Intel, Nokia and Nokia Siemens Jibe on WiMax

In a bid to push emerging WiMax wireless technology, Intel, Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks yesterday said they were interoperability testing their respective WiMax gear.

Nokia also announced it would use Intels new WiMax chip, codenamed Baxter Peak, in its WiMax-enabled Nseries tablet computers that are slated to ship next year. The tablets will be among the first Linux-based WiMax internet devices to market, Nokia said. They will sport a Mozilla browser and support Skype and Rhapsody, among other applications.

They also will be the first Nokia mobile devices(Nokia N96 three) to be powered by an Intel chip; Texas Instruments supplies most mobile silicon to Nokia. Broadcom, Infineon and STMicroelectronics are among Nokias other suppliers.

In addition to Intels Baxter Peak, which is being designed for laptops and other mobile devices, and Nokia WiMax devices, the companies are also testing unspecified Nokia Siemens WiMax infrastructure equipment.

The companies claim to have already begun interoperable testing their equipment and devices with dozens of other equipment vendors in Sprints Virginia-based labs.

Sprint, of course, is planning a soft launch of its Xohm-branded WiMax service by the end of 2007, with full commercial availability slated for the first half of 2008. Intel and Nokia, along with Motorola mobile and Samsung phone deals , were previously named WiMax suppliers for Sprints WiMax network.

Intels Baxter Peak is based on the same WiMax baseband silicon used in Intels Echo Peak MiniCard module for laptops and ultra-mobile devices. It includes multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) antenna technology, which promises to work better in challenging environments.

Source : http://uk.news.yahoo.com

Armani to launch mobile phone with Samsung

Italian designer Giorgio Armani has joined forces with Samsung Electronics to design a television and a mobile phone, along with other consumer electronics, the companies said on Sunday.
Armani, one of Italy's leading fashion designers, will unveil a mobile phone model on September 24 at his show for Giorgio Armani womenswear for spring and summer 2008, joining several other designers who have already tapped this market.

The Armani-Samsung mobile phone will be the size of a credit card and 10.5 millimetres thick, the companies said in a statement. Designers Dolce & Gabbana have teamed up with Motorola for a gold-coloured version of the RAZR mobile phone model and Prada has developed a phone with South Korea's LG Electronics.

Armani said the liquid crystal display (LCD) television that it develops with Samsung will be unveiled in January 2008. Home electronics are still unusual territory for fashion designers, although several have launched interior design collections.

Luxury goods segments are benefiting from a surge in the wealthy alongside fast economic growth in countries such as China, India and Russia, while Middle East markets have strengthened as a boom in commodity prices increases incomes. "We make as much of a personal statement with the mobile phones that we carry or the televisions that we have in our living rooms as we do with the shoes and bags we wear or the furnishings we choose," Armani said in the statement.

No financial details were disclosed.

Source : http://www.reuters.com/