Siemens -- Engadget Mobile

siemens posts

China Mobile, Nokia Siemens team up to show first TD-LTE femtocell

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 21st 2009 @ 4:54PM

LTE's being designed to support deployment in both frequency division (FD-LTE) and time division (TD-LTE) modes depending on bandwidth allocation and the legacy network that's being upgraded, and in China Mobile's case, they're looking at possibly rolling out a mix -- TD-LTE makes for an elegant and inexpensive upgrade path when you're starting with another tech with "TD" in its name, TD-SCDMA. Carriers around the world are looking to lean heavily on femtocells to boost LTE footprint out of the gate, and to that end, China Mobile has teamed up with Nokia Siemens -- a company that's been pushing a number of "world's firsts" lately -- to show off the first functional TD-LTE femtocell demo by streaming video over a base station in the carrier's labs. It's still a ways off yet before customers will actually have these tucked away in the corners of their homes, but it's a step in the right direction.

Nokia Siemens dials up first 'commercial' LTE call

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 17th 2009 @ 5:20PM

Look, EDGE Evolution trials are pretty cool, but we all know that's not where the action's really at -- the people want to know what's up with LTE, and by golly, Nokia Siemens' gonna tell 'em. The infrastructure-focused joint venture has recently completed what it's billing as the first LTE call on commercial software using base stations fully compliant with 3GPP Release 8's LTE specifications, which means that trial and commercial 4G deployments toward the end of this year into next should have an easier time going live. Sadly, no details were available on the nature of the call or the end-user equipment being used, but we suspect the term "call" is being used loosely here -- in all likelihood, it was pure data using modems that you'll never buy.

Nokia Siemens fires off first EDGE Evolution Downlink Dual Carrier trial

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 14th 2009 @ 3:11PM

Hey, look at you, Nokia Siemens -- first to complete an EDGE Evolution Downlink Dual Carrier call, and now you're the first to set up a whole trial, too. With China's 3G push finally starting to really take root on all three major carriers, legacy GSM networks are still destined to be mega-important for a long time to come -- the country's huge, after all -- and so it makes good sense that the infrastructure firm teamed up with "one of China's leading operators" to deploy what it's calling a "successful" trial during which live streaming from YouTube and Sina were demonstrated in a live environment. EDGE Evolution ultimately promises downlink speeds of up to 600kbps with seamless transitions to and from 3G coverage, which should serve to significantly extend the life of GSM networks in areas where dropping the dough to go full 3G doesn't necessarily make sense. With 100 percent 3G saturation on AT&T and T-Mobile still many years away in the US, we wouldn't mind seeing some of this action in these parts, either.

Nokia Siemens completes first CSoHSPA call, promises better battery life

by Chris Ziegler posted May 14th 2009 @ 9:22AM

If you've never heard of CSoHSPA, we can't say we blame you, but the concept is surprisingly simple, the benefits are pretty clear, and odds are good the technology's coming to a network near you. Short for Circuit Switched over HSPA, the standard -- part of 3GPP Release 7 which covers HSPA+ -- seeks to improve handset battery life and significantly boost network capacity (something many carriers desperately need) by moving voice from the traditional circuit switched voice channel found on legacy GSM networks to packet data. This means that all forms of connectivity your phone exchanges with the network get treated as the same payloads of bytes -- the same concept employed by any VoIP system and the strategy employed by LTE, WiMAX, and some EV-DO networks -- so the old-school voice channel can be repurposed for pure data. Long story short, phones end up running longer on a charge, networks end up with more capacity, and everyone sleeps a little easier. Nokia Siemens and Finnish carrier Elisa have just completed the world's first CSoHSPA call, which is a nice landmark on the road to wide-scale HSPA+ deployment; the technology is essentially a software upgrade for a lot of existing infrastructure, so we'd expect this to get rolled out all over the place as long as handsets support it in kind.

