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FRIDAY - MARCH 26, 2004 - ISSUE NO. 104 | ||
Dear wireless colleagues and friends of paging, This newsletter is coming out on Monday morning, rather than the date indicated above, due to my attendance at the IWCE show in Las Vegas. The main sections of this week's issue are composed of photos of people and companies involved in paging who were exhibiting at the show. There is no logic behind those who appear and those who do not, other than the fact that some of the photos came out better than others. Occasionally the flash wasn't ready when I was, and of course, sometimes people close their eyes or look away. So, if a paging-related company or advertiser doesn't appear, it just means that I didn't get around to their booth or the photo didn't turn out well. Now for the good news and the bad news. Actually everything was good—in fact very good. I was just sorry that I didn't get to talk to everyone as much as I wanted. It happened many times—I would be talking to someone and very interested in our conversation—then someone new would tap me on the shoulder. By the time I said hello to that person and turned back around, the first person would be talking to someone else or would have moved on to the next booth. I sure hope no one was offended. It reminded me of the "glory days" of paging when people at a trade show would be lined up three or four deep waiting to talk. There was more excitement and enthusiasm at this show than I have seen in many years. Several of my colleagues expressed the same feeling. Like I have been saying for quite a while: "it's not over yet!" It was really great to see so many old friends in one place. Several of us have a little less hair and maybe a larger belt size, but it was wonderful to see people who I have known and worked with for as many as 30 years. I hope you enjoy seeing the following photographs half as much as I did taking them. Let me know what you think. | Keeping Paging Alive
A new issue of the Paging and Wireless Data Newsletter gets posted on the web each week. A notification goes out by e-mail to subscribers on most Fridays around noon Eastern US time. The notification message has a link to the actual newsletter on the Internet. That way it doesn't fill up your incoming e-mail account. There is no charge for subscription and there are no membership restrictions. Readers are a very select group of wireless industry professionals, and include the senior managers of many of the world's major paging and wireless data companies. There is an even mix of operations managers, marketing people, and engineers, so I try to include items of interest to all three groups. It's all about staying up-to-date with business trends and technology. I regularly get reader's comments, so this newsletter has become a community forum for the paging, and wireless data communities. You are welcome to contribute your ideas and opinions. Unless otherwise requested, all correspondence addressed to me is subject to publication in the newsletter and on my website. NOTE: This newsletter is best viewed at screen resolutions of 800x600 (good) or 1024x768 (better). Any current revision of web browser should work fine. Please notify me of any problems with viewing. This site is compliant with XHTML 1.0 transitional coding for easy access from wireless devices. (XML 1.0 / ISO 8859-1. |
Special Report—IWCE Las Vegas 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||
PRESS RELEASE Multitone and Prism Systems International Sign Licensing Agreement Basingstoke, UK and Atlanta, GA— March 24, 2004 Multitone Electronics announces it has licensed Prism Systems International to incorporate its Mk7 paging protocol into Prism's paging terminals. This will enable Prism Systems International to provide support for Multitone's PowerPagers that utilize the Mk7 paging format and provide a unique range of features for both private and commercial paging users. Multitone's Mk7 digital format:
[* RIC = "Radio Identity Code" or "capcode."]
About Multitone Electronics With 70 years of experience delivering tailored paging solutions, globally Multitone has scored a number of firsts in its innovative approach to paging: inventors of the world's first wireless paging system, produced the world's first digital paging solution, and developed one of the world's first voice and encrypted pagers.
