Special Reports

Top 5 Converged Devices

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:21:36 -0400

No longer just voice-centric phones, mobile devices now come in a variety of different form factors and sport a slew of new capabilities. The latest phones make Web browsing a reality, incorporate both WiFi and cellular, and allow users to easily check their email.

FierceBroadbandWireless editors compiled a list of what we believe are the top converged devices so far this year. Check out our top picks.

Top 5 Converged Handsets:

- BlackBerry 8820

- BlackBerry Curve 8320

- HTC Mogul

- HTC Tilt 8925
- iPhone

FierceBroadbandWireless Fierce 15 2007

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 11:43:21 -0400

And the 2007 Winners are....

Wireless Broadband Renaissance

After several fits and starts, wireless broadband is finally coming unto its own. Companies like Sprint Nextel, Clearwire and Towerstream are stepping over the bodies of service providers from another generation, service providers such as Winstar and Teligent that went bankrupt more than five years ago after much-hyped IPOs.

Early generations suffered from a high-margin business, and they didn’t have a big gun like Sprint driving the mobile WiMAX ecosystem and economies of scale. The opportunity: Higher mobility and lower price compared with wired services and lower price and higher data rates vs. cellular data services. Of course, the WiMAX world has the WiFi community to thank. The proliferation of hotspots and muni-WiFi initiatives has taught users what to desire. Meanwhile, mobile operators are accelerating their next-generation plans as they look to higher-end data services.

Yes, wireless broadband is finally on its way. This year’s 2007 FierceBroadbandWireless Fierce 15 list represents the vast array of opportunities that await the wireless broadband industry. It consists of the 15 privately held emerging companies we believe hold the most promise to help shape the wireless broadband industry and establish a successful presence in this market. –Lynnette

P.S. Join FierceWireless Editor-in-Chief Sue Marek to learn more about the Sprint-Clearwire deal and how it will impact both domestic and international WiMAX deployments. Our invited guests will react to the August 16 announcements and take your questions. Register here.

Fierce 15 2005

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 14:17:19 -0400

And the 2006 Fierce 15 winners are...

(click a company name to read its profile)

Altair Semiconductor	FON	Network Chemistry
Axerra Networks	Fractus	picoChip
Clearwire	Intamac Systems	TeleCIS
The Cloud	MMC Technology	Wavion
Extricom	Navini	Wavesat

I'm excited to announce the winners of this year's annual Fierce 15, our list of the hottest, fiercest companies in the WiFi world for 2006. This year's winners differ a great deal in the technology they're developing, but they're all companies which should help to shape the still-evolving future of wireless communications.

This year, wireless broadband has come into its own, with WiFi and WiMAX solutions striding boldly ahead. Public WiFi networks are scaling up to previously unheard of dimensions, with hotspots proliferating rapidly in the U.S. and Europe. Carriers are looking seriously at WiMAX as a means of providing lower-cost backhaul. And equipment vendors are growing more sophisticated at providing infrastructure to support unified WiFi/WiMAX and VoIP implementations. All told, it's a great time to be a broadband wireless company.

And there's no better example of that than our Fierce 15 winners. Companies like Extricom, whose product simplifies WLAN implementation and Intamac Systems, which allows for digital monitoring of homes, are part of a larger movement towards making WiFi solutions more practical for consumers and industry. And players like Navini, which is plunging ahead with mobile WiMAX solutions despite the lack of a final 802.16e standard, are blazing a trail for others to follow.

While no one knows exactly how the broadband wireless market will shake out, we're confident that the outstanding companies named in the Fierce 15 will play a critical role in the emergence of WiFi and WiMAX technologies. Over time, look for them to lead the way in the high-stakes race to ubiquitous wireless broadband coverage. And keep your eyes peeled--it may come sooner than you think.

-Ben