EDGE looking spry in old age, completes first Downlink Dual Carrier call

by Chris Ziegler posted Dec 8th 2008 @ 1:49AM

3G's awesome, but for huge swaths of the GSM world, 2G is still -- and will continue to be -- a hugely important way to get data moved around the mobile interwebs. To help bridge the gap and keep the 2G folks from falling hopelessly behind, EDGE Evolution is the knight in shining armor, and Nokia Siemens is keeping the ball rolling by successfully testing Downlink Dual Carrier for the first time, a technology that doubles legacy EDGE speeds to a max of 592kbps on the downlink. Unlike UMTS and HSPA solutions, Downlink Dual Carrier promises to be a software-only solution, which means it should theoretically be quick, easy, and cheap for carriers to deploy en masse. And hey, as long as AT&T and T-Mobile have less than 100 percent 3G coverage -- which as far as we can tell is still years away -- we'll take whatever little boost we can get.

[Via MobileTechNews]

Nokia Siemens completes LTE field trial, 173Mbps worth of success

by Chris Ziegler posted Dec 27th 2007 @ 5:25PM

So-called Long Term Evolution -- GSM's chosen warpath for the next generation of data networks -- has been getting its groove on in labs for some time now, so Nokia Siemens decided it was high time to kick things up a notch by taking it out into the wild. The wireless infrastructure joint venture deployed an LTE base station in Berlin on the nascent 2.6GHz band and sent cars equipped with test equipment as far as one kilometer away to check performance, and put simply, the results were good: 173Mbps good, in the best cases. Of course, commercial deployment of LTE is still years away -- Nokia Siemens makes a point of listing 2010 as the target right in its press release -- but it's good to hear that things are coming along swimmingly, and we're sure Verizon would agree.

[Via PhoneMag and Ubergizmo]

BenQ Siemens' crazy SL98 reverse slider shows up on eBay

by Chris Ziegler posted Dec 11th 2007 @ 10:37AM

Remember this little gem? We're pretty sure the SL98 "reverse slider" went the same way as BenQ Siemens itself -- south, that is -- but there's been at least one more chance here to get in on one of the world's most bizarre form factors. eBay's German outpost recently turned up a listing for an SL98 prototype with a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, microSD slot, and QVGA display -- and while we don't know if we trust the mechanism to work flawlessly on some funky early hand-built handset, how the heck else are you going to get one? Sadly, the auction has already ended -- but maybe, if you're really lucky, the buyer will relist with a premium tacked on.

[Via Unwired View and gizmos.es]

Fujitsu Siemens Computers bails on PDA / PNA market

by Darren Murph posted Aug 11th 2007 @ 7:43AM

Leaving so soon, are we? Turns out Fujitsu Siemens Computers is ditching the PDA / PNA market after 2007, which means that those bulky, albeit fashionable Loox handhelds will soon be available only in closeout bins and on your favorite auction site -- and just think, things were lookin' so bright just last year. According to a statement by FSC spokesperson Amy Flécher, the decision to cut the proverbial cord was simply "due to the usual examination of the portfolios," and the firm apparently noticed that "the traditional handheld segment (PDA) [had been shrinking] for years." Essentially, the company felt that smartphones would eventually swallow the "traditional handhelds" of the world, and considering that cranking out smartphones "is not its business at all," the choice seems logical.

BenQ-Siemens SL98 reverse slider

by Sean Cooper posted Jul 24th 2007 @ 9:42AM

Just when we thought that the slider form factor had reached its zenith, BenQ-Siemens has apparently knocked that all to bits with this, the SL98. Rather than always having the screen exposed to the elements -- and über abrasive pocket lint -- this novel approach has a small display to get a quick peek at incoming call info, with the main screen squirreled away inside. With the touch of a button -- or flick of the wrist, we really don't know -- the main screen is unleashed for your viewing pleasure. As proof that these guys are on to something, both Asus and LG have submit patent applications with similar ideas. Pretty slick stuff, we're looking forward to getting more details as soon as we can.

[Thanks, Staska]

BenQ-Siemens' SF71 set to launch?

by Brian White posted Apr 16th 2007 @ 9:16PM

Although rumors of the BenQ-Siemens SF71 have floated around the web for quite a while now, will the handset be released any time soon? The SF71's shiny metal "armor plating" and flat keypad stay hip to the brushed-metal housings we're seeing in fashionphones these days -- and with UMTS, a microSD slot and Bluetooth 2.0 along with a QVGA display and 2 megapixel cam, specs are right in the mix, too. Alas, with BenQ-Siemens falling on really hard times these days, even this armor-plated phone may not be able to save the company from shooting itself in the foot.

