Motorola Outlines Plan for Development of New Credit Card-Size Intelligent Wireless Modems
BURLINGAME, Calif. — June 15, 1993 — Motorola Inc.'s Paging and Wireless Data Group Tuesday reinforced its leadership position in the emerging world marketplace for wireless data, by announcing and demonstrating the technology for a new family of intelligent wireless modems for pocket-size, hand-held and portable computing/communicating devices.
More than a dozen industry leaders on hand at today's event indicated that they will work with Motorola to establish common, worldwide standards and formats for these devices.
Currently under development, this new family of PCMCIA-format intelligent modems, the first of its kind in the wireless and wireline data market, will enable both one- and two-way, wide- and local-area networking, and will operate over the most popular public and private networks. The PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) standard supports credit card-size peripheral devices that add memory and I/O capabilities to computers.
Motorola is currently working closely with key hardware and software suppliers to ensure that wireless modems will work, on a worldwide basis, on a wide range of computing/communicating devices and operating system platforms, and will be compatible with a breadth of software applications.
At today's announcement, Apple Computer, ARDIS, BellSouth, Compaq Computer, Dell Computer, EMBARC Advanced Messaging Service, General Magic Inc., GTE, Hewlett-Packard, IBM PC Company, Microsoft Corp., McCaw, MobileComm, Mtel, Novell Inc., RAM Mobile Data, RadioMail, Sony, Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems and Toshiba expressed support for the development of worldwide common wireless connectivity standards.
This will enable the development and release of PCMCIA wireless-enabled products, such as palmtop, notebook and pen-based computers, PDAs, and personal communications devices. Motorala is also in discussion with several other leading companies and will announce additional participants in coming weeks.
Over the past three years, a number of companies including Motorola, have been contributing to the PCMCIA standards effort. This body has been successful in creating standards, as evidenced by the number of companies designing and introducing new products based on PCMCIA. However, wireless devices pose particular challenges to the variety of computer platforms, operating systems, and network alternatives, which are not an issue when using typical PCMCIA memory and I/O peripheral cards.
"While the benefits and the opportunities of these data communications cards are clear, there are some technical hurdles that need to be overcome," said Bob Growney, executive vice president Motorola Inc., and general manager of the Paging and Wireless Data Group. "These challenges, such as a standard software interface, proper shielding from interference, and antenna placement must be addressed uniformly and quickly if the significant unfulfilled need for wireless communications is to be met.
"By cooperating and working closely with these key industry participants, we can solve the complexities of marrying wireless communications to portable computers and personal communicators, and develop common standards for the benefit of all. We believe that this industry initiative will stimulate a wider acceptance of the PCMCIA format and the growth of wireless communications worldwide," Growney concluded.
"We're committed to a PCMCIA format for this next generation of wireless devices because this emerging technology provides clear advantages to end users computer and personal communicator manufacturers, and software providers," said Pat Richardson, Motorola vice president and general manager of the Wireless Data Group Subscriber Products Division. "It should give users the ability to choose from a variety of wireless communications options for their computer platform of choice.
"It should give computer suppliers the manufacturing cost benefit of suppliers the manufacturing cost benefit of creating a more standardized platform which can be customized — with PCMCIA cards — by the end user. It gives the software community the opportunity to create new wireless applications and extend existing applications to wireless, and it also gives network operators the opportunity to offer a new variety of services," Richardson said.
Motorola' s Paging and Wireless Data Group (PWDG) incorporates the company's business activities involved in the design, manufacturing and distribution of paging and wireless data communications products, systems and services for computer companies, carriers and end-users. The group also manages Motorola's share of ARDIS, the data network jointly owned with IBM.
Motorola Inc. headquartered in Schaumburg, Ill., is one of the world's leading manufacturers of electronic equipment, systems and components for worldwide markets. Additional products include two-way radios, cellular telephones and systems, integrated circuits and discrete semiconductors, defense and aerospace electronics, automotive and industrial electronic equipment, and information processing and handling equipment. Revenues in 1992 were $13.3 billion.
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Motorola Inc.
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