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DECT @ CeBIT '99
If you visited CeBIT and saw some DECT-related items that we've not
included below, or you exhibited at CeBIT and we've not included a report on your DECT
exhibits, please e-mail us a few specific lines of information to cut and paste onto
this page. E-mail DECTweb
at admin@dectweb.com. Thanks.
This Year's Exhibitors
Several new manufacturers and distributors chose CeBIT'99 to introduce themselves
and their DECT products to the market, in addition to the already established major
DECT players, such as Alcatel, Ericsson, Philips and Siemens.
Exhibitors this year of DECT cordless phones included:
Abest, Actebis Computer, Alcatel, Ascom, Audioline, Auto Telecom,
Bang & Olufsen Telecom, Basari, Binatone, CCT Telecom, Daewoo Telecom, DBTEL, DeTeWe,
ECI Telecom, Elmeg, Ericsson, Goodwin Europe, Grundig, Hagenuk, Inventel, Kirk,
Kokusai Electric, Loewe, Martens, Multitone, Olympia Telecom, Panasonic, Philips,
Phonebox, Rexon, Rosskamp & Burhop, SAGEM, Samsung, Sanyo, Siemens, Telefield,
Telital, Tiptel, Topcom, VLSI and VTech.
Exhibitors of DECT PABXs included many of the above and, in addition:
EKB, ENO-Telecom, First Communication, Karel, Nitsuko, Nortel, NT Plus, Otra,
Partner Electric, P.Y. Systems, Selta Telematica, Sparnex and TCC,
The Cyrix DECT-enabled WebPAD™:
low-cost, portable web-browsing device
At CeBIT this DECT-enabled portable Internet browsing device, from National
Semiconductor, seen earlier this year at the DECT '99 event in Barcelona, was shown to the
wider public.
The WebPAD is a mobile wirefree hand-held, battery-powered, 8-inch by 11-inch portable
touchscreen device, with 18-bit colour and high-resolution graphics, operated using a
stylus and touchscreen virtual keyboard - like the latest palmtop organisers.
It works like a DECT cordless phone, with a similar range from a base station, allowing it
to be used anywhere in and around the home or office, enabling the user to surf the
Internet, read and send e-mail, or chat online free of wires. Such products are viewed as
the key to future mass market acceptance of consumer Internet.
National Semiconductor doesn't plan to produce the WebPAD itself but rather to let OEMs
manufacture WebPAD-like devices for the consumer market, based on their technologies, and
to tailor them to specific customer needs. Thus, pricing of WebPAD-based products will be
determined by OEMs.
More detail on our Innovations
Page, including links to pictures and video footage of the WebPAD (you'll need
RealPlayer G2 to view this)
One Better ? The DECT Enabled Palmtop from Siemens
Perhaps topping the WebPAD was the DECT-enabled palmtop computer,
demonstrated by Siemens, which can also be used for telephone calls.
Siemens is now manufacturing and selling DECT modules, such as used in this
concept product, which can turn a palmtop computer into an intelligent, cordless DECT
terminal, which can be used to control a range of mobile functions within range of
the base station.
More information on our Innovations
and Modules Pages
Dual Mode DECT/GSM ...
Despite the comment from one CeBIT exhibitor (admittedly a promoter of GSM CTS) that
"DECT-GSM is already dead", several companies actually were either showing or
promising dual mode DECT/GSM handsets this year at CeBIT'99. Amongst these were Acer
Peripherals, Bosch, and, amongst the bigger players, Ericsson and Samsung.
Certainly DECT/GSM dual mode has been a very long time coming. Whether these
products remain however as prototypes or make it to the market in volume remains to
be seen and may be dependent upon the success of the various services and trials scheduled
for this year, such as the BT Onephone service due to
launch in the UK in May 1999. (See the June '99 Feature
Page on this subject on DECTweb).
A variant on DECT/GSM dual mode theme was a DECT cordless basestation on show on
the SAGEM stand with a slot to take a GSM phone - calls coming in to the GSM phone could
be answered on one of the DECT handsets registered with the basestation.
New DECT Handset from Philips - the C322
At CeBIT '99 Philips Business Communications
exhibited its new DECT handset, the C322, which complements the current range
offered in its iSMobile DECT solution. The C322 will supersede the existing C311 product.
The new handset is a feature-rich, low cost terminal targeted primarily at office
environments and customers requiring mobility for a single, or limited number of sites.
Philips claim the new product will drive down the costs of DECT telephony.
The C322 has features that equal and surpass those offered
by the earlier C311. For example, it has a loudspeaker function included in the handset.
It can stand up unsupported, making it suited for hands-free use. It has full menu
control, room for 40 entry names and numbers, and a full alpha-numerical display that can
relay short messages or calling names. It can select the DECT network automatically and
performs in high-traffic, multi-cell environments. The C322 handset supports
seven user selectable languages, namely: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian,
Portuguese, and Spanish
Ericsson Launch New DECT Cordless Phones
The new Cordless Phone 230 and 260 have desk or wallmount basestations with phones
available in grey, blue, green or yellow - go to the links on our Residential page for more
info and some pictures.
The phones contain a large backlit display and a circular menu system that is easily
navigated. Cordless Phone 260 has a built-in speaker, for hands free use, and a
digital answering machine and memo-function.
Both phones offer talk times up to 15 hours and standby mode of approximately 150
hours.
The handsets measure are 141x53x25mm and weigh 139g and are DECT/GAP compliant.
The Cordless Phones 230 and 260 were launched in selected markets in April 1999.
New DECT Handset from Basari - the Kaan 901 DECT
At CeBIT '99 Basari Elektonik from Turkey
exhibited its new DECT handset, the Kaan 901, claimed as the first DECT phone
weighing 99g including batteries. They have a range of three DECT phones and
their WIREX wireless PBS system. More details on our Residential and Business Systems pages.
IP Access via DECT
SAGEM were showing an interesting DECT /
office network application, providing cordless telephony over an IP network.
Their custom DECT basestation was equipped to provide a link to PC's on the
office network, with a gateway providing translation between device IP addresses and DECT
phone numbers. In this way as a user moves around within the company, maybe
even moving sites, they can keep the same number.
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