Compiled by Mark Balestra
As the wireless revolution sets to go full throttle, the need for standardization increases in significance. CMP Media reports that LM Ericsson, Nokia Corp. and Motorola Inc. are teaming to develop a standard for secure banking and credit-card payment over mobile phones. The companies plan to use existing and emerging wireless specifications, such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) to create the standard. The companies intend to disclose details of their work in May.
Meanwhile, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has announced a major industry-wide initiative designed to identify areas of opportunity and set advertising guidelines for the wireless Internet marketplace. The IAB Wireless Taskforce will initially focus its activities on creative and measurement guidelines. The Bureau says creative guidelines must address multiple devices (cellular phones, Personal Digital Assistants, pagers, etc.) as well as Multiple types within the categories, such as specifications for different screen sizes within the category, color or non-color display, sound, graphics, etc. It says measurement guidelines must offer uniform metrics; define click-throughs and/or impressions; and create an entirely new metric to measure effectiveness of wireless delivery.
A research report by Cap Gemini America, an information technology consulting firm, indicates that the number of individuals using cell phones for wireless data applications among the U.S. Internet population is set to increase from the current 3 percent to an estimated 78 percent in the next 12 months. Forty-seven percent of the future users surveyed explained that the primary reason for using wireless data applications is that someone else (i.e., the employer) pays for it. This was by far the most important reason, according to the research, thus the firm concludes that market growth will initially be driven by corporate initiatives rather than consumer demand.
The Age published a story this week on a new product, developed by Adelaide-based Netline Technologies, that can convert e-mails into sound messages that can be listened to on any telephone. The product, "E-Fone," also allows e-mails to be sent from any phone. In other words, business travelers don't have to find an Internet cafe to catch up with e-mails. The product works on a subscription basis and can monitor up to nine e-mail accounts. Using the device is as easy as dialing a number, enter your PIN and listen to your messages.
AdForce, Inc., a leading online provider of centralized, outsourced ad management and delivery services, recently announced the formation of the Wireless Advertising Industry Association. The WAIA, which held its first meeting at the Argent Hotel in San Francisco on April 18, intends to address high-priority technical, measurement, business and creative issues separately and in concert with one another. The mission of the WAIA is to unite leading companies involved in wireless advertising as well as to discuss and resolve important issues in the evolution of advertising in this medium. Companies interested in learning more about the WAIA, including its vision and its goals and objectives, can visit its web site at
www.adforce.com/waia.
Insurance for Caribbean operators? Gadzoox(R) Networks, Inc., a leading provider of SAN (storage area network) products, announced this week, that it has launched a strategic initiative to address the requirement for interconnection of SANs across long distances. The strategy will address disaster tolerance capabilities for users requiring real-time duplication of data to remote "mirrored" sites. By engaging in strategic partnerships and internal research and development, the company plans to accelerate the development of new disaster tolerance solutions through the combination of Fibre Channel, Gigabit Ethernet, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) and other technologies. For more information, visit www.gadzoox.com.