Word: ericsson
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Going digital was a much rockier road in the U.S., mainly because the FCC chose to let competing technologies duke it out in the market. The result: Qualcomm, Ericsson and others squabbled over whose standard would "win." None did, so we're left with a hodgepodge of incompatible networks and a gaggle of abbreviations (GSM, CDMA, TDMA, IDEN) that are not only confusing but also confining, restricting us to a particular carrier's coverage area and delaying the roll-out of advanced services...
...popular outside the U.S. The 12.5-oz. device is the Psion 5mx ($549, list) and runs on a clever 32-bit operating system called Epoc, which has legions of devotees, just like Palm's OS. Epoc, you should know, was developed by a consortium called Symbian (which includes Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola), and is being positioned as the standard for next-generation cell phones--a distinct possibility since those manufacturers produce 80% of the world's mobile phones. That's probably why Microsoft referred to Psion as its "No. 1 global threat" in an internal memo last year...
...wirelessly through a cell phone. The gadget connects to a cell phone via its infrared port; then you can dial out to any Internet service provider. That said, there are only a few mobile phones at the moment that support this feature. I tried it with the Ericsson I 888 World Phone ($300), and it worked fine, though moving data at 9,600 bits per second felt glacial. Also, the e-mail program that came with the palmtop was clumsy--after you download messages, you need to transfer them to another queue to read. (Will someone please fix this...
HAVE PHONE, WILL TRAVEL If you like the idea of a global phone but can't afford thousands of dollars for a bulky satellite model, Ericsson's new I 888 World ($299) might fit your budget, and briefcase, a little better. Using the newer GSM cellular network, the 6-oz. phone works in 48 countries, from Iceland to Indonesia, and bills international calls at $1 to $2 a minute. A built-in infrared modem lets you send e-mail wirelessly from one of the many notebook computers equipped with an infrared port. The glacial 9.6-kbps transmission rate, however, billed...
...Ericsson introduces its first cellular phone...