Wireless technology set to progress

Wireless technology will probably be used to prevent car collisions and provide health monitoring within the next 10 to 20 years, according to research, says UK Press.

Cars are likely to be built with sensors that automatically summon emergency services after a crash, or prevent collisions by alerting vehicles of sudden braking, while handheld scanners could check food bar codes for allergy information, Ofcom's Tomorrow's Wireless World report said.

The study looked at how wireless technology is likely to be adapted over the next 10 to 20 years. The report said wireless communication was now "integral to our lives", with mobile subscriptions outnumbering the total UK population by 10 million.

When Google revealed last November that it planned to develop its own operating system, called Android, for mobile phones, and had garnered the support of big names such as Germany's T-Mobile (DT) in the Open Handset Alliance, it sent shock waves through the mobile business, reports Business Week.

Speculation was that the search giant's move would reshape the landscape and aid Google's bid to extend its multibillion-dollar online advertising empire onto mobile devices.

But the mobile industry has long been reluctant to cede the heart of handsets to any scheme that furthers the business model and ambitions of a single company. Android is proving no different: six months after the initial flurry of announcements from Google and the Open Handset Alliance not a single operator has revealed concrete plans to introduce an Android phone.

Samsung Electronics is combining efforts with fellow Korean electronics maker LG Electronics to develop a new standard for mobile TV broadcasts, the companies announced Wednesday, states Associated Press.

Harris, an American broadcast technology company, will provide key elements of the technology, which will allow mobile devices such as cellphones to receive signals sent out by local TV stations.

That technology will compete with two others to become the standard for mobile TV, a decision that rests with the TV industry's technical standards-setting body for digital broadcasts.