DECTnews Archive - 2Q99

2Q99

June 1999 News below:

As new WDCT RF components hit the market...  
New RF ICs from GaAsTEK promise to fuel the options for DECT manufacturers seeking to address the North American WDCT market (not to mention the potential for other ISM band products such as Bluetooth, SWAP etc, when they materialise).  New RF PA and integrated front end chips from the company offer high PA efficiency, low noise figure, etc. 
More detail on the Semiconductor Page of DECTweb.

...Siemens Accelerates Gigaset Push in USA 
Building on its first launches of its US Gigaset product range in the USA, based on its DECT-derivative WDCT, a welter of press releases dated June 9 indicate that Siemens is accelerating its drive into the North American market with a number of new initiatives. 

Siemens'  initial cordless phone products in the USA are targeted at the SoHo - small office home office - user.  This makes its recently announced partnership with Staples Inc very significant. Staples will stock the dual line Gigaset 2420 in its more than  750 stores aimed specifically at this market in North America. 

Alongside this, Siemens has also signed a deal with Ingram Micro, the world's largest wholesale distributor of technology products and services, who will distribute the Gigaset through its network of more than 45000 resellers across the US.

Siemens has also announced availability of its new Gigaset 2402 product, previewed back in January at the Consumer Electronics Show.  It also announced plans for further products, the Gigaset 2410 and 2415, available 3Q99.

Adherent withdraws from DECT to focus on DVB 
Adherent has recently confirmed to DECTweb that the company has withdrawn from the DECT protocol test market to concentrate on it's MPEG-2 digital video product range.   As part of this decision, Adherent have put in place both hardware and software support programs to ensure that the installed base of clients using the Adherent GAP/CAP protocol tester can continue to use their machines successfully, and benefit from the investment they have made in this advanced test equipment.  See the Test Equipment Page.
Source:  Adherent

New Residential Phone Secures Type Approval... 
The Korean manufacturer Dae Ryung has just informed DECTweb of its success in getting Type Approval for their new DR2000 DECT cordless telephone.    Mass production ramps up over the next month and products are expected to hit the street later this year.  See our Residential Products Page.
Source:  Dae Ryung

... as Domestic DECT Phone Competition looks set to get Even Hotter ! 
This month DECTweb were informed by DBTEL of its plans to address the DECT market. 
DBTEL has something like 40% of the US cordless telephone market, with its products marketed under a range of well known brands - a player that cannot be ignored.  It plans to launch a DECT phone in Europe in the autumn at a very aggressive price point.   We hope to bring you more specific information soon - watch this space !     See their entry on the Residential Products Page
Source:  DBTEL

DECTweb Growth results in Fame ! 
The May 1999 issue of Land Mobile Magazine carried a brief feature about DECTweb, highlighting the growth in visitors to the website, which in April this year were averaging well over 100 sessions a day, and continuing to show a substantial month by month rise.  The DECTweb members mailing list shows a similar growth, with around 200 new members self-subscribed during the month of May. 
Keep Telling a Friend - the usefulness and value of the service increases for everyone as more members join and actively contribute news and updates on DECT from their company and region.

Bluetooth in London 
The week of June 7th saw the first public commercial Bluetooth conference, held at the QEII Conference centre in London, organised by IBC, attended by nearly 800 people.  How will Bluetooth complement or compete with DECT ?  If you attended please e-mail us your views of the debate for inclusion on DECTweb.  More info on our Conferences Page.
Source:  IBC

May 1999 News below

Dual-Mode DECT/GSM in the UK:  Onephone Launch  
The long-awaited DECT/GSM Onephone service from BT and Cellnet was   launched in the UK this month.   In a related development, emphasising the closer ties between their fixed and mobile services, Cellnet has been rebranded as BT Cellnet.  As part of their latest advertising campaign, the Onephone gets a mention in television commercials; a package of detailed service information has also been sent to those who have pre-registered interest in Onephone via the BT website.   Users of  Onephone will receive separate billing from BT for fixed-line calls using the residential DECT functionality and from Cellnet for their GSM cellular calls;  users can also purchase a BT flexinumber, which ensures that incoming calls are always routed to their Onephone wherever they are located, at home via DECT or out-and-about via GSM.  An introduction to the  Onephone service concept can be found on the Dual-Mode Products page of DECTweb, which provides links to the BT Onephone site.

See our June 1999 Feature Page on Dual Mode DECT/GSM which provides additional details of the new Onephone service just launched in the UK.

