CTIA WIRELESS 2007 (site map & Event Blog), runs March 27-29 in Orlando, Florida.

The wireless industry convention, the biggest in the United States, is open only to companies involved in the wireless industry. They expect tens of thousands of attendees, viewing over 400,000 square feet of exhibits, from over 100 countries, representing a $500 billion global industry with 2.3 billion subscribers worldwide. Hundreds of press releases are expected to be generated from this show in the next few days.

Telephony Magazine has preview.

• Symbian today announced the latest version of its mobile phone OS, Symbian v9.5, the first release of its smartphone platform targeted at mid-range phones.

  Symbian officials said that the new release is designed specifically with lower memory, processor and battery costs in mind, allowing Symbian to scale to its software downwards at a time where the basic capabilities of phones is scaling upwards. The result is an operating system that can work on the typical hardware set of feature phones being released today.
  



• Ultra mobile broadband is being pitched as a cellular 4G standard. It promises 280 Mb/s over a 20 MHz channel as opposed to the roughly 45 Mb/s of capacity available over the same spectrum with EV-DO networks — using OFDM. Ali Tabassi, VP of technology development for Sprint, sees no strategic reason to deploy a new network based on UMB. “Realistically, we’re already building an OFDM technology,” Tabassi said. “It doesn’t make sense to deploy a different OFDM technology several years from now.” The UMB standard is scheduled for final 3GPP2 ratification in April, and probably won’t see daylight until two or three years after approval. Network trials could start as early as 2009.
  


• Millennial Media, a mobile advertising network launched by former Verizon Wireless executive Paul Palmieri, allows advertisers to create and deploy multimedia ads to mobile phones with interactive capabilities.
  


• Azaire Networks is showing an IP Converged Network Platform with eXtended Mobility (IP-CNP with XM). It enables seamless roaming between CDMA1x/EVDO and wireless LANs, plus handover of voice calls between packet and circuit-switched domains, as well as integration with IMS.
  


• AT&T today announced a national sensor-based networking services to enable companies to track mobile resources and to manage Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices. Three new services are designed for businesses and for governments who need to track vehicles, inventory, and in-building assets like wheelchairs or personnel. It’s the first public service launch by AT&T’s Business Development unit, a service incubator created when AT&T and SBC Communications merged.
  


• Femto3G Access Points are inexpensive HSDPA hotspots, like a WiFi access point. The range is about the same as a standard Wi-Fi, blanketing the average home in 3G broadband (rather than WiFi). These indoor cellular base stations are set to cause fundamental changes says research company Analysys.
  

• Engadget Mobile has news on the latest phones including Sprint’s very cool, double-faced Upstage (above), Cingular’s Treo 750, Blackjack & 8525, Sony’s W580 and Z750 Walkman phones and the Sierra Wireless USB/EVDO Rev A modem.
  

Posted by Sam Churchill on Monday, March 26th, 2007 at 10:01 am.