LG Electronics and Kineto Wireless, Inc. today announced the availability of the CL400 mobile phone. The CL400 one of the industry's first UMA-enabled cellular/Wi-Fi phones designed for Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC) solutions.
The CL400 is a camera/MP3 phone that offers GSM/GPRS and tri-band (850/1800/1900) capabilities for global operation with Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) connectivity. In the future, the CL400 will also support Voice over IP (VoIP), based on Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standards.
The two companies first announced a joint collaboration effort to develop dual-mode UMA-enabled handsets in July 2005. LGE is now a Kineto licensee and has included Kineto's UMA-compliant handset client software in the release of the CL400. LGE has confirmed the worldwide availability of the CL400 for testing and trials with major carriers in the fourth quarter of 2005.
"We continue to recognize Kineto as the market leader in providing best-of-breed UMA client solutions for handsets," said Skott Ahn, executive vice president of the Mobile Handset Research and Development Center at LGE. "By collaborating with Kineto, LGE has been able to accelerate the delivery of our new UMA-enabled dual-mode phone, designed specifically to meet the growing demand from mobile operators worldwide."
"LGE continues to dominate the industry through the introduction of innovative, next-generation cellular handsets," said Mark Powell, vice president and co-founder of Kineto Wireless. "As the demand for cellular/WiFi convergence solutions grows, Kineto sees leading companies such as LGE driving the rapid market adoption of UMA-based services."
UMA, a 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Program) standard, is an access technology that allows a seamless handoff of mobile voice and data from a wide area cellular network to a wireless local area network (WLAN). The UMA standard defines how mobile operators can turn home, office, and public wireless LANs into seamless extensions of their cellular networks. With UMA, operators can deliver high-performance, low-cost mobile voice, data, and IMS services to subscribers over broadband Wi-Fi access networks, dramatically increasing mobile service usage while decreasing costs for operators.
Related stories:
NXP introduces mobile platform to deliver concurrent Bluetooth and Wireless LAN connectivity
NXP Semiconductors, formerly Philips Semiconductors, today announced an enhanced system solution enabling mobile users to simultaneously take advantage of handsets’ Bluetooth and Wireless LAN (WLAN) capabilities. The NXP Nexperia cellular system solution 5210, incorporating an unlicensed mobile access (UMA) software stack from Kineto Wireless, allows devices to be used at home over fixed-line broadband networks and while on the go via a cellular network. The simultaneous usage of Bluetooth and WLAN enables these calls to be made using a Bluetooth headset.
Philips introduces UMA mobile phone reference design for phones that automatically switch between cellular and WLAN netw
Royal Philips Electronics announced today a complete Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) semiconductor reference design to make it easy for mobile handset manufacturers to bring UMA-enabled phones to their customers. The new UMA reference design creates a blueprint for a mobile phone that accesses GSM and GPRS mobile services through traditional cellular networks to automatically switch over to WLAN access points. This gives mobile phone customers added flexibility for advanced phone services as their phones detect the fastest and most cost-effective network without interruptions. If a phone is taken out of the WLAN range, it seamlessly switches back to the cellular network.
Kineto Wireless and Philips join forces to bring UMA to mobile phones
Kineto Wireless, a key innovator and leading supplier of UMA Technology, and Royal Philips Electronics announced today that the two companies are working together to bring Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) into mobile phone system solutions. The UMA Technology from Kineto combined with Philips’ Nexperia™ WiFi-enabled Cellular System Solutions will allow cell phones to roam voice, data and multi-media calls between conventional cellular networks and WLAN access points at home, in the office and at public areas (hot spots). These calls are transferred automatically back and forth, depending on whether the user is in range of the access point or not, which makes it very easy for consumers to always be on the fastest or lowest cost network, as it will be fully transparent to them.
Wireless Industry Leaders Publish Open Specifications for Cellular/WLAN Convergence
Kineto Wireless, a key innovator and leading supplier of solutions for seamless mobility and Cellular/WLAN convergence, today announced the company, along with thirteen other leading service providers, infrastructure suppliers and handset manufacturers in the wireless industry, have published a set of open specifications for extending mobile voice and data services over Wireless LANs. Companies that participated in the development of the Unlicensed Mobile Access (
UMA) specifications include Alcatel, AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., BT PLC, Cingular Wireless LLC, Ericsson AB, Kineto Wireless Inc., Motorola, Inc., Nokia, Nortel Networks, Inc., O2, Rogers Wireless Inc., Siemens AG, Sony Ericsson, and T-Mobile USA.
Slower growth expected in tech industry
Lower prices on consumer electronics may help carry the tech industry through a difficult holiday shopping season. But analysts believe corporate spending on computer servers, PCs and business software is entering a period of slower growth that will last well into next year.
KDDI's First 3D Mobile Phone LCD Screen
KDDI Corporation has released a prototype of the world's first 3D LCD display, designed for mobile phones.
Breathing second life into language teaching
An international team has developed a wireless virtual reality environment that can help promote language learning and let students practice. The researchers have demonstrated their Collaborative Virtual Reality Environment with Mexican engineering students carrying out listening comprehension practice in English as a foreign language.
Microsoft's Ballmer talks about Vista, Xbox and more
As chief executive of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer heads a company that's not just a PC software giant but also a growing presence in the broader consumer electronics industry.