Source:  BT Cellnet literature and website

Philips to acquire VLSI     
Two players in the DECT food chain moved closer this week, with Philips and VLSI Technology announcing a deal whereby Philips will offer $21 per share to acquire the remainder of VLSI's stock - they already own 1.2 million shares.  The deal has been recommended to VLSI's shareholders by the VLSI board and is expected to be concluded within the next week or so.  Further details in the press release on the VLSI Technology website.
Source:  Philips / VLSI Press Release

New DECT Monitoring Test Equipment      
Systemes-G launched its new DEMON (for DEct MONitoring) - DECT monitoring - product this month.    DEMON monitors all the 240 bearers (24 timeslots x 10 carriers) simultaneously
More details...
Source:  Systemes-G

ETSI DECT Standards - Status Search Facility    
Thanks to the guys at ETSI, visitors to DECTweb can now check out the status of all those standards at the click of a mouse.   This new facility allows you to download the very latest status information as held on ETSI's own database, so you can check exactly how far through the standardisation process a new standard has proceeded.   And of course, for the published standards you can download your very own personal copy.  
For more details, check out our ETSI Standards Page
Source:  DECTweb / ETSI

DECT Palmtop Wireless Computing   
An impressive handheld device, the DECT-enabled palmtop computer from Siemens at CeBIT really has served to illustrate the maturity and miniaturisation of today's DECT technology.  The device used the new Siemens MD32 DECT modules, which will be available in volume in the near future, for a range of data and home automation applications. 
Check out the Palmtop on our Innovations Page and the MD32 on our Modules Page.

April 1999 News below:

CeBIT '99 Update
As  usual, loads of companies were parading their DECT products at the annual CeBIT show in Hannover at the end of March, with new phones on show from Philips, Ericsson and many others.  For more details see our special report on CeBIT

New Standalone DECT PBX Launched
In April this year Binatone has just launched its new eurotel 5000 DECT PBX.
The product is a standalone DECT PBX system with full integrated PBX features that simply plug-in and use. Besides, it can also be as an adjunct to existing PBX systems to enhance the system features on "mobility". The system is DECT GAP compliant, with its system capacity of upto 8 outside lines, 68 cordless extensions, 4 remote base stations, and more ...  more details
Source:  Binatone

DECT Equipment Protocol Test Equipment Available
Anyone looking to reduce the cost of developing and testing DECT products should visit our Pre-used Test Equipment Page and take a look at the TS1220 DECT protocol tester equipment.

Revaluation Services     
As those in the telephone business know, a percentage of products are returned from retailers, with debit notes, often for no apparent reason !  Each time this happens not only is there a lost sale (and lost margin) but there is now a product in the warehouse which has no realisable value as its condition is unknown.  Although it may be still be in its original packaging it is no longer new and cannot be re-sold.  DECTel Ltd is a new company set up to provide revaluation services -  the company will inspect, test, clean and re-package DECT telephone products to put value back into them for a small charge.  This will be cheaper than either writing the products off or returning them to the manufacturer (often a costly and logistically time-consuming process).
For details, see DECTweb's new Revaluation Services Page.

Low Voltage, High Efficiency RF Components   
A range of  new components has been launched by GaAsTEK in April.
Two new PAs - the  ITT1202AF and ITT1203GJ with PA efficiencies of 50% or better - are designed to operate from a  2.4V battery supply but will operate as low as 1.5V.
Similar PA designed for the US WDCT standard - ITT2301AF
Integrated Front Ends which include PA, T/R Switch and a LNA
ITT1201GF and ITT2207GF operate from two and three-cell batteries respectively.
Both feature output power of 25dBm, gain of 27dB and typical PAE of 50%.
Similar WDCT device (2.4 GHz) - the ITT2302GF Integrated Front End
Again, designed to operate from 2.4 to 5.5V, but can operate at 1.5V. 
For more details see GaAsTEK on our Semiconductors Page
Source:  GaAsTEK

DECT Smartcard Reading Phone  
The French company Inventel, as well as launching some residential DECT phones have also introduced a DECT telephone with integrated smartcard reader which allows the phone book from a handy to be loaded, as well as a host of other potential applications.   More details and links on our Innovations Page.
Source:  Inventel

More about the DECT WebPAD....
The DECTWebPAD, which debuted at the DECT '99 show in Barcelona was unveiled to a wider public recently at the CeBIT fair at Hanover.
For full details see the item included in the DECTweb CeBIT Report.

Earlier news may be found in the DECTnews archive