Wireless industry show tones down exuberance
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — The annual wireless industry show may not boast the same wide-eyed enthusiasm as a year ago, when Wall Street's exuberance was still intact.
Associated Press
Then again, the banter about "smart phones," mobile Internet access, and Bluetooth wireless will be more reality than promise during CTIA Wireless 2001.
Palm Inc. unveiled the m500 and m505 with color display (pictured), handheld computers similar in design to the Palm V that work with expansion cards and an updated operating system, to compete with new machines from Handspring Inc. and Sony Corp.
More than 30,000 people and 700 exhibitors are expected to take part in the industry pageant, which had grown so rapidly in the past few years that the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association decided to hold the show in Las Vegas for the first time.
Once again, the drive toward third-generation or 3G wireless technology is expected to play prominently during the show, which runs today through Thursday.
However, the 3G push may be delayed as late as 2004 by the reversal of fortunes on Wall Street, which has made investors squeamish about the multi-hundred-billion-dollar premise of buying new wireless spectrum and upgrading networks for high-speed connections.
But not everything hinges on 3G.
New compression technologies like those deployed by Sprint PCS and the introduction of "2.5G" over the coming year offer at least a half-step toward faster download speeds for mobile phones, laptops and personal digital assistants like handheld Palm and Pocket PC computers.
Meanwhile, the smart phone wars have begun heating up, with the U.S. launch of three different handsets with built-in PDAs — from Kyocera, LG InfoComm and Ericsson — and a wireless phone attachment for Handspring's Visor line of palmtops.
But Samsung and Sprint PCS plan to up the ante today by unveiling a prototype of the first smart phone with a full-color screen.
The SPH-I300, which like Kyocera's new smart phone is powered by the popular Palm operating system, is expected to arrive by late summer. But owing to the complexities of cramming a PDA into a phone, some might note that a similar timetable was announced by Sprint at last year's show for the LG smart phone, which didn't arrive until November.
No pricing for the new Samsung phone was disclosed.
Not to be left out, Microsoft plans to use the show as a platform for discussing Stinger, the long-promised smart phone slated for introduction late this year, and plans to introduce wireless phone attachments for the PocketPC. Among other announcements, Microsoft is expected to introduce a fourth handset maker that will produce a smart phone based on the Stinger operating system.
Other products that will be unveiled at CTIA Wireless 2001 include the first wireless headset that can work with mobile phones equipped with Bluetooth short-range radio technology.
The headset, priced "under $200," is made by GN Netcom.
