ROW Short Takes

CRTC launches consultation into mobile TVCanada’s telecommunications regulator has initiated a consultation seeking input on what is the most appropriate way to regulate mobile TV services, now launched by Rogers Wireless and Bell Mobility. The CRTC wants to know whether the services fall under the New Media Exemption Order of 1999 or instead should be regulated under another mechanism. Comments are due September 12 and replies due September 27. The consultation appears to have already come to the conclusion that the services do fall under the exemption order, based on its three questions to interested parties. Bell rings in new wireless 911 serviceBell Canada is testing new technology that could help emergency services personnel find 911 callers easier, especially if the caller is using a cell phone. The new system should help emergency services pinpoint the caller’s location to within 50 metres – important when the caller doesn’t know where she is or hasn’t the strength to convey her location. Current wireless 911 technology isn’t as accurate, although it can tell emergency services where the caller is in general terms and the phone number of the handset she’s using. The new technology employs an assisted global positioning system (AGPS) to make the process more accurate. Bell will work with emergency services providers in the Toronto area over the next six months to test the technology. According to the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association 50% of the six million calls made to 911 last year came from mobile phones. Bell says more than half of its mobile customers carry AGPS enabled phones. Bell is using technology similar to the digital gymnastics behind the new platform for its Seek & Find service, which lets parents track children by cell signal. Spotwave receives patentThe U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Spotwave Wireless a patent for its SpotCell adaptive indoor wireless coverage technology. "For more than five years, we’ve been working with our customers to perfect out SpotCell technology and receiving this patent means we’re just one step closer to becoming the de facto standard for in-building wireless coverage," company president Shane Young said in a news release. Stormy weather not yet passed for SR TelecomTroubled wireless broadband provider SR Telecom Inc. of Montreal released second-quarter 2005 results recently. The firm’s revenue slid more than 50% from the previous year, to $17.7 million from $36.6 million in the second quarter of 2004, and it has been experiencing problems with securing working capital through credit lines, as well as slowdowns in both production and delivery of finished product, according to an earnings press release. SR Telecom said it had centralized R&D activity at its core wireless solutions business unit, while poor weather and higher access charges hurt its Chilean service provider CTR. In July, CEO Pierre St.-Arnaud resigned his position and was replaced by interim head William E. Aziz, who said in the release: "It is obvious there is a need for change at SR Telecom." Consilient offers training for BlackBerry devicesConsilient Technologies, of St. John’s NF, has announced that it will begin offering its BlackBerry training courses for individual users and systems integrators. Of the four courses offered, the server side of BlackBerry will be particularly interesting for enterprise users. "With over three million BlackBerry subscribers, Consilient is seeing a growing demand for BlackBerry training. Handheld users and system administrators are often left without any support or instruction on how to operate the BlackBerry and Consilient is working to fill this gap," Consilient CEO Trevor Adey said in a news release. Atsana sold to Korean firmOttawa-based Atsana Semiconductor has been scooped up by MtekVision Canada, a subsidiary of Korean MtekVision, a major designer of chips for camera phones. The sale, valued at $1.35 million, marks the end of the one-time high flying company that had promised to revolutionize digital imaging for cell phones with power-efficient graphics chips. It is estimated that the company pulled in approximately $50 million in venture capital. The company appeared set for a major break in the industry when it secured a contract with Samsung, which was going to use Atsana chips for its camera phones. But soon after CEO Alex Leupp and marketing executive Vijay Dube left the company. RIM losing market share in smartphone to competitorsResearch in Motion Ltd. is losing market share in both the smartphone and hybrid PDA market, according to new data from ChangeWave Research. The growth for smartphones is growing at explosive rates and "Palm is supplanting RIM as the leader among consumers and is making solid inroads on RIM’s share of both smartphones and hybrid PDA sales among corporate buyers," says ChangeWave. Data is based on two market trend surveys, the first conducted in May 2005 of corporate IT spenders and the second in June 2005 of consumers. For the consumer study, more than 1,800 people were surveyed, while 740 participated in the corporate spending study. Computer makers HP and Dell are beginning to have a competitive impact in the hybrid PDA market, "experiencing significant gains" since March 2005, the previous time this market was measured by ChangeWave. Key findings: • Smartphone purchases over the next three months: by nearly a margin of two to one, more respondents said they were buying smartphones (6.8%) compared to 3.9% who said they were going to buy hybrid PDAs.• Palm commands a better than two-to-one lead over RIM (31% to 14%) among consumers planning to buy a smartphone over the next three months.• RIM (23%) continues to hold a slight lead in future hybrid PDA purchases, but both HP (18%) and Dell (15%) are gaining ground. • In the corporate smartphone market, RIM is still the top choice (38%). Competitors are on the rise though, placing increased competition on the BlackBerry maker. Palm is at 22%, Nokia at 13% and Motorola is at 11%. • RIM is under increasing pressure from Palm and Dell in the corporate hybrid PDA market. While RIM sits at the top with 45%, Palm comes in second with 22% and Dell finds itself in third with 18%. AirIQ posts solid resultsFor the second quarter ended June 30, AirIQ Inc. posted strong revenue and subscriber growth figures. The Toronto-based telematics service provider now counts more than 184,000 subscribers, a year-over-year increase of more than 425%. Revenue was also up significantly compared to the second quarter last year, topping the $10-million mark, a 276% jump.

ROW Short Takes

News | 08/25/2005 4:00 am EDT

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