[Via Unwired View]

F-Origin's HaptiTouch 2.0: MyOrigo returns!

by Thomas Ricker posted Apr 5th 2007 @ 9:30AM

Step asside Immersion, you're not the only ones offering haptic technology for mobile devices. From the ashes of MyOrigo's assets comes F-Origin's HaptiTouch 2.0 force-sensing technology. Pressure sensors measure your push on the screen to cause a "pinpointed vibration" directly below your finger. In contrast, Immersion uses resistive technology which measures the changes in electrical current as your grubby finger smudges across the display. See, as good as they look, the problem with the latest round of button-less, touchscreen handsets is the lack of that good ol' fashioned haptic feedback. Something you'll surely miss while tapping away on a zero-feedback, touchscreen keyboard. Immersion's VibeTonz tech can already be found in Samsung's SCH-W559 phone loosed in China. With any luck, F-origin will be licensing their newly acquired technology to manufacturers such as Siemens who will "likely" be first to market with product before the year is up. Check the 2003 MyOrigo Mydevice with 2007 F-Origin corporate voice over (and complimentary audio cheese) after the break.

[Via Wired Gadget Lab]

Nokia Siemens Networks to open doors on April Fool's Day

by Brian White posted Mar 17th 2007 @ 11:40AM

Everyone stay calm -- we're just talking boring back-end equipment here, not handsets. Nokia Siemens Networks -- formerly Nokia Networks -- will officially open its doors for business here in a few weeks on April 1, 2007. It's no joke (we think) that the new company chose that particular date in light of Siemens having a horrible run of luck in the wireless biz lately, even indirectly assisting with bankruptcy issues with certain benefactors of its old handset division. Nokia's strong presence in the GSM network infrastructure market will be bolstered by having Siemens' lengthy customer call caddy nearby as well as being able to more fully compete with wireless telecom heavyweights Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson.

Corruption investigation postpones Nokia-Siemens merger

by Conrad Quilty-Harper posted Dec 20th 2006 @ 12:50PM

A review into Siemens's compliance with an investigation into corruption has postponed the company's equipment merger with Nokia. A merger of network infrastructure at the two companies may now be put back several months as investigators determine the validity of bribery charges levied at Siemens, and the effects of the arrest of the former head of Siemens's equipment group come to light. As recently as November, the two companies had stated that they expected to become Nokia Siemens Networks -- which was estimated would produce $20 billion a year in revenue -- by January 2007. The companies now expect the merger to be complete by sometime in the first financial quarter of next year, although that depends on how well, or badly, the investigation progresses. As long as the two companies keep on cranking out the phones, then we'll remain obliviously happy, but if the investigation turns up s'more dirt, we'll be sure to shovel it through the nearest web browser window.

BenQ-Siemens P51 now available (in China, that is)

by Chris Ziegler posted Nov 18th 2006 @ 4:32PM

Save for a recent cameo in the FCC's files, BenQ's latest P51 Pocket PC phone has been a longstanding resident of vaporware land -- and thanks to the relentless, ever-onward march of time, a phone that had some folks drooling when it was first announced is now relegated to the midrange. Yeah, we're a little jaded about the whole thing, but anyone still interested in picking up the GPS-enabled QWERTY Pocket PC can apparently now do so over in China for around 6500 yuan ($825, give or take). Now if you'll excuse us, we need to walk to the Cingular store to pick up an HP hw6925 for, like, half the dinero.

[Via Pocket PC Thoughts]

BenQ pulls the plug on its German mobile division

by Cyrus Farivar posted Sep 28th 2006 @ 5:45PM

Auf wiedersehen, BenQ-Siemens, we hardly knew ye. Yes, the struggling German mobile division of BenQ has just filed for bankruptcy protection as per orders from BenQ headquarters in Taiwan. The International Herald Tribune reports that BenQ estimated the company has lost $762 million on the mobile division (which employs 3,000 workers) since it took over the Siemens business in October 2005. Further, The Associated Press adds that the German division will be completely excised from BenQ "financially and operationally once the bankruptcy protection is approved." It's too bad that we won't have the maker of "feminine luxury" or of the "Treo 600-killing" P50 to kick around anymore, because really, who doesn't love a good underdog?

Read - IHT
Read - AP
[Thanks, Antti]