Mobile working Toolkit

Convergence is king at 3GSM

Staff ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 16 Feb 2006 11:10 GMT

Convergence has been one of the hottest buzzwords in the mobile industry for several years. This week, the 3GSM World Congress saw compelling evidence that once-rival technologies can work together, and that the world is moving fast towards an all-IP environment.

CSR is making good progress towards merging Bluetooth and Wi-Fi onto a single chip, but it's Nokia's decision to add Wi-Fi to its 6136 phone is a stronger indication that the landscape is changing.

Most exciting of all is the multi-operator alliance for instant messaging services. IM will force the industry to embrace convergence, and will also make it face up to issues such as open standards.

And if you've not got a 3G phone, the good news is that they should get a lot cheaper this year. And a lot faster by 2009, if T-Mobile is correct.

3GSM: Day 3:

3GSM gets IT together
Convergence isn't just a marketing term in a PowerPoint presentation any more. It's changing the industry, and nobody can afford to be left behind

VoIP mobiles are a call for change
Operators are falling over themselves to embrace Nokia's Wi-Fi-enabled mobile phone, but this diminutive device is actually a major threat to their status quo

3G phones tipped to get cheaper
Third-generation phones should plunge in price this year, predicts Qualcomm, whose chips are used inside many WCDMA devices

Symbian vows to win mid-market battle
The smartphone operating system maker is determined to become a major player in the mobile mass market

Vodafone announces own-brand 3G handset
'If you want something done right, do it yourself' seems to be the operator's attitude, as it responds to overpriced 3G handsets with a device of its own

T-Mobile: 20Mbps 3G 'here by 2009'
Will HSDPA be superseded by a service that offers three times the speed?