Trucking Technology Report - Feb. 23
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Both the online report and e-mail are sponsored by @Track Communications, a supplier of wireless communications and dispatch services.
Today's Technology Headlines:
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Vodafone Units Sign Telematics Deal With Ford
Vodafone revealed today that its D2 Vodafone unit inked a deal with Ford Motor's European division to help Ford offer voice-based telematics services to European drivers.
Wireless Set to Give Cable a Boost
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) can be applied very effectively to home networking. According to ShareWave's vice president of product marketing, Naresh Baliga, the two primary uses for the technology is for home networking or cable modem.While wireless LANs were once offered by a finite amount of vendors, the availability of the products increased when the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers approved a new standard in 1997.
For people interested in adopting wireless technology for home networking, there are many advantages over fixed cables. For instance, users can surf the Web by equipping a laptop with a packet switching interface (PSI) card.
While data transmissions and interactive television are the two most popular mobile applications by cable users, more applications will be launched in the future, including home security and home automation, asserts Curt Matson, director of product marketing with Ericsson Home Communications. Communications Technology (02/01) Vol. 18, No. 2, P. 14; Feduschak, Natalia A.
Defense Industry Boosts Its Internet Use
The aerospace and defense (A&D) industry is ramping up its Internet use through e-procurement initiatives--and facing significant challenges.Several of the industry's top competitors--Boeing, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon--have joined forces to establish Exostar, an e-marketplace. The four companies control 40 percent of the procurement money in the aerospace industry, giving the initiative a strong chance for survival. While most of Exostar's trades have so far involved procurement for indirect materials, Exostar is expected to soon begin trading direct materials.
Yet Exostar's four founders are following varied Internet strategies, which may weaken the online exchange. Boeing has formed a purchasing council with the goal of streamlining internal operations and looking to Exostar to add efficiency to its external supply chain.
Meanwhile, Raytheon conducts its indirect materials procurement through Exostar, but relies on another e-marketplace, FreeMarkets, for direct materials procurement, and BAE Systems plans to move all of its procurement to Exostar.
Another A&D heavyweight, Northrop Grumman, has avoided participation in any of the industry exchanges until it is sure of the benefits. Other issues challenging online transactions in the industry include incompatible systems, heavy government regulations concerning the supply chain, and industry consolidation. Supply Chain Technology News (02/01) Vol. 3, No. 2, P. 27; Kuhel, Jennifer S.
Wireless Could Become Virus Target
As wireless technologies expand, they become a prime target for viruses.Software makers such as McAfee, Symantec, and F-Secure, which offer products to protect wireless devices from virus attacks, expect that new viruses designed to attack wireless communications will soon be a major problem. Some viruses are downloaded to a PDA when a user accesses Web content or employs the infrared port.
But so far, wireless viruses have not been much of a problem. For example, the "Timofonica" virus that infected wireless networks in Spain did not affect the mobile phones themselves. And although the Phage Trojan turned off the screens of devices using the Palm operating system last September, the virus did not do significant damage and the situation was rectified within hours.
Ajilon Services' director of network security, Randy Meyers, says hackers have not targeted mobile devices such as PDAs more because they are relatively new. Meyers notes that hackers are interested in attacking more popular technologies such as PCs because it produces more attention. As a result, software designers are left with the option of trying to protect devices from viruses that do not yet exist. Small Business Computing (02/01) Vol. 6, No. 2, P. 52; Garber, Angela R.
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