ROW Short Takes

Zi Corp. named to Deloitte & Touche Fast 50Calgary-based Zi Corp. has been named to Deloitte & Touche’s Fast 50 list, coming in at 37 spot, up from the 49 position the company held in last year’s ranking. The company had revenue increase of 490% from 1999 to 2003 allowing it to make the prestigious Canadian Technology Fast 50 program. "In today’s economy, triple digit percentage revenue growth is an exceptional accomplishment. We commend Zi Corporation for making the commitment to technology delivering on the promise of market longevity," Deloitte’s national director of technology, media and telecommunications Garry Foster said in a news release. AirIQ named to Deloitte & Touche Fast 50AirIQ Inc. continues its roll this year with yet another achievement. The Toronto-based provider of telematics services secured fifth spot on Deloitte & Touche’s prestigious Fast 50 list. From 1999 to 2003, AirIQ had revenue growth of 3,690% allowing the company to stake claim to its top-10 ranking. In 2003, the company took the 24 position with revenue growth of 1,473%. "The high ranking is a culmination of the growing adoption of telematics services and the diligent efforts of our entire team," company president and CEO Don Simmonds said in a news release. In other AirIQ news, the company announced that it has increased the size of a previously announced private placement by about $2 million to about $12 million. Motorola chip operation rebranded as FreescaleMotorola Inc.’s microchip operations in Canada have been rebranded under the Freescale Semiconductor Canada Ltd. moniker and on September 30 launched its Canadian headquarters in Toronto. The company also has operations in Ottawa, Montreal and Calgary, employing 36 people in sales, applications, software development, marketing, design, and IT and business development. Freescale in the U.S. was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in July and is scheduled to complete its separation from Motorola by the end of this year. WebTech Wireless releases new fleet management serviceBurnaby B.C.-based WebTech Wireless has introduced Quadrant 5.0 wireless fleet management services for transportation fleet operations. Quadrant 5.0 incorporates new and enhanced services such as route schedule adherence to help trucking and transportation companies improve the quality of service and save significant operating expenditures. "In an increasingly competitive environment, trucking companies are looking for new and innovative ways of streamlining their practices to improve their quality of service, productivity and profitability," WebTech president and CEO Anwar Sukkarie said in a news release. Mitec introduces new amplifier for 3G networksMitec Telecom Inc. has introduced a new generation of integrated multi-carrier tower mounted booster amplifier for 3G applications operating in the 2.1 GHz band. The Montreal-based company said in a news release that wireless operators in Europe and Asia will test the devices. "This category of products complements the power amplifiers we already supply as an embedded system to network OEMs," David Kennedy, executive VP global sales and marketing of Mitec, said in a news release. SMTC files for reverse stock split on 1 for 5 basisToronto-based contract electronics manufacturer SMTC Corp. has filed for a reverse stock split with securities regulators. The company plans to effect a one-for-five reverse split of its outstanding common shares. The reverse split will become effective on October 4. Following the deal, there will be approximately 7.8 million common shares compared to nearly 39 million prior to the share consolidation. 724 Solutions inks agreement with wireless carrier724 Solutions has signed an agreement with a major wireless network operator to provide it with the X-treme Mobility Gateway (XMG), a product that allows wireless operators to offer their subscribers premium content data services, including sending and downloading photos, colour graphics, audio and video clips, ringtones and games. The Toronto-based company didn’t reveal the identity of the wireless carrier. Not only is XMG an open, secure and scalable gateway, it "provides network operators with industry leading total cost of ownership as a result of inherent architectural performance advantages and the flexibility to be deployed on a choice of system environments, including Linux," reads a news release. C-Chip ends negotiations to acquire Unique SecurityC-Chip Technologies Corp. has ended talks to acquire Unique Security Inc., a Montreal provider of security services to large institutional and corporate customers. C-Chip notes in a news release that following a thorough review of Unique Security’s operations, C-chip couldn’t agree on the terms and conditions related to the acquisition and, as a consequence, declined to purchase the company. "Although this is somewhat of a disappointment for C-Chip, we simply could not proceed on the terms and conditions sought by the sole shareholder of Unique Security Inc.," C-Chip president and CEO, Stephance Saolis said in a news release. SR Telecom receives orders for angel and airstar productsMontreal-based SR Telecom Inc. has received orders worth about $2 million for its angel and airstar fixed wireless access products from Global Data Services Company (GDS). This is the second series of orders from the Lebanon-based wireless access provider. Deliveries of the products are expected to begin immediately. Under terms of the follow-on order, GDS will deploy several thousand angel customer premise equipment for both residential and business customers. The angel and airstar networks will be integrated into the company’s MPLS IP backbone. Wi-LAN and Radionet form strategic allianceWi-LAN Inc. and Radionet have formed a global strategic alliance to market jointly end-to-end broadband wireless solutions that combine Wi-LAN’s Libra products with Radionet’s Hotzone solutions. Under terms of the contract, the two companies will cooperate on joint sales and marketing, and the alliance enables the companies to deliver wireless Hotzone solutions to global customers. "The combination of Wi-LAN’s high-speed backbone wireless equipment and Radionet’s outdoor Wi-Fi end-user solutions provide complete coverage of service areas, including differentiated quality of service, instant access for visiting users and mobile roaming capabilities, for private households, business enterprises and large corporate customers," reads a September 29 news release. OZ completes major venture financing with VantagePointVantagePoint Venture Partners has invested US$27.3 million in Montreal-based OZ, showing that there is strong support in the venture capital community for OZ’s standards-based mobile messaging client and gateway products. "OZ’s track record in gaining new major customers each quarter and forming significant strategic partnerships has already positioned the company as the preferred developer of mobile IM clients and gateways," Eric Ver Ploeg, managing director at VantagePoint, said in a news release. Motorola and Sinclair ink assembly dealMotorola Inc. and Sinclair Technologies have signed an agreement under which Sinclair will assemble and test Motorola’s trunked radio systems for Canadian customers, marking the first of its kind for Motorola in Canada. "Motorola will provide Sinclair with radios and control equipment and Sinclair in turn will add the required filter products, then assemble, test and drop-ship a completed system, all in accordance with Motorola specifications," reads a September 21 news release. NEWT helps video surveillanceThe Network for Emerging Wireless Technologies (NEWT) has helped bring video surveillance of vehicle traffic over cellular networks to the market. With the help of NEWT, Chubb Security’s product proved to be an effective traffic monitoring tool.

ROW Short Takes

News | October 5, 2004

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