Leading companies from industries spanning telephony, computer hardware, and Internet connectivity have formed a broad initiative to increase and simplify wireless Internet access. Backed by Intel Corp., the Mobile Data Initiative Next Generation (MDI-ng) will concentrate on developing standards and specifications aimed at accelerating the creation and adoption of wireless Internet technologies.
MDI-ng will work to identify and remove common technical and market barriers currently limiting wireless Internet connectivity. This broad organization consists of ten member companies: BT Cellnet, Dell Computer, France Telecom, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Motorola, Siemens Mobile, Sonera, and Toshiba.
Supported by the Europe-based Global System for Mobile (GSM) Association, this group will tackle standards compatibility, application scalability between devices, security, reliability, and ease of use. MDI-ng also will collaborate closely with wireless standards bodies to address wireless solutions for mobile Internet-capable devices, with specific attention to the needs of the business professional.
Expanding on the work begun by the 1996 Mobile Data Initiative (MDI), which focused on mobile computing using cellular phone systems, MDI-ng will investigate how different mobile devices will access cellular phone systems. Complimentary technologies, such as Bluetooth and wireless local-area networks (LANs), will also be researched.
The group will host wireless-industry meetings and workshops where service providers and suppliers will meet to discuss interoperability issues. Also, it will conduct interoperability tests and technology overviews to help guide the efforts of participating companies and industry standards bodies.
Furthermore, MDI-ng will focus on packet-switched wireless networks. It predicts that the continuous connection offered by packet-switched services will have a tremendous impact on wireless Internet subscriber usage.
For more information, point your browser to www.mdi-ng.com.