About Prism Systems International Prism is the former one-way Paging Marketing, Sales, Engineering, and Technical-support team of TGA Technologies with 35-plus years in the industry with such companies as Arch, BBL Industries, Multitone, Metromedia, and Quintron. For More Information Contact: Prism Systems International, Inc. [PTC-PWG-RXP] RXP Specification 2.0 — Congratulations — RXP 2.0 is released! The complete specification is described in the files RxpSpec-2.0.pdf and RxpASN-2.0.asn in the root directory of the Yahoo RXP group. From this point, PTC-PWG will take on management of the spec and PTC-PWG-DeveloperCommunity will take on the official role of assisting the developer community. Of course, those of us in active development will keep working together as always, and I'll keep the RXP group going for continuity. Many people assume that I personally wrote this spec with vague guidance from the industry. This is not the case. What we are releasing now barely resembles what I initially proposed over 3 years ago. In fact, this specification is indeed the product of a very large group, some of which have since left the industry. A successful design requires balancing the "real world" and the "ideal" across a set of meaningful objectives. As long as everyone has this in mind, the more people participate, the stronger the end result. Our end result — RXP 2.0 — is strong indeed, and we all get credit for it. -James Dabbs, TGA
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Motorola Introduces Two New Pagers Ideal for Health Care, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and Utilities Markets Motorola's newest one-way pagers—the Advisor II pager and the LS355 pager—are ideal for users in demanding business environments who need a convenient and cost effective way to stay in touch. Both the Advisor II pager and the LS355 pager were developed for use in hospitals and medical facilities, manufacturing environments, utilities, hospitality applications, campus settings, and for businesses that own and operate their own paging systems.
Both the Advisor II pager and the LS355 pager are available in POCSAG, UHF or VHF models and ship with a one-year standard warranty. As part of the continued support of these pagers, Motorola offers a two-year Express Service Plus program. This feature provides hardware repair coverage for two years beyond the standard one-year warranty for a total of three years of pager repair coverage. Both pagers are available through Motorola Authorized Resellers. MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. © Motorola, Inc. 2003. | ![]() | ||||||||||||||||
Six month minimum—26 issues. | |||||||||||||||||
A fast and reliable alarming system is an indisputable prerequisite for emergency fire and rescue services to respond successfully and efficiently. State-of-the-art paging enables groups as well as individuals to be alerted. The Quattrino Voice and Memo two tone pagers are suitable for everyone, even for those working in an emergency during severe weather conditions. Continual further development of previous popular models has resulted in a practical, reliable and user-friendly device, innovatively housed with ergonomic operating controls. Design elements include a very long standby function and weather proofing to the European IP54 specifications. I am an authorized Manufacturer Representative for Swissphone. Please contact me directly for any additional information. | Advanced RF Communications offers a complete line of products and services for one and two-way paging/data messaging systems. Services include:
Advanced RF Communications is a proud sponsor of the: American Association of Paging Carriers ![]() Our System design and installation services integrate all the "boxes" and deliver fully operational one or two-way paging "system". We can also "tune-up" that existing paging system with our diagnostic and troubleshooting services to restore System performance that has deteriorated over time.
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Need a good paging engineer? Jason Loefer is looking for a job. Atlanta Area Download his resumé here. | Tell a friend about the newsletter. — It's free — | ||||||||||||||||
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Wireless Telemetry |
Thank you to all of Brad's readers who provided equipment and leads for my last want list. I continue to search out and recreate early wireless e-mail systems from the 80s and 90s and am looking to acquire the following:
If you have any of the above or a lead on same please contact us.
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![]() AAPC’s Mission Statement Defines Purpose
Our industry must move forward together or we will perish individually. If you want to get involved, please click here. Come and join us! The AAPC "newsroom" is a great source of information. The AAPC also hosts the Paging Technical Committee site. There is a lot of good paging industry information here. Click on the logo above to get a membership application. | High-speed simulcast paging with protocols such as POCSAG and FLEX™ requires microsecond accuracy to synchronize the transmission of digital paging signals. ![]() Zetron's Simulcast System uses GPS timing information to ensure that the broadcasted transmissions between the nodes of the Simulcast System and associated transmitters are synchronized to very tight tolerances. This system is ideal for public or private paging system operators that use multiple transmitters and wish to create new paging systems or to build out existing systems into new regions. For more information about Zetron's High Speed Simulcast Paging System, the Model 600 and Model 620, go to: www.zetron.com/paging.
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Prism Message Gateway Systems Your Choice of Options
Popular Choice for Domestic and International
Logical Choice
Go ahead… be choosy… choose Prism Systems International
| ![]() MAXPage
Commtech Wireless introduces MAXPage, a desktop paging terminal packed with features. Alpha, Numeric, Tone, & Voice Serial Interface Telephone Interface Alarm Inputs Features*
*Some of the features listed are optional and are not supplied as standard For more information, simply fill out the feedback form or contact us on the details below.
