• ICO Global Communications plans to launch its next-generation G1 satellite from Cape Canaveral on Monday. ICO says the satellite will bring a “new era” of mobile media technology with the delivery of mobile applications via satellite. ICO plans to offer eight to 15 channels of live TV content, interactive navigation and nationwide roadside assistance, with market trials in Las Vegas and Raleigh and commercial service nationwide in 2009.
• You can expect to see an expanding use of those little accelerometers called MEMS (micro electromechanical systems) in the coming years, according to ABI Research. MEMS are used now in the Apple iPhone to change the orientation of the display and in the Nintendo Wii for motion sensing. ABI analyst Douglas McEuen says these are just the advance wave of more MEMS uses, which will appear in industrial machinery to detect vibration, in exercise step-counters and in a growing number of phones and PDAs.
• Intel and one of the largest operators in Latin America, Telefonica, have signed an agreement to expand the use of mobile WiMAX networks in that region. The companies say they will collaborate on providing affordable technology for home and small and medium-sized businesses. This will include WiMAX deployments but also will look at the broader use of information and communications technologies and broadband Internet access.
• Nokia says its research center will work with the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology in Lausanne and Zurich on “pervasive communications,” using mobile phones and other mobile devices for communications among people and systems. One example of the effort might be a system that measures air quality in a city and then sends the results to nearby mobile phones, a spokesman says.
• Nordic Semiconductor says it has redefined the industry benchmark for ultra-low power Bluetooth transceivers with the launch of its nRF24L01+. The single chip 2.4 GHz transceiver is aimed at PC peripherals like wireless keyboards, mice, game controllers, intelligent sports equipment and wireless audio.
• A survey of information technology managers says they are increasingly looking to hire employees with skills in wireless technologies. The survey by the Computing Technology Industry Association says skills in wireless and RF mobile technology will be the most important over the next five years. Health care and education sectors found wireless skills the most important, while automotive and manufacturing found them least important.
• Axcess International has announced what it says is the first Smart Wireless Sticker that combines traditional bar codes, Electronic Product Code RFID, long-range RFID tracking and wireless sensing. The electronic label can be adhered to almost any object, the company says.
