SiGe Semiconductor, Inc. announced the industry’s first completely integrated WLAN RF front-end modules optimized for cellular handsets.

Featuring industry-leading performance, integration and low current consumption, the RangeCharger™ SE2551A and SE2557A ensure that cellular handset manufacturers can support WLAN capability without impacting handset form factor, cellular performance, or battery life.

Road warriors may no longer have to stay put in an airport lounge or Starbucks to access the high-speed Internet via an 802.11 Wi-Fi network.

Thanks to software developed by two computer scientists at the University of California, San Diego, the time it takes to hand off from one Wi-Fi wireless network to the next can be dramatically shortened -- overcoming a major obstacle in Wi-Fi roaming.

Premium Services Launch as Skype Hits 100 Million Downloads

Skype, the Global Internet Telephony Company™, announced the public beta launch of SkypeIn and Skype Voicemail, two new premium services available in the latest download versions of Skype software for Linux, MAC OS X, Pocket PC and Windows platforms.

SkypeIn provides an affordable, flexible alternative to costly mobile phone roaming charges with SkypeIn personal numbers.

SkypeIn customers can receive inbound calls to their Skype client from ordinary fixed telephones or mobile phones while they travel worldwide, providing seamless interconnectivity without having to pay costly roaming charges.

Skype Voicemail enables users to manage incoming voicemail messages, making their Skype usage more ubiquitous.

Anticipating the arrival of the VDSL2 standard, Ikanos Communications Inc. is offering a new version of its FX chip set capable of symmetric 100-Mbit/second data transport in both downstream and upstream directions.

The company will offer versions of the chip set for line-terminal systems and for subscriber equipment in a residence or business.

Since its founding in 1999, Ikanos has been one of the few digital subscriber line chip set companies to focus on very high-bit-rate DSL service, which offers greater speed by sacrificing distances from a central office or line-termination unit to the end subscriber. (VDSL2 operates at loop distances of less than 1,000 feet.).

The ability of WiMax wireless broadband to compete with DSL and cable modem services without the need for heavy regulation will have a significant impact on the telecoms industry, analysts have predicted.

According to In-Stat, low network investment costs, and non-line-of-sight operation over licensed or non-licensed radio spectrum makes WiMax an attractive technology.

However, the analyst group warned that the success of WiMax, which supports point to multi-point broadband wireless access rates up to 2Mbps over a coverage area of three to five miles, remains uncertain.

The Industry's First Digital TV on a Single Chip, "Hollywood" Will Bring Broadcast Viewing and Reception to Mobile Phones


Addicted to reality TV programming? It won't be long before you can watch your favorite real-life TV broadcasts on the go, thanks to a chip Texas Instruments Incorporated is developing for cell phones.

Texas Instruments announced development of the wireless industry's first digital TV on a single chip for cell phones, which will capture broadcast signals and allow cell phone users to watch live broadcasts ranging from their favorite reality TV shows to major sporting events and breaking news.

Code-named "Hollywood," the chip will receive live digital TV broadcasts using new television infrastructure that is being developed for cell phones, doing for cell phones what HDTV did for home TVs.

"Hollywood" builds on TI´s current capabilities in the converging wireless and consumer electronics markets, including high-quality streamed video content on 2.5G and 3G handsets via its OMAPTM multimedia processors.

Wireless VoIP Phone Chipset Transforms the Residential Phone into a Converged Voice/Data Internet Appliance for Consumers

Broadcom Corporation , a leading provider of highly integrated semiconductor solutions enabling broadband communications, announced a chipset for wireless IP phones that will create a new category of consumer products.

Wi-Fi® phones based on this chipset will offer consumers a cordless phone replacement that can also support data applications such as web browsing, email and instant messaging.

This solution is based on the convergence of Broadcom's award-winning 54g™ wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) and field-proven Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technologies. When compared to similar solutions, Broadcom's Voice over wireless LAN (VoWLAN) chipset reduces major chip count from four to two chips, and offers additional important features such as quality of service (QoS) and security.

Industry-leading Performance Targets Standard Definition Video and Whole House Audio Distribution as Key Applications

Intellon Corporation, the world leader in powerline communications, today announced the introduction of its next generation powerline networking chipset.

The INT5500CS, an 85Mbps powerline networking chipset, is fully compliant with the 14 Mbps HomePlug 1.0 specification and offers the higher bandwidth performance necessary to drive next-generation home entertainment applications such as standard definition video and whole house audio.

The INT5500CS complements Intellon’s highly successful and broadly deployed INT51X1 and INT5200 products, which implement the 14Mbps HomePlug 1.0 specification.

The INT5500CS enables additional applications requiring higher bandwidth, including standard definition video distribution, TV over IP (IPTV), digital video recorder (DVR) networking and media center PCs. Other applications include whole house audio, extension and bridging of higher speed wireless technologies such as 802.11x and UWB, and higher data-rate broadband sharing based on technologies such as ADSL2 and fiber to the home.

PON architecture combined with relaxed design rules offer high value to service providers.

Hitachi Telecom (USA), Inc. and Corning Incorporated are joining forces to demonstrate triple-play services combining their innovative FTTH technology solutions at the 2004 Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Conference & Expo in Orlando, Florida.

The demo will transmit voice, video and data (“triple play”) services over 20 km of Corning NexCorTM optical fiber, and includes the Corning® FTTP Coupler/Splitter Module for OptiTect™ Cabinet.

Head-end video equipment in the booth supplies the video content for both RF and IP video transmission. Data, IP video and voice signals are passed from the head-end to the Hitachi AMN1200 OLT (optical line terminal), which transmits them on a 1490nm wavelength. The RF video signal is transmitted by a video OLT on a 1550 nm wavelength, and combined onto the fiber with the 1490 nm signal using wavelength division multiplexing (WDM).

Thales is pleased to announce that a live experimentation of digital video broadcasting based on DVB-H standard is performed during Paris Motor Show.

DVB-H is a new standard designed to address video broadcasting to handheld devices, allowing TV channels to be received on mobile receivers such as PDAs, phones or mobile receivers implemented in cars.