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The RIM 957 has a large, high-resolution display screen. This data-only handheld also offers:
Wynn & Associates is offering a special discount on these RIM (data only) units to readers of this newsletter. Please call 301-292-3030 or e-mail and mention The Paging and Wireless Data Newsletter to receive this special offer. | |||||||||||||||||
![]() ISC Technologies is the industry leader in the pre-owned Paging equipment marketplace. We specialize in purchasing, reconditioning, reconfiguring and sales of quality paging infrastructure. We can customize and configure equipment at a fraction of the cost of new. All equipment carries a standard warranty to insure your trouble free operation. At ISC Technologies we service what we sell and more. Our factory-trained technicians repair most Quintron, Glenayre, Motorola, and Skydata equipment. All of our repairs are done on a Time and Material basis, saving you money over flat rate repair. From vacuum tubes to surface mount equipment, we are ready to handle your repair needs quickly and cost effectively.
| ![]() Wireless Communication Solutions Hark Systems has provided the wireless industry with innovative products for over 20 years. The Omega family of products continues that tradition. The Omega Gateway performs the function of a TAP Concentrator, a TNPP Router, and an Internet Paging Gateway. This allows the paging operator with TAP and TNPP connections to their paging network to offer e-mail and Internet based paging services. Any message coming in via any supported protocol (SMTP, SNPP, TAP, TNPP, HTTP) can be converted to another protocol and sent. Pages can also be sent to e-mail boxes for safe keeping. Subscribers can log on with a web browser and view stored alpha messages. The TNPP router function has the most extensive routing and filtering capabilities in the market today. The Internet Gateway also has extensive anti-SPAM and other selective filtering options to protect your system. The Gateway is available as a turnkey system or software only. The Omega Unified Messaging Platform gives you the competitive edge by offering the ability to bundle a variety of services that can include Voicemail, FAXmail and e-mail as part of customized subscriber packages. Subscribers can view faxes, listen to voicemails, and modify features using a common browser. System administration can also be performed remotely as well as locally. This robust set of features allows the system operator to build a profit center with low initial expense and expand as needed
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Mark Hood mehood@cox.net Paging Field Engineer/Electronic technician in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area. | |||||||||||||||||
Please click on the image above for more information. | |||||||||||||||||
Daviscomms USA Inc. is your direct connection to Daviscomms (S) Pte Ltd., the leading pager manufacturer in the world with many years experience in Engineering, Design, and Manufacturing of highly-reliable, premium-quality FLEX and POCSAG Alphanumeric and Numeric pagers. Daviscomms offers unparalleled quality, features and functions. We perform our own stringent quality testing as well as certification by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to meet all of their standards. All of our paging products meet FCC and IC Standards for use in the USA and Canada. Our manufacturing facility, located in Malaysia, is a 40,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility. Customers, globally, choose Daviscomms for our QUALITY, RELIABILITY, ON-TIME DELIVERY, COMPETITIVE PRICING and our TOTAL COMMITMENT to providing the best value for their needs.
At Daviscomms, we are proud to provide our customers with end-to-end manufacturing solutions while delivering superior quality and support. Daviscomms is at the forefront of the industry with its commitment to leading-edge technology, cost-effective manufacturing and the highest degree of customer service. Daviscomms delivers low cost, high volume manufacturing solutions to our customers. We help maximize time-to-market objectives while minimizing procurement, materials management, and manufacturing costs. For information about our contract manufacturing services or our Bravo-branded line of numeric and alphanumeric pagers, please call Bob Popow, our Director of Operations for the Americas, 480-515-2344. (Scottsdale, Arizona) or visit our website www.daviscommsusa.com. |
RTS Wireless ADVX System Programming Concepts, Inc. provides authorized RTS ADVX Wireless Gateway Support & Enhancements. Our RTS lab includes source code control, development tools, and test beds for all deployed RTS systems. Call now to sign-up for our first class support of your aging RTS system. More info ... PCI (www.programmingconcepts.com) has been in business for 24 years providing custom application programming for medium to large businesses. PCI's primary business segments include web enabled application development, financial industry systems, telephony (IVR, CTI, and Wireless), Secure Enterprise Instant Messaging System, Microsoft Customer Relationship Management (MS-CRM) Applications, and a wide variety of commercial applications. Contact Sales sales@programmingconcepts.com | ||||||||||||||||
DX Radio Systems, Inc. manufactures high quality, high specification type communications products. The following is a list of products that DX Radio Systems, Inc. manufactures or supplies as a single supplied product and can be included as part of a turnkey system:
Performance that is tough to find anywhere at a price you can afford.
