Compiled by Anne Lindner
Motorola Rolls out GPRS phones in Seattle
General Packet Radio Service mobile phones are soon to hit American shores, starting with Seattle.
Motorola is releasing the Timeport P7382i, which will work on AT&T Wireless' network. The handset, which will allow quick Web access, will be introduced on a market-to-market to basis starting with Seattle. The service is intended for business-to-business (B2B) usage. When the service arrives in other cities will depend on now the network works, a representative from Motorola said.
The technology is already emerging in the United Kingdom. GPRS is also known as 2.5G and is the main standard currently used by network operators to develop high-speed wireless services. The technology offers more efficient mobile Internet access because data is sent in small segments, and carriers can charge by the amount of data sent or retrieved, not by airtime used.
Software Suite to Aid E-Commerce
In August Vigilant Systems will come out with a new product suite aimed at improving the efficiency of e-commerce for software suppliers.
The products include turnkey license management facilities and customer database access and would allow software vendors to increase customer satisfaction, decrease engineering and license administration costs, and support their direct, VAR and telesales channels.
The suite has the following features: Internet-based and direct electronic licensing; language to customize customer information, desktop messaging and licensing transactions; software protection against unauthorized use and an easy migration path to full e-commerce.
Two-Step Banner Leads to Investment Information
Companies that believe themselves to be undervalued on the world's stock markets are the target of a new type of banner advertisement recently re-launched by Web-Invest.com.
The Swedish company has conceived of a two-step banner advertisement that takes the user to a business summary of the advertiser, instead of the company's website. The summary will include the company's key figures and a word from the chief executive. Web-Invest.com pledges the summaries won't be mere recommendations, but ways for companies to present their investment information to an audience that might not otherwise get it.
ICE Giving Online Gambling Room to Grow
This year's International Casino Exhibition will devote more space to Internet gambling. Dubbed "i-Gaming Zone," the new online gambling area will feature its own dedicated bar and café, as well as a separate coatroom and exhibition area.
The space will be perfect for exhibitors to mix with buyers, said Julian Graves, marketing and commercial director for the ICE show.
"We believe that the i-Gaming Zone will provide an unrivalled opportunity for members of the online gaming community to get their name, services and products across to a large and influential market of casino professionals," he said.
The ICE show will take place January 22, 23 and 24 in London at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre.
The Future of Microchips Is Golden
Researchers at Hewlett-Packard recently announced a patent that could lead
to smaller, less expensive and more efficient computers. The method, which was patented earlier this month, involves sprinkling electrically conducive gold dust on a computer circuit to create connections between the molecular wiring and the larger silicon wiring in the circuitry. The creators, who worked with University of California at Los Angeles researchers, expect to have a 16-kilobit memory chip using this technology ready for the market by 2005. They expect to offer a molecular electronics chip targeted at low-energy and non-volatile memory markets by 2006. The research is being funded by a $12 million grant from the U.S. Defense Department and $13 million from HP.
Voice Recognition Software News
SimplySay recently announced that it has added the OpenSpeech Recognizer 1.0
speech recognition engine from SpeechWorks International Inc. to its SimplySay Voice Applications Platform. Lee Walker, the director of product development for SimplySay, said the OpenSpeech Recognizer will fill an important role in the voice platform market. "SpeechWorks has obviously been listening to the speech development community and taken a common-sense approach in the creation of this product," he said.
Net Surfing in the Park
The Internet is coming to a park bench near you, if you happen to live near Bury St. Edmunds in southeast England. Reuters reported last week that Microsoft is set to bestow Web access for the first time on a park bench, which visitors to the city's Abbey Gardens
will able to connect their laptops to in order to use the Internet for free. MSN is said to still be testing the technology that this will entail. The Net chair is supposed to be ready by August or September. As for the why of this story, an MSN spokesman said, "The bench is a metaphor for the Internet slipping into every day usage--it's as everyday as a park bench."