Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Convergence Coming Closer

Things getting very interesting.

From Mobile Pipeline Technology plays satellite radio on cell phones.

Which comes first the satellite radio feature or the phone? Will satellite radios turn into cell phones?

With phone manufacturers now implementing a music playing/downloading capablity, the speed of this transformation increases.

Combine music downloading, camera, sat radio, Internet and communication. Convergence is closer than we think.

Calypso Wireless said Wednesday that it has developed technology that will make it easy to listen to satellite radio broadcasts on devices such as cell phones, PDAs and portable music players.

Calypso said in a statement that it has applied for a patent for the technology, which would allow mobile devices to receive signals from vendors such as XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. The signals would only be received if the user subscribes to those services.

The signals would be broadcast either directly from the satellite providers or via Wi-Fi access points, which would give users the ability to listen to satellite radio even if they are inside where the signals are weak, the company said.

Calypso said it also holds patents on technology that enables seamless switching between wireless LANs and cellular networks. It did not discuss its specific plans to make its newest technology available to device vendors.

Who is most threatened by this? Hardware vendors for satellite radio? But would the satellite radio players see an increase in subscribers?

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