
US
: Sony Ericsson today announced a new quad-band PC Card that provides
convenient wireless Internet access for laptop and notebook users
wherever they need to be online. Bridging the cellular and WiFi worlds,
the GC89 PC Card combines global EDGE coverage with the popular WiFi
technology in a single card which is compatible with both Windows
and Macintosh computers. The new GC89 card further strengthens Sony's
Ericsson's leadership position in EDGE PC Cards gained from the highly
successful launches of the GC82, GC83 and GC85 PC cards.
The GC89
card delivers connectivity through EDGE, GPRS, CSD, SMS over the GSM
850, 900, 1800 and 1900 bands world-wide. And, for those areas covered
by wireless local networks: homes, offices, and hotspot locations
such as airport lounges, coffee shops and hotels, the GC89 provides
802.11b and g connectivity with speed potential in excess of 50 Megabits
per second.(1)
"The addition
of the GC89 card to Sony Ericsson's portfolio of mobile computing
products serves to reaffirm our leadership commitment to our operator
customers, enterprise customers and other mobile professionals, as
well as the broader M2M market," says Anders Franzen, corporate
vice president, and head of Sony Ericsson M2M.
The card also
features compatibility with Release 4 of the EDGE standard addressing
the very important matter of up-link speeds necessary for professionals
on the go to send large amounts of data such as presentations or spreadsheets.
The GC89 card
is easy to install and compatible with most laptop operating systems
as well as all the familiar software applications (e.g. MS Exchange,
MS Outlook, Netscape, CRM, SAP, Siebel, Messenger etc.) Sony Ericsson
will also offer a version compatible with Macintosh OS.
Sony Ericsson's
GC89 card is ideal for people on the go who rely heavily on their
ability to connect anywhere anytime and conduct transactions with
large amounts of data such as email attachments, heavy web browsing
and streaming data. The GC89 will be available starting Q4 2004 for
operator acceptance testing and customer trials, with full commercial
availability slated for Q1 2005.
EDGE
(Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) is a third generation cellular
(3G) technology delivering broadband-like speeds to mobile data devices.
The GC89 EDGE combo card complies with Class 10 rating, or the sending
and receiving of data at speeds of up to 247 kbps.