Subject: [NEXTEL-1] U.S. Launch of Walkie-Talkie for Wireless Phones

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 06:52:39 -0400

http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/May2003/5355.htm

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ALL
TODAY'S PRESS RELEASES SEE BELOW

U.S.
Launch of Walkie-Talkie for Wireless Phones

13th
May 2003

US
: Want to add walkie-talkie capabilities to your wireless phone?

It's now as easy as downloading the latest ringtone or game to your
handset, thanks to today's nationwide U.S. launch of fastmobile's fastchat(TM)
instant communications service.

With fastchat, U.S.
wireless subscribers can now access a walkie-talkie like feature usable
across different mobile networks, technologies, carriers and handsets
as well as across cities, states, countries and continents. Users can
install this highly intuitive application within minutes via a simple
download to their off-the-shelf mobile phones - and can instantly communicate
with other wireless fastchat users across the globe.

fastchat is available
today to consumers nationwide through the Web site of software publisher
Handango, www.handango.com; or by signing up directly at the fastchat
homepage, www.fastchat.com. fastmobile will also promote and sell fastchat
in partnership with distributors of mobile phone services and applications,
including retail and online shops. fastchat will be available in retail
stores in Southern California and Florida immediately and will be rolling
out to markets nationwide soon. These retailers can either load the
application for the subscriber via infrared or it can be downloaded
over the mobile network directly to the subscriber's handset.

Beyond Just A Digital
Walkie-Talkie

But fastchat is
much more than just push-to-talk. With fastchat, subscribers can also
send and receive instant text messages, picture messages, short messaging
services (SMS), PC-based instant messages and email, both between mobile
phones or between mobile phones and PCs globally. With a monthly fastchat
service subscription, users receive unlimited walkie-talkie, picture
and text messaging for $9.95/month (excluding a carrier's mobile Internet
service fees).

"Forget everything
that you know about push-to-talk, instant messaging, wireless text messaging
or multimedia messaging services. Those are yesterday's one-dimensional
way of looking at instant wireless communications," said fastmobile
co-founder and CEO Kang Lee. "fastmobile's fastchat combines the
best of the Internet, instant messaging and walkie-talkies and bundles
them into one amazing service."

Using fastchat's presence management feature, users can see when their
friends or colleagues are "online" or "offline."
Even when offline, users will never miss a text or picture message because
they are stored by the service and will be sent to the user immediately
when the user signs back in. fastchat allows users to chat/text/pix
with others either individually or among nearly any size group of their
contacts.

Using fastchat's
private group communications capability, users can "broadcast"
a message using a variety of different formats - including push-to-talk,
SMS, photo and instant messaging (IM) - to a large group of friends
or colleagues as part of the same group conversation and then continue
to converse with those friends using a variety of communication formats.

This means that
with fastchat, the subscriber is never bound to a particular mode of
interaction, making fastchat the first wireless service to deliver true
"multi-modality" - or the ability to switch between different
modes of communication such as text and voice within the same exchange.
For example, a subscriber can reply to a text message with speech or
text and pictures, etc. Communication is also not limited to just wireless
subscribers with certain phone models - those with legacy phones or
those using IM services such as MSN Instant Messaging on their computers
can also be included in the discussion circle.

"As we know
based on the wireless industry's experience with SMS, adoption of messaging
services only takes off when interoperability is available. fastchat
knocks down the interoperability barrier by enabling users to send and
receive messages to and from subscribers of any carrier using any technology
via a variety of different modes of communication," said Harry
Eschel, fastmobile co-founder and vice president. "By encouraging
subscribers to add push-to-talk to their messaging service portfolio,
wireless carriers can increase average revenue per user (ARPU) and drive
usage of their 2.5G and 3G networks."

Available nationwide
initially on GSM networks, fastchat service will be extended to CDMA
networks in the second half of 2003. fastchat will also give consumers
a wide selection of handset styles and manufacturers to choose from.
First available on standard Symbian handsets, fastchat will launch on
the Nokia 3650 and Sony Ericsson P800 and will be immediately available
on the upcoming Symbian handsets announced by manufacturers that include
Siemens, Samsung and Sendo. In the second half of the year, fastchat
will be extended to include suitable BREW and Java handsets, adding
manufacturers such as Motorola and LG to the line up of mobile phone
choices that fastchat consumers will have.

