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News
Issue #2001 - 24
(June 2001)
(Updated June
13, 2001)
PRODUCTS
& SERVICES
Alcatel, Ericsson, Motorola, and Siemens Commit to EMS
May 29, 2001 - Alcatel, Ericsson, Motorola and Siemens have
announced today that they will implement EMS (Enhanced Messaging
Service). They will work together to ensure interoperability between
their products and also in the evolution of the EMS standard.
EMS adds powerful new functionality
to the popular text-based SMS (Short Messaging Service). Using EMS,
mobile phone users can add life to their text messages in the form
of images, melodies, and animations. Users will now be able to enjoy
collecting and swapping images, ring signals and other melodies
between the handsets of some of the world's leading suppliers.
Because the EMS standard is open,
operators and content suppliers alike will be able to introduce
appealing new value-added services such as screen savers, images and
ring melodies that can be easily downloaded from the Internet. By
the end of January 2001, SMS was used to send more than 20 billion
text messages per month worldwide. EMS messages are sent over the
same infrastructure as regular SMS messages, thus keeping
investments to a minimum and allowing for quick and easy deployment
of the service. EMS provides an important evolutionary step between
SMS and full Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS).
The EMS standard was defined by 3GPP
(Third Generation Partnership Project), the same standardization
body from which the worldwide success of GSM and the standardization
of SMS (Short Messaging Services) originated. It is a completely
open standard that may be supported by any manufacturer in the
interests of interoperability between consumers.
EMS enabled telephones will begin
shipping from the end of Q2 this year, however, because EMS is
obviously tied to new product launches, this timescale will vary
across manufacturers.
For more information:
http://www.ericsson.com/infocenter/news/ems.html
Mobileinfo Comments and Advisory: SMS has become very
popular in Europe because it is cheap, fast, useful and in-tune with
mobile requirements of users. EMS
will catch on provided it has the same three characteristics. As far
as MMS is concerned, we are not sure what the pricing will be. At
right price and performance, it may fly at subsonic speeds for niche
applications.
Note: This news release may contain
forward-looking statements. Readers should take appropriate caution in
developing plans utilizing these products, services and technology
architectures. All trademarks used in this summary are
the property of their respective owners.
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