Week in Review: 19th to 25th January, 2004

Introduction
Our second week in review has not been uneventful. Many new mobile phones have been launched and Wi-Max is fast becoming a standard to be reckoned with. Also there has been some interest in the wireless developments in the US, where the focus has changed from telco-owned wireless broadband internet to the idea of community-based wireless internet. Suffice it to say that there is no shortage of original ideas on how best to deliver on the promise of wireless solutions

Events
The events this week have been driven primarily by the delivery of the basic ring tone market to ideas such as management of the Heathrow taxi service. The push-to talk argument has strengthened yet problems still exist with a lack of phone devices capable of supporting the proposed service. WiFi continues to make inroads with many successful deployments in hotels and trains. There have been many instances of streaming television on wireless phones to pick from and locations based services have received a boost with Bell Labs promoting a new, more sensitive method, of delivering location based information. Wireless MP3 players are also stealing more of the limelight as the speed of wireless networks allow shorter download times with high very quality.

Devices
While there have been many announcements of mobile phone releases this week, maybe the most innovative is the concept of transmitting voice through the bone rather than the typical way of listening through the ear. There may be some reservations about holding a phone to your forehead instead of your ear but it cannot be said that innovation is not alive and well and thinking up some very weird ideas

Technology
As stated earlier WiFi continues to evolve and gain strength with many of the European telecom carriers either deploying or considering the deployment of such networks. However the introduction of Wi-Max this week certainly begs questions of how to best proceed. Probably the most important issue for companies deploying such solutions is to ensure that the equipment deployed will be compatible with the new Wi-Max standard. Otherwise very expensive retrofits will be in the offing.

Conclusion
In the world of technology every new week offers new possibilities. The trajic thing is that many companies strategies are thrown in to complete confusion by these new market developments. It therefore goes without saying that to have continuity companies need to remain abreast of imformation without over-reacting to new technology developments. With a good balance between strategy and forward thinking success is guaranteed.

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