RoW Short Takes

Look Communications board approves rights offeringThe board of directors of Look Communications Inc. has approved a rights offering for the company’s current shareholders. Under terms of the offering, shareholders would be able to purchase additional common shares of Look. Details of the plan are still under wraps, but the company expects to file the plan with the appropriate authorities in April. Look expects to generate approximately $20 to $25 million from the rights offering. Commonly referred to as a poison pill, a rights offering can offer significant protection against a hostile takeover bid. Last year, Craig Wireless International Inc. upped its stake in Look to about 30% by buying shares from Teleglobe Inc. (RoW, Feb. 4/03). WaveRider sells wireless gear to Mychoice InternetNon-line-of-sight wireless Internet access equipment from WaveRider Communications Inc. is being deployed by Mychoice Internet to seven communities in Williamson and Franklin counties in Illinois. Mychoice plans to roll out the equipment next month to an initial 50 subscribers and then to approximately 1,000 by the end of next year. The company provides wireless broadband and dial-up Internet services. Agilent releases new simulation technologyAgilent Technologies Inc. has introduced new simulation technology, dubbed automatic verification modeling, in its Advanced Design System (ADS) 2003A. The new technology provides for design verification of communication circuits and systems up to 1,000 times faster than previous methods, the company notes in a news release. The ADS 2003A is the latest version of Agilent’s electronic design automation (EDA) software, a design and simulation environment used in the creation of products such as mobile phones, pagers, wireless and broadband networks, and radar and satellite communications systems. Fast verification early in the design process enables engineers to move to full-scale production more quickly, accelerating time to market and reducing development costs, Agilent highlighted. Nortel helps Verizon expand network coverageNortel Networks Corp. is supplying Verizon Wireless with CDMA 1X equipment to expand and improve coverage and increase capacity of its 2.5G network in Georgia and Alabama. Verizon recently acquired spectrum licences to those regions from Price Communications. Equipment being deployed includes Univity CDMA 1X Metro Cell radio base stations, mobile switches and related infrastructure gear. Redline adds advanced features to AN-50 productRedline Communications Inc. has added point-to-multipoint capabilities to its flagship product, the AN-50. The functionality can be through a software upgrade allowing existing deployments to be converted into point-to-multipoint systems while in use. The AN-50 is a non-line-of-sight fixed wireless system using OFDM technology. It operates in the 5.8 GHz licence-exempt band and can offer data rates of 72 Mbps at ranges of 90 kilometres. Redline made the announcement at WISPCON III trade show, which took place at the Oak Brook Hills Resort near Chicago last week. In other Redline news, the company has inked a distribution agreement with China’s Shanghai Datang Mobile Communications Equipment (SDTM). Under terms of the non-exclusive agreement, Datang will become the master distributor of Redline’s point-to-point and point-to-multipoint broadband wireless access systems for China and members of the Association of South East Asia Nations. Datang has also agreed to manufacture the AN-50 under an OEM agreement and will add it to its Airexpress line of fixed wireless systems. Rogers to offer wireless PalmRogers Wireless Inc. has announced the commercial availability of Palm Inc.’s Tungsten W wireless handheld. The device, which has a built-in keyboard and many other features, will operate on the company’s GSM/GPRS network. The Tungsten W has been available in the United States through AT&T Wireless since February. Canadians can pre-order the device online as of April 12 at various retail locations such as Future Shop and Best Buy. On April 23, the device will be available for sale at select retail outlets, corporate resellers and through Rogers Wireless stores. The device can also be purchased online at Rogers’ web site. Shaw sells BTV to founding chairmanShaw Communications Inc. has sold its Star Choice Business Television (BTV) operating division to Larry Steinman, Brian Neill and a group of private equity investors. Details of the transaction have not been revealed. Neill was founding chair of Star Choice from 1995 to 2000 and also helped found LinCsat Communications Inc., a satellite Internet service provider. 3Com unveils new integrated wireless access points3Com has introduced a new set of modular wireless access points offering both 802.11b and 802.11a functionality. The company is offering software upgrade kits to customers that allow them to upgrade from 802.11b to faster 802.11a while at the same time maintain existing infrastructure. Customers can now choose radio configurations that best fit the organization’s needs, 3Com notes in a news release. Infowave adds another wireless email productVancouver-based Infowave Software Inc. has unveiled Symmetry Express, a wireless email product that allows access to personal email from a variety of wireless devices. The product, which is scheduled for commercial availability early in Q2 2003, will work on any Pocket PC-, Smartphone- and Palm-based devices. The system allows users to send and receive email from their POP3 email, Yahoo Mail and Hotmail accounts directly through the device. Toshiba selects ViXS chip for video over IP networksToshiba America Electronic Components Inc. (TAEC) has opted to integrate ViXS Systems Inc.’s XCode chip into its AVM79R reference design. TAEC will use the XCode chip design as part of the company’s offering of broadcast quality video over wireline and wireless IP networks. "ViXS’ uninterrupted video stream technology will play a key role in TAEC’s Entertainment Home Gateway marketing strategy and will help pave the way for the widespread adoption of entertainment gateways in the home," Tetsuro Wada, business development and technical marketing director of TAEC’s TX RISC business unit, said in a news release. The reference design will be made available to digital set-top box makers and other consumer electronics manufacturers. AirIQ acquires balance of telematics patentsToronto-based AirIQ has acquired the balance of a patent and interests in certain U.S. patents and Canadian patent applications relating to the use of telematics in vehicle recovery. AirIQ now holds 100% of patents relating to the "Method of Retrieving Vehicle Collateral" and are applicable when the financial services industry tries to recover vehicles from owners in default of payments. The company acquired 50% of the patents in question in November 2001. Proceeds of this latest transaction were not revealed. Telesat chooses Proton for launch of new Anik F1 satelliteTelesat Canada has chosen a Russian Proton M/Breeze rocket upon which to launch the Anik F1R. The launch will take place in 2005 and will be through International Launch Services (ILS). ILS was Telesat’s partner in launching both of the company’s direct broadcast satellites, Nimiq 1 and Nimiq 2. The Anik F1R, a Eurostar 3000, is being built by Astrium. Sierra Wireless introduces AirCard 555 in ThailandSierra Wireless and Hutchison CAT Wireless MultiMedia Ltd. have teamed up to launch the AirCard 555 in Thailand. The AirCard 555 is widely available in North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific. Service for the AirCard will be provided on the country’s national CDMA 1X wireless network.

RoW Short Takes

News | March 31, 2003

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