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IBM pushes for wireless access in its products

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CIOL Bureau
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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.

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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.

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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.

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