Scribbles

PCS Market

In case you thought that only well-funded telcos are confident of the future of Personal Communication Services (PCS), think again. Frost & Sullivan, a market research firm, has revealed its projections for the worldwide handheld PCS market, pegging its growth at over two hundred times its current size in under a decade.

This translates to an estimated market size of over US $8 billion at the turn of the century, and over US $19 billion just two years later. Frost & Sullivan believes that of this total, over sixty percent will represent revenue garnered from services, as opposed to equipment sales.

On the downside, the report notes that each region of the world is implementing its own flavor of PCS, keeping the goal of a true worldwide mobile communication system a remote dream.

Apple Computer

The developer of the Newton PDA is seeking potential Beta customers for a new product that makes it easier to create Newton Digital Documents (Newton Books) using the Macintosh operating system.

Apple promises to give away a special prize for the person that finds the most unique bugs before anyone else. If you are interested, please send an email message to [email protected] requesting information about the beta program.

AirTouch Communications

The fascination with wireless is hardly limited to North America, as AirTouch joins a new company, Digital TU-KA Hokuriku, being formed to provide digital cellular service in the Hokuriku region of Japan.

The wireless system uses the 1.5 GHz band and employs the Japanese Digital Cellular (JDC) technical standard. The network is expected to begin service in 1997, and AirTouch will own a 4.5 percent interest in the Japanese company.

Nextel Communications Inc.

Looking to extend its reach throughout the northeastern United States, the integrated wireless service provider recently launched its digital wireless service in the Baltimore and Washington D.C. metropolitan areas.

Using Nextel’s digital service, mobile workers are able to communicate through digital dispatch, text messaging, and wireless telephone service, all through the use of a single handset. Nextel uses Motorola’s iDEN technology to implement the service.

Nextel currently offers service in regions extending from Alexandria, Virginia, to Hartford, Connecticut, including New York and Philadelphia. The company plans to extend service in the northeast to include Boston in the near future. Nextel also operates digital networks throughout major mid-western metropolitan areas, as well as in California.

AT&T Wireless Services

Proving that wireless has equal utility no matter where you are, the Aviation Communications Division of AT&T Wireless Services announced that it has installed its one thousandth digital in-flight telecommunication system.

The system, which is operated under the name Claircom International in the European, Asian, and Middle Eastern markets, is the most pervasive in-flight digital telephone system in the world.

AT&T Wireless lists Alaska, American, and Delta among others in the US domestic market, and Air France, KLM, Lauda Air, Lufthansa, and others in the international markets.

MobileComm

Wireless paging isn’t what it used to be. Gone are the days of a beeper delivering a simple phone number without context or any way to respond. As part of this trend, MobileComm, the Jackson, Mississippi wireless messaging company, has teamed with ReadyComm, Inc. to provide a portable, wireless voice-messaging service combining the features of traditional pagers with a telephone voice mail system.

The new service, called ReadyTalk, uses a store and forward technology to send messages over spare capacity on existing cellular telephone networks. ReadyTalk pagers are only slightly larger than normal pagers, and can store up to twelve minutes of voice messages for playback.

Socket Communications

The maker of PCMCIA data communication equipment, together with related wireless services, has expanded its Socket Wireless Messaging Service (SWiMS) to include voice mail, international access, and call connect features.

These features expand upon the existing SWiMS messaging services which includes operator dispatch, an Internet email gateway, and a modem access line for computer based messaging. SWiMS is the message service component of Socket’s PageCard Wireless Messaging Service (WMS), a product introduced in February, 1995.

Xircom, Inc.

With the expected migration on desktop computers from the current 10 Mbps Ethernet to the new 100 Mbps standards, PC Card manufacturers need to stay alert in anticipating the likely demand for such products from mobile computer users.

Mindful of this, the Thousand Oaks, California-based manufacturer of PC Cards is offering an upgrade policy for new purchasers. Any person who registers their Xircom CreditCard Ethernet adapter between September 1, 1995 and January 31, 1996, can upgrade to the CreditCard Ethernet Adapter 10/100 for $99 when it becomes available in early 1996.