3G Answers The Call3G Answers The Call

New technology and services for third-generation cell phones were a hot topic at last week's CTIA Wireless IT and Internet convention in Las Vegas, as vendors and carriers debuted applications to exploit high-speed networks.

While 3G infrastructure has been in place in many major cities for the better part of a year, use of the networks has been slow to take off. But new technologies, including streaming music and video downloads from AT&T Wireless, text-messaging group message boards from Verizon, and combination mobile-phone and global-positioning chipsets from Qualcomm, aim to bring functionality to the nascent 3G networks. "All our product development is now 3G oriented," says Brian Rodrigues, director of product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. "We think now that a wider array of applications and services are available, adoption should increase."