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CRTC blocks Canada's WIND from launching over ownership concerns

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 30th 2009 @ 8:15AM

Globalive, which has recently been ramping up to launch a national Canadian phone service under the WIND brand using spectrum won in last year's auction, has been dealt a hell of a blow by the CRTC this week. The organization -- essentially the northern equivalent of the FCC -- has strict rules demanding that Canadian wireless networks be Canadian-owned, and an investigation of WIND's structure has apparently raised enough concern to cause it to call off the service's launch. Egypt's Orascom Telecom (which, strangely, also runs North Korea's Koryolink) owns some 65.1 percent of the operation and apparently "holds the overwhelming majority of the outstanding debt" for which Globalive is responsible, so yeah, we can see how that might not qualify as "Canadian-owned." For its part, Globalive says that it's "extremely disappointed" in the decision and "will be evaluating [its] options on how to proceed," but in all likelihood, that's going to have to mean cashing out a good chunk of Orascom if it's serious about making this happen.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read - CRTC decision
Read - WIND response

Helix Wind launching wind-powered cellphone tower trials in US and Africa

by Laura June posted Oct 1st 2009 @ 12:52PM

Helix Wind, a company that produces some very distinctive-looking wind turbines, is getting ready to start new trials in the US and Africa. These trials will involve testing the vertical wind turbines as a source of power for cellphone towers in areas where they may be off the grid, and carry much higher operating costs. The turbines should produce enough energy to power the cellphone towers, and pay for themselves within about six months. The trials are set to start at the end of the month with local Nigerian provider Eltek NSG as a main participant.

[Via Inhabitat]

Pantech gets official with wind-recognizing Sky IM-S410K mobile

by Darren Murph posted Feb 12th 2009 @ 7:44AM

We had no reason to believe that this thing wasn't actually coming, but now Pantech has gone and erased any lingering doubt. The Sky IM-S410 / IM-S410K is being hailed as the first cellphone in the "wind-recognizing" category, which may actually be useful in places unlike Chicago. It checks in at 11 millimeters thin and sports a microphone that can detect when you're deliberately pushing air through it; once you blow, the phone can then change images on the screen, as if to move through a gallery of photos or play games. Outside of that, Pantech also threw in a DMB TV tuner and an e-dictionary, and you'll even get to pick between white, black and red hues. Good luck not getting the stink-eye from fellow subway mates when huffing and puffing on your handset while within close proximity to other Earthlings, though.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

Gemalto embeds DVD-compliant optical disc into WIND SIM card

by Darren Murph posted Sep 15th 2008 @ 7:47AM

Movies on flash drives aren't looking like the next big thing, but Gemalto reckons its approach to getting DVD content on smaller surfaces is different enough to get noticed. In an admittedly bizarre release, the digital security firm has announced a new Smart Video Card for Italian carrier WIND, which "embeds a DVD-compliant optical disc into the card body of a regular SIM card." The card can store practically any digital content (including video, software or URLs) and can reportedly be played back on any DVD drive. So what, we buy a new SIM card each time we're looking for a new batch of miniaturized content? Fabulous!

[Via FashionFunky, thanks Bob]

LG intros two i-mode handsets, meet the KG291 and KE590

by Sean Cooper posted Nov 6th 2007 @ 10:17PM

LG's pressed a bit of love into Italian provider Wind's hand recently with the exclusive LG KE590 (left) and KG291 i-mode handsets. The KG291 slider features a 1.3 megapixel camera, 7 MB of internal memory to store pics, MP3's and vids -- plus microSD expansion -- Bluetooth, and 4 / 100 hours of talk and standby time. The pricier KE590 comes equipped with a 2 megapixel shooter, 56 MB of memory, and the same talk and standby time as the KG291. Both handsets are tri-band GSM jobbies, and with the KG's price marked at €99 (roughly $150) and no word on the KE -- though we expect a similar entry level price point -- we expect these'll be popular once they land in Wind retail shops.

[Via UnwiredView]

Neonode N2 launches in Europe on Vodafone, Wind

by Darren Murph posted Jul 6th 2007 @ 10:26AM

Intelligently waiting until after the iPhone lived out its (first) 15 minutes of fame, Neonode has just now went and threw a launch party to celebrate the official debut of the Neonode N2. Yesterday, the firm went wild at the Babae Club in Athens, Greece as it celebrated with MyPhone (its distributor for south-eastern Europe) and announced that the handset would play nice with "operators such as Vodafone and Wind." Sadly, exact releases dates were obviously muddled through all the jumpin' and jivin' going on, but the N2 should be in "select shops in south-eastern Europe" very soon, with the rest of Europe and "other major markets" to follow suit shortly thereafter.

[Thanks, Sleepless]

More European carriers agree to cut roaming fees

by Thomas Ricker posted Jun 6th 2006 @ 10:44AM

It looks like the days of bloated roaming fees within Europe are nearly over. Orange, Telecom Italia, Telenor, TeliaSonera, and Wind have joined T-Mobile in an agreement to cap the rates they charge eachother within the European Economic Area – 45 euro cents per minute from October 2006 dropping to 36 euro cents per minute by October 2007. In time, that should result in a savings of nearly 50% for consumers travelling within Europe and from abroad as the proposed cap is extended to operators outside the sub-continent. An independent watchdog group will then monitor fee reductions on the open market and publish an index every six months. And what of Europe's largest carrier, Vodafone? Well, they're apparently sticking to their rather dubious "Vodafone Passport" scheme said to save punters 40% on roaming fees after registering for the service, after a "connection fee" of 75p per call and after April 2007 when the rate cuts would go into effect. Now this isn't the first time the ~~cabal~~ European operators have agreed to lower roaming tariffs so we'll just have to see how this plays. Just remember dear carriers, the world and Viv is watching.