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WIRELESS NEWS | ||||
Microsoft Creates New Opportunity for Windows Mobile Developers With New Software Platforms and Tools Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, Visual Studio 2005 Community Technical Preview And $100,000 Mobile2Market Contest Catalyze Innovation SAN FRANCISCO— March 24, 2004—Today at Microsoft Corp.'s third annual Mobile Developer Conference (DevCon) 2004, Microsoft continued to deliver on its commitment to mobile and Microsoft® Windows® developers by unveiling the new Windows Mobile™ 2003 Second Edition software focused on enabling unprecedented hardware innovation and application development. In addition, Microsoft delivered the Visual Studio® 2005 Community Technology Preview that provides valuable developer resources and announced a Mobile2Market contest to assist developers with application promotion and distribution opportunities. This year's event has been designed to help both mobile and PC developers take advantage of the opportunities that Windows Mobile is delivering. "The convergence of the mobile and PC development environments represents a tremendous opportunity for software innovation. Microsoft is proud to support our hardware partners and the developer community by providing innovative software like the new Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition software," said Ya-Qin Zhang, corporate vice president of product development for the Mobile and Embedded Devices Division at Microsoft. "At this show, we are also focused on providing the best integrated tools and technical resources that will ignite application development and bring new value to customers and the mobile industry." New Customer-Driven Software: Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition "The Motorola MPx with a unique, compact dual-hinge design is one of the first devices that take advantage of key capabilities enabled by Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition software," said Michael Tatelman, vice president and general manager of the MOTOPro group, Motorola Mobile Handset Business. "Microsoft's continued commitment to drive innovation and engage with the developer community is beneficial in providing our customers with a robust set of applications and solutions that, when combined with the MOTOPro Innovation Platform, deliver a powerful wireless experience." With this release, Microsoft is focused on enabling hardware diversity while preserving platform consistency. Hardware diversity facilitates creation of exciting new form factors by device makers to address specific market needs. Platform consistency enables developers to reach a large addressable market with a single code base. Also benefiting developers is Microsoft's updated Windows Mobile Developer Resource Kit, which allows developers to easily create new applications and services based on the new software and thus benefit directly from the new functionality expected, such as higher-resolution screens and new form factors. This kit includes eight new white papers focused on Windows Mobile development and new and updated code samples, Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition emulators, embedded Visual C++® 4.0 SP3, and Windows Mobile 2003 SDKs. "Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition software creates an opportunity to bring our existing solutions to a new generation of innovative devices," said John Psuik, president and CEO of Developer One. "Microsoft's new software has enabled us to build new, innovative solutions for our customers that take advantage of new display functionality like support for landscape orientation and high-resolution screens." Platforms and Tools That Empower In addition, Microsoft highlighted great momentum around the .NET Compact Framework, launched at last year's conference. This includes a growing partner roster and positive feedback from partners and customers that have realized the benefits of the combination of the familiar Visual Studio development environment and the .NET Compact Framework for building smart device applications. Customers are seeing cost reductions and increased productivity benefits with this combination of tools. Landmark Graphics Corp., for one, has cut its development costs by 40 percent to 50 percent using Microsoft .NET technology. The combination of Visual Studio .NET and the .NET Compact Framework has proved to be an efficient and very productive environment for building Windows Mobile-based applications. Continuing to Foster the Ecosystem Building on the current success of the Mobile2Market program, Microsoft announced the $100,000 Mobile2Market application contest. Four grand prizes of $25,000 and application promotion and distribution opportunities will be awarded to four independent software vendors in the following categories: Smartphone Work, Smartphone Play, Pocket PC Work and Pocket PC Play. More information on the contest can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/information/devprograms/mobile2market/contest.mspx. About the Microsoft Mobile Developer Conference About Microsoft Microsoft, Windows, Windows Mobile, Visual Studio and Visual C++ are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Source: Microsoft Press Release RIM premieres color BlackBerry March 23, 2004 11:26 AM EST
Source: RCR Wireless News |
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TGA Technologies
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Motorola PURC UHF RF Trays & UHF 110W PAs, tested and ready to ship. Motorola PURC Advanced Control Units, tested and ready to ship.
