mercedes-Benz USA have teamed up to offer drivers a special, integrated version of Motorola's Timeport digital phone, the industry's first fully integrated dual band, multi-network phone system.
posted by Ben Gladstone 4:48 PM

AltaVista Offers WML/WAP Index
AltaVista has announced 'Raging Search "Unplugged"', an index of WML sites -- that is to say, sites written to be viewed on Wireless Application Protocol devices. The index is at http://wap.raging.com/ . The site is still in beta and according to its result page indexes over 2.5 million documents.
posted by Ben Gladstone 11:00 AM

Phone.com Teams With Becker For Car-Based Wireless Web
Phone.com has announced plans to work with Harman International's Becker GmbH subsidiary to offer wireless Internet facilities to the automotive industry.
posted by Ben Gladstone 10:59 AM

AT&T to buy one million cable boxes from Philips
Top cable television company AT&T Corp. will purchase one million advanced set-top cable boxes from Philips Electronics, the companies said on Monday.
The companies will also jointly market the cable boxes to consumers beginning in 2001, they said.
The boxes will incorporate a special processor that will allow interactive services like electronic commerce, gaming, and video-on-demand, according to the joint news release.
posted by Ben Gladstone 10:57 AM

Telia wins battle for Norway's NetCom
Sweden's Telia has finally succeeded in reentering the Norwegian telecoms market, having bought up at least 98% of the country's second mobile operator, NetCom.
posted by Ben Gladstone 10:56 AM

Tuesday, August 15, 2000

Microsoft, Compaq Release New Internet Device
Microsoft Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp. Tuesday took off the wraps on a new "Internet appliance" to offer a cheaper and easier route to the Web than a full-blown personal computer - iPaq Home Internet Appliance
posted by Ben Gladstone 5:50 PM

Orange launches first HSCSD service
U.K. mobile operator Orange launched its first service over HSCSD (high speed circuit switched data) on Monday, targeting business customers with a PC card.
posted by Ben Gladstone 12:28 PM

Monday, August 14, 2000

Yahoo Europe In WAP Deal With Mitsubishi
Yahoo Europe has struck one of the world's first WAP deals with a mobile handset vendor.
Terms of the deal call on Mitsubishi to pre-install Yahoo WAP portal routes on its Trium handsets sold across Europe and elsewhere.
has anyone told the carriers...?
posted by Ben Gladstone 2:08 PM