Industry Briefs

ARDIS, the US nationwide wireless data service provider recently promoted three company executives to its senior management team. The appointments are: Mark Baker to chief financial officer (CFO) and vice president, finance and administration, Michael McGee to vice president, marketing and client services, and Michael Woodruff to vice president, technology and operations.

Qualcomm Personal Electronics recently announced that it has shipped over one million Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital portable phones. Qualcomm is a joint venture between Qualcomm, Inc. and Sony Electronics Inc. The phones are available in the US, Canada, Hong Kong, and Korea.

Synopsys Inc. and the Microelectronics Group of Lucent Technologies will jointly develop hardware and software tools making it easier for manufacturers to verify GSM cellular telephone performance for designs based on the Lucent Sceptre GSM chipset.

Ex Machina, Inc. of New York has obtained a non-exclusive license for wireless receiving technology developed by PowerTel Communications Pvt. Ltd. of Bangalore, India. Ex Machina plans to market products based on PowerTel’s technology in both the US and India. PowerTel is a leading wireless messaging solutions provider in India, and the first to develop wireless data paging receivers indigenously.

Socket Communications, Inc. reported that certain shareholders of Cetronic AB, a Swedish radio frequency company, have exercised an option to lend the company $500,000 in exchange for convertible promissory notes.

Breeze Wireless Communications Inc., better known as BreezeCOM, has become the newest member of the Wireless LAN Alliance (WLANA), bringing the total number of members to 15. The WLANA in an industry advocacy group whose members represent more than 95 percent of current wireless LAN revenues, according to its own estimates. The group supplies vendor-independent information about wireless LAN applications.