Browsing Through the Airwaves
Wired News Report
9:25 a.m. 23.Sep.98.PDT
As Web browsing and Web content
inevitably moves off the desktop PC and
onto other devices such as TVs and
handheld computers, Spyglass (SPYG)
wants to be there.
The company announced plans
Wednesday to enter the world of wireless
devices with Spyglass Wireless Device
Mosaic.
Spyglass, the company's tiny Web
browser, will be made to run efficiently
inside mobile phones by leveraging the
power of software running on back-end
servers. The company's technologies will
be developed to conform to the Wireless
Application Forum standard.
That standard seeks to develop
specialized application specs meant to
make software for wireless devices faster
and more reliable than Internet protocols
could be, the forum says.
Used with other WAP-compliant products,
the spyglass server and browser
technologies will let wireless carriers
provide the first standards-based wireless
data services, Spyglass said.
A simple set of menus on a cell phone
screen, for example, could provide
customer support information. Spyglass
says the software will be equally capable
of delivering advanced, graphically rich
travel, traffic, and financial applications
via a Web interface.
After buying Mosaic -- the Web's first
graphical browser -- in 1994, Spyglass
licensed it to Microsoft (MSFT), which
then used the code as the basis for
Internet Explorer.
Since then, Spyglass has reinvented itself
as a systems integrator and "HTML
engine" developer for the emerging
consumer Internet device market. The
company has already moved into the
set-top box market, and consults with
consumer device manufacturers that
want to build browsing capabilities into
their products.
In December, the company established a
technology and consulting group to
develop advanced Web-related
applications, and offer technical and
market support to the cable and satellite
television industries.
- - -
Mobile Phone Roams the World:
Swedish cell phone giant Ericsson on
Wednesday announced a mobile phone
that the company says will work in 120
countries -- without the incompatibility
hassles that plague executive globe
trotters.
When released later this year, Ericsonn's I
888 phone will operate on both the GSM
900 and 1900 frequencies, bypassing the
major hurdle of varying wireless networks
that are used in different regions of the
world.
The phone, which can be used in Europe,
Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, and the
Americas, has a built-in infrared port that
will allow it to connect with a laptop.
With the help of the infrared port, I 888
users will then be able to use the phone
to check email on their PCs.
Ericsson said the I 888's travel charger
will also include five different plugs and
adaptors that will address the voltage
requirements and socket styles around
the world.
- - -
Cell Phones as Infoguides: Local.info, a
new product for cellular network
providers, seeks to turn subscribers' cell
phones into local information access
devices.
Using their standard phone, callers will be
able to dial up traffic, tourist, and other
data according to a the location they're
calling from.
Colorado-based SignalSoft announced the
product Wednesday. The company
unveiled the technology, called local.info,
to cellular network operators at the PCS
'98 trade show in Orlando, Florida.
"Wireless users are often on the go, and
the mobile environment makes it difficult
to access the Internet's vast amount of
information," SignalSoft President David
Hose said in a statement. "Local.info
allows wireless users to automatically
search the Internet for specific
information that is based on their location
and relevant to their particular needs."
The product uses SignalSoft's
location-based software and as yet
unsigned content providers. The
software/content combo would be
purchased and deployed by cellular
provider companies. No deals have yet
been announced.
Potential applications, SignalSoft said,
include dialing up hotel, restaurant, and
shopping information, plus localized traffic
updates and emergency roadside
services.
Subscribers would have access to
real-time information from the Internet
via voice recordings or live through call
centers, the company said. The
information could be delivered according
to location as well as personal
preferences.
SignalSoft says it will be launching a
local.info content partner program to give
network operators an expanding array of
data sources to support services.
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