ROUNDUPS
For the record 25 April
25-04-2002
by Paula Mythen
Alphyra signs a new deal in Germany giving it 50 percent market access | Sony Ericsson considers Playstation/mobile phone tie-up
Parthus Technologies has launched In8Stream, an 802.11 multi-mode wireless local area network (WLAN) platform. In8Stream targets the range of IEEE 802.11 WLAN standards (a,b,g,e,i) through one architecture and is based upon PacketGenie technology from Telematix, a developer of multi-protocol wireless networking technology.
Alphyra announced that its subsidiary in Germany (Alphyra Deutschland gmbh) has secured a contract to deliver top-up services for a mobile phone operator in the country, giving the firm access to more than 52 percent of the German pre-paid market. In April 2001, Alphyra commenced top-up services in Germany for E-Plus Mobilfunk.
A Sony Ericsson executive said in an interview this week that the company has plans to link one of its newest mobile phones to Sony's popular Playstation 2 home video game console. Sony Ericsson vice president Anil Raj told ZDNet in an interview this week that some of the company's upcoming phones, such as the P800 or a later incarnation of it, could have the ability to connect to PS2 via USB for mobile gaming purposes. He said the company is also considering producing mobile phones tied to popular Sony Music artists, like Jennifer Lopez, which will sell with "J-Lo" music, pictures and Web sites, already embedded in the phone.
Websense Inc. reports that the number of peer-to-peer file sharing and file transfer Web sites has grown more than 535 percent in the last 12 months, reaching nearly 38,000 Web pages. While most P2P applications and MP3 files are free to users, corporations are paying the price for illegal employee song swapping.
Nokia and Texas Instruments released an application development tool, TI's Innovator Development Kit for the Series 60 based on TI's OMAP platform. The Series 60 Platform is a terminal software platform for smart phones that Nokia licenses to other mobile handset manufacturers as a source-code product. With the development kit for the Series 60, application developers and handset manufacturers will be able to simulate and validate their applications in a close-to-final mobile terminal environment.
Point Information Systems has launched a new release of e-point, its multi-channel enterprise CRM solution. The launch follows the recent acquisition of Point Information Systems by S1 Corporation.
Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels, a US law firm which opened an office in Dublin earlier this year, has launched a "Guide to Doing Business in the United States." The 95-page guide is aimed at technology firms that are selling into the US or who plan to establish there.
The eTel Group on Thursday announced the launch of its International Network Operations Centre (iNOC) in Frankfurt to serve their expanding presence in Central Europe.
Unisys Corporation announced that it has been awarded new and extended multi-year contracts anticipated to generate more than USD100 million for initiatives using the company's outsourcing solutions worldwide. The deals include a one-year contract renewal from the Caixa Economica Federal for service delivery to the Brazilian Ministry of Labour for an estimated USD34 million; an extension to an existing nine-year agreement with CSL Group Ltd. for approximately USD11.75 million and a three-year contract with the New South Wales Department of Education and Training for approximately USD17.5 million.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 