A YOUNG woman was pushed to the ground and robbed of her mobile phone mid-conversation while she was walking through an alleyway. Police have warned people to think carefully about where they are before using their phones and say people should try to avoid talking on them while walking in public. The woman, in her 20s, was walking through an alleyway which runs between Stratford Road and Yeading Lane in Hayes at 7.15am on August 1.The robber, described as a white male, aged 18, around 6ft 2in, and of slim build, came up behind his victim, who was on her way to work, before shoving her and grabbing the Siemens phone. A police spokesman said: ‘It is not ideal for women to walk on her own down alleyways and it is certainly not ideal for her to be on her mobile phone at the same time.” Think of safety and think of where you are.”

Within the world of UMTS and W-CDMA, the most vocal proponent of a business-oriented strategy for 3G is Lucent, the US manufacturer who might sympathetically be described as a second tier wireless infrastructure vendor.Lucent argues operators should adopt an enterprise-first strategy, and that the successful operators will be those who get their hands on the first wave of early-adopting, price-insensitive, high-using enterprise customers.

 Moreover, an enterprise-first strategy will work because all of the critical complements are already in place - while for a consumers-first strategy, they are not. For example, Lucent says look at devices. There might be some good first tries at phones capable of displaying and navigating multimedia content but it would be a brave person who said the main issues have been resolved. But for enterprise users, the key devices are laptops and (to a lesser extent) PDAs - mature products with the battery life, processing power and user interfaces necessary for the applications they run.

All they lack is connectivity, which is something that can be provided by 3G right now, using either a phone and cable (or radio equivalent like Bluetooth) or even a plug-in card. Similarly, consider applications and content. For consumers, there are some interesting ideas about applications and kinds of content that require broadband but there are lots of issues - not least about digital rights management - to be fixed. But enterprise applications such as intranet access, email and access to specific tools such as CRM or ERP are well-developed and ownership of content is a non-issue here

At a landmark 3G event in Helsinki, Finland, Nokia and Sonera demonstrated the evolution of mobile communications towards increasingly advanced 3G mobile services and devices. Both companies also reinforced their commitment to the development of interoperable mobile multimedia services and technologies. The companies further reaffirmed their frontrunner position by exhibiting live demonstrations of advanced Sonera services using the Nokia 6650 - the world’s first 3GPP-compliant dual-mode WCDMA/GSM terminal, also introduced today.

The practical and easy-to-use mobile Sonera services demonstrated to media representatives from around the globe at Kiasma, the Helsinki Museum of Contemporary Art, are also the first to use the Nokia 6650 in a live WCDMA network environment, marking an important milestone in the progress of 3G. The wide range of advanced services introduced today blend picture messaging, video clips, games and e-mail into a rich service offering. These advanced services can be delivered seamlessly using both GSM/GPRS and WCDMA evolution phases of current mobile communications technologies.

The development of next-generation mobile terminals such as the Nokia 6650, combined with attractive service development, will further accelerate the take-off of new advanced 3G mobile services. Openness and interoperability will meanwhile result in the seamless use of services across networks and borders, enhancing user experience and volume usage.Senior representatives of Nokia and Sonera speaking at Kiasma outlined how they see 3G services developing in the coming months.

“The transition of services between 2G and 3G ecosystems will be an evolutionary one, with the ultimate goal of total transparency between different technologies to bring a seamless user experience,” says Harri Koponen, CEO, Sonera. “The successful introduction and adoption of these new mobile services combining both visualization and user-friendliness are based on honoring true customer need and, thus, are suitable for everyday life.”

High-speed wireless Internet access becomes faster, simpler and more convenient today as Starbucks Coffee Company, T-Mobile International, the wireless subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG, and HP officially launch T-Mobile HotSpot service in Starbucks coffeehouses. This was announced on a press conference in San Francisco with John Stanton, Chairman of VoiceStream, the T-Mobile U.S. Operations, Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman and chief global strategist, and Michael Capellas, president of HP.

As easy as ordering their latte, Starbucks customers can check e-mail, surf the Web, watch streaming video or download multi-media presentations in the comfort of Starbucks via a fast, reliable standards based wireless Internet connection for notebook computers and Pocket PCs. Starting today, Starbucks customers can trial T-Mobile HotSpot service for free at approximately 1,200 Starbucks stores in the United States. An additional 800 Starbucks locations in the U.S. are scheduled to feature the service by the end of the year.

With an eye toward global expansion, Starbucks and T-Mobile have also initiated a six-month pilot in select London and Berlin locations.T-Mobile HotSpot service uses standards based “Wi-Fi” (802.11b) technology and is easily accessible for Starbucks customers with a wireless-ready notebook computer or Pocket PC. Backed by T-1 connections in popular venues in the U.S., T-Mobile HotSpot service is reliable and fast enough to accommodate the full spectrum of applications from checking e-mail to multi-media video conferencing with a high-speed wireless connection as much as 40 to 50 times faster than standard dial-up Internet access.

- Nokia announced the world’s first 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) compliant mobile phone operating both in the GSM 900/1800 frequencies and on the WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) protocol. One of the benefits of the WCDMA radio interface in the Nokia 6650 phone is it allows running more than one data session simultaneously.This makes it possible, for example, to capture and share what the user sees whilst talking on the phone. The dual-mode functionality makes the Nokia 6650 phone the world’s first GSM/WCDMA handset to work in Europe and Asia including Japan.

The first deliveries for operator-controlled live network tests of the Nokia 6650 phone will start during fourth quarter, 2002. Depending on the WCDMA networks’ opening schedules and the maturity of the interoperability between networks, services and terminals , the first commercial deliveries of the Nokia 6650 are estimated to start during first half of 2003.The Nokia 6650 phone offers robust functionality with pocket size comfort. Encompassing a large color display, integrated camera with picture and video capture, as well as voice, multiple data connectivity options and an advanced user interface, this innovative product is ideally suited to anyone who desires a mobile phone that combines leading-edge functionality with a high quality feel.