Samsung plans to release next year a cell phone that includes support for mobile WiMAX networks, a company executive said.

The upcoming dual-mode handset, which will pair WiMax with support for GSM networks, underscores Samsung’s backing for mobile WiMAX technology, said Hwan Woo Chung, vice president of Samsung’s Mobile WiMAX Group, in an interview at the CommunicAsia exhibition in Singapore.

According to the company executive, Chung, the first model will come during the first half of 2007.
WiMAX is a wireless technology that offers the promise of high-speed connections over a greater area than is possible with Wi-Fi. Fixed-wireless and mobile versions of the technology are being developed, with the fixed-wireless version seen as a replacement for wired broadband connections, such as cable and DSL. (more…)

Cell phone emissions excite the part of the brain cortex nearest to the phone, but it is not clear if these effects are harmful, Italian researchers reported. Their study, published in the Annals of Neurology, adds to a growing body of research about mobile phones, their possible effects on the brain, and whether there is a link to cancer.

About 730 million cell phones are expected to be sold this year, according to industry estimates, and nearly two billion people around the world already use them. Of these, more than 500 million use a type that emits electromagnetic field known as Global System for Mobile communications or GSM radio phones.

Their possible effects on the brain are controversial and not well understood. (more…)

The European Commision is poised to force operators to slash the cost of mobile phone calls while abroad, despite a fierce lobbying campaign by the telecoms industry.
Upset that operators have ignored the warning to cut so called “roaming” rates, the European Union’s executive arm is to carry out its threat to introduce measures aimed at cutting prices by half.

Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reading is to unveil on Wednesday controvesial new regulations to push prices lower, which the industry has fought tooth-and-nail to avoid.

With 147 million Europeans using roaming services, the market5 is estimated to be worth about 8.5 billion euros a year.