NEW YORK: International Business Machines Corp. on Monday announced plans to
turn its entire product line - everything from notebooks to mainframe computers
- into wireless devices.
The move followed the firm chairman chief executive, Louis Gerstner's
prediction in a speech to analysts two weeks ago, that within a couple of years
something like two billion wireless Internet access devices would be in use.
"The potential explosion of people and devices connecting to the
network, has been driving customers to build infrastructures that are massively
scalable, more reliable and that possess more intelligence than they do
today," Michel Mayer, general manager of IBM's pervasive computing
division, said in a statement.
The Armonk, New York-based firm said it would deliver the industry's first
all-wireless line of products and services, including notebook computers. IBM
said it would even build wireless access into its powerful business computers
known as servers, allowing system administrators to manage the computers via
Internet enabled cell phones or personal digital assistants.
IBM said it is also helping software vendors and other business partners to
bring new wireless software programs to market, and that IBM would sell services
to companies to get wireless networks up and running quickly.
Additionally, IBM and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. said they would work together
to develop low power chip for cell phones that can access the Internet and
handle other functions such as messaging. IBM will make the components using its
own silicon germanium chip technology, which Mitsubishi will build into its cell
phone products.
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.