The movement toward a world where voice and data networks converge.
Published:
24 March 1999 y., Wednesday
Microsoft, Alcatel, and Sun Microsystems are among those pushing the design envelope of the once-staid telephone, unveiling new products and services at the CeBIT 99 and underlining movement toward a world where voice and data networks converge. Microsoft today launched an Internet-enabled telephone called Hermes, based on its Windows CE operating system and initially to be produced by Matsushita Electric Industrial_s Panasonic, Philips, Acer, and others. The next-generation phones will meld a traditional receiver with a display and smallish keyboard, and will be aimed both at consumers without PCs and those who have a PC but want more convenient access to Internet-based services, Microsoft said. Email and full Internet browsing are a few of the services planned in conjunction with address book and caller ID functions. Microsoft is working with other telephone companies and Internet service providers to set up more partnerships that produce Hermes products and services. The first devices are expected to be on the market early next year. Microsoft already offers a cordless phone that hooks up directly to a PC, although the device isn_t a full fledged Web-phone. The software giant_s push into the phone market coincides with similar announcements from a variety of other companies angling for a stake in emerging markets for digital information appliances. The convergence of the once-distinct consumer electronics and PC industries comes as phone companies upgrade networks to digital technology, enabling them to move voice and data communications over one path to a single device.Observers say the key to future growth for such technology is adding new capabilities to devices people are already familiar with, such as phones and televisions.
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Software company announced new structure_ of it_s business.
more »
Networking sites like Facebook and YouTube are changing politics.
more »
Vendor to service almost 4,000 existing ATMs and supply another 450.
more »
The advent of deposit automation, facilitated in many ways by the implementation of Check 21, is not only improving check-handling processes at the self-service terminal – it also is improving handling within the bank branch itself.
more »
The Moroccan Post Office, Barid Al-Maghrib, has selected Bull to act as project manager on the automation project for its International Mail Center in Casablanca.
more »
Gemalto has taken home one of the most coveted technology prizes in Austin with its Smart Enterprise Guardian (SEG).
more »
Banks in Australia are rushing to install gas detectors into their ATMs, as gas-explosive attacks on ATMs in the country continue to climb.
more »
EMC CEO Joe Tucci and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer showcase deep technology collaboration at New York CIO Summit.
more »
India-based mChek looks to offer its secured SIM-card-based mobile applications through partnership with Gemalto.
more »
Nearly one week after news emerged of the big data breach at Princeton, N.J.-based merchant acquirer Heartland Payment Systems Inc., it remains unclear how much damage actually happened and who did it.
more »
Wincor Nixdorf AG has announced the release of an enhanced security product for bank branches called ProTect.
more »