"fastmobile
has broken all the rules with fastchat, and mobile consumers win big
because of the freedom fastchat offers," said Victor Chapron, a
Cingular Wireless master agent and one of the first agents to bring
fastchat into mobile phone stores. "Now my customers have advanced
services, including a walkie-talkie and picture messaging that work
across networks, even worldwide."

The technology behind
fastchat has been under development for nearly three years and is currently
available commercially or is being trialed in the United States, Europe
and Asia. Unlike other push-to-talk technologies, the fastchat solution
does not require carriers to deploy any special infrastructure in their
networks nor does it require customization to the handsets.

The fastmobile technology
also minimizes one big concern for push-to-talk networks: latency. To
reduce over-the-air latency, fastmobile has developed an efficient messaging
format that decreases the amount of data that must be transmitted over
the air - enabling fast and efficient delivery of push-to-talk communications.

TODAY'S
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Fraud
Management for 2G, 2.5G and 3G

Ranger™
is also capable of addressing fraud in emerging areas like GPRS and 3G
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suite of products and services, RevMax™. The contract is valued
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3G
World Conference Moves To Bangkok

On
behalf of the Institute for International Research (IIR) and our partnering
associations, the CDMA Development Group (CDG) and the UMTS Forum, we
are pleased to formerly

announce the rescheduling and location of the annual 3G World Congress
to Bangkok, Thailand from 3 – 7 November, 2003.

Superscalar
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This
agreement marks the second major wireless integrated circuit (IC) provider
to adopt the ZSP500, leveraging the low power, superscalar architecture
for next-generation high-end 3G mobile communications systems.

Tele2
Acquires Shares in Finnish 3G Licence Holder

Tele2
AB, the leading alternative pan-European telecommunications company, announced
that it has acquired the remaining shares in Finnish 3G Suomen 3G Oy,
which holds one of four 3G licenses in Finland. Tele2 previously owned
27.4% of the company.

U.S.
Launch of Walkie-Talkie for Wireless Phones

Want
to add walkie-talkie capabilities to your wireless phone?

It's now as easy as downloading the latest ringtone or game to your handset,
thanks to today's nationwide U.S. launch of fastmobile's fastchat(TM)
instant communications service.

Dilithium
Networks Founder Appointed to Wireless Board

Dr.
Jabri is an authority in multimedia communications systems including voice
and video coding and transcoding, and multimedia quality of service over
narrow and broadband networks. He has performed extensive research and
development in the integration of media communications protocols and their
implementation inside real-time systems.

WLAN
To Establish Itself At 3G Expense

WLAN
will establish itself as the dominant mobile wireless infrastructure within
the next five years at 3G’s expense according to a report published
by Berlin based market researcher Metrinomics.

Hutchsion
3G Take Key Performance Indicators

Hutchison
3G Austria , one of the six Austrian UMTS license holders, has chosen
Astellia’s operations, maintenance and surveillance solution CIGALE
UMTS to monitor its 3G network.

Tira
Wireless to Supply Telefonica Moviles with Mobile Games

As
the leading mobile operator in Southern Europe, Telefonica Moviles represents
a significant partnership for Tira Wireless," commented Chris Erickson,
president and COO of Tira Wireless. "We can now offer our extensive
portfolio of applications to a new market of European mobile users

3G
UMTS Gathers European Momentum

Bringing
the number of European territories where UMTS is commercially available
to five, 3's Swedish announcement demonstrates growing momentum for UMTS
deployments. Several further launch announcements are anticipated from
European operators this year and during 2004, supported by a growing choice
of WCDMA terminal designs.

Movies
on Your Mobile Phone

The
demand for mobile data services is driven not only by technology, but
also by the content of such services. This fact inspired Siemens mobile
together with Universal Studios Networks'TV channels STUDIO UNIVERSAL
and 13TH STREET to take the initiative and join forces in a win-win partnership.

Siemens
Supplying 3G Mobile Networks And Phones

Siemens is a part of these two commercial starts of the new generation
of mobile communication: With the U10 UMTS mobile phones in shops on the
one hand, and Siemens'UMTS infrastructure forming the basis for the multimedia
services from Hutchison 3G Austria on the other hand.

Hottest
Trend in Wireless Phones Has a New Voice

Built-in
camera phones are the latest trend to hit cellphones, with an estimated
18 million sold last year. And that number is expected to double this
year, as camera phones become better and more affordable than ever.

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Trial In Croatia

With
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a connection with the four major Croatian cities and performed the first
UMTS long distance call; by doing so it has confirmed its status of leading
innovator on the Croatian market of mobile communications.

3G
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