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www.gtesinc.com GTES is the only Glenayre authorized software support provider to the paging industry. The GTES team consists of highly qualified and seasoned associates who were formerly a part of Glenayre's paging infrastructure support and engineering operations. We are poised and ready to "Partner" with you to ensure the viability of your network, reduce your long-term cost of ownership, and to provide future solutions for profitability. GTES will offer product sales, maintenance services, software development and product development to the wireless industry. GTES SUITE OF PRODUCTS GTES Partner Program Product Sales On-Site Services Software Development Product Training CALL US TODAY FOR YOUR SUPPORT NEEDS | Intelligent Paging & Mobile Data Hardware & Software Selective is a developer and manufacturer of highly innovative paging receiver/decoders and mobile data equipment. The PDT2000 Paging Data Terminal is a large display pager designed for desktop or in-vehicle mounting and is widely used by emergency services and in onsite paging systems for forklift dispatch etc. Our range of Paging Data devices and software products have multiple uses and capabilities including:
Our mobile data equipment includes a range of Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs) which may be interfaced to a variety of wireless networks including trunked and conventional radio, GPRS & CDMA cellular, Mobitex etc. Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) and GPS solutions, Dispatch & Messaging software. We offer mobile communications dealers and systems integrators a "fast to market" job dispatch and job management capability. Specialised local area paging systems, paging interception and message reprocessing software, field force automation and mobile dispatch solutions. We export worldwide.
I am an authorized Manufacturer Representative for Selective Communications. Please contact me directly for any additional information.
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Paging Training Course Specially designed course for sales, marketing, and administration personnel. Engineers will only be admitted with a note signed by their mothers, promising that they will just listen and not disrupt the class. (This is supposed to be funny.) This is a one-day training course on paging that can be conducted at your place of business. Please take a look at the course outline to see if you think this might be beneficial in your employees: Paging training course outline. Although it touches on several "technical" topics, it is definitely not a technical course. I used to teach the sales and marketing people at Motorola Paging and they appreciated an atmosphere where they could ask technical questions without being made to feel like a "dummy" and without getting a long convoluted overly-technical answer that left them more confused than before. A good learning environment is one that is "non-threatening." Let me know if you would like to receive a quotation, or if you would like to have any additional information. | ||||||||||||||||
Satellite Uplinking Service
Glenayre Technical Support
Call or write today to learn more Alan Carle, Dir of Engineering 888 854 2697 x272 or | CUSTOM APPLICATIONS
Please call me so we can discuss your need or your idea. Or contact me by e-mail for additional information. |
WI-FI NEWS | |
Sun Shines on Hotspots March 23, 2004 Pleasanton, Calif.-based Pronto Networks, which makes operational support systems (OSS) for network operators, particularly for hotspot and other wireless providers, is behind the power of a new product branded and sold by Sun Microsystems. The product is called iForce Wi-Fi Hotspot Appliance and was unveiled this week at the CTIA Wireless 2004 show in Atlanta. Jasbir Singh, president and CEO of Pronto, says that while his company has previously had hotspot controllers -- the hardware that would be located at the hotspot itself, such as in a hotel or coffee shop—this unit is meant for operators to install in their network operating center (NOC). "One size does not fit everybody," says Singh. "The right segmentation is required. And the mid-tier players need a turnkey solution that can work for them." The unit will come in flavors licensed for 25, 50 or 100 hotspots and handles all AAA, log-in pages/walled gardens, trouble tickets, and even roaming settlements with hotspot aggregators. Sun will sell the iForce Appliance for $14,995 (base price) via its Sun Authorized iForce Channel Partners. The product will support not only Sun's Solaris platform (on the Sun Fire V210 server) but also Linux OS (the Sun Fire V60x server). Hotspot controllers are $799. "This is a first of its kind—no other OSS appliances will let you set up 25 to 100 hotspots," says Singh. "The primary motive is to make it so simple that the real barrier—how to set this up—goes away." Carriers needing to support over 100 hotspots can move up to Pronto's software running on Sun Netra systems. Source: INTERNETNEWS.COM |
UNTIL NEXT WEEK | ||||||||||||||||||||
FLEX, ReFLEX, FLEXsuite, and InFLEXion, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Motorola, Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||
THE PAGING INFORMATION RESOURCE |