France Telecom tests 3G multimedia on DragonBall

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Oct 25, 2001

Motorola and France Telecom R and D are to prototype future multimedia applications on 2.5 and 3G mobile phone platforms powered by DragonBall MX1 microprocessors.

Motorola and France Telecom R and D are to prototype future multimedia applications on 2.5 and 3G mobile phone platforms powered by DragonBall MX1 microprocessors.

France Telecom and its subsidiary Orange, which has more than 33 million customers worldwide, intends to use Motorola's DragonBall MX1 to study the requirements of future terminals providing high quality multimedia services in a mobile environment.

The study is designed to determine the feasibility and quality of future multimedia services, such as video streaming on France Telecom's UMTS network.

"This research collaborative agreement is an important element of our strategy on the 2.5 and 3G multimedia terminals", said Jacques Guichard, director for human interfaces at France Telecom R and D.

"From a strategic point of view, we must ensure that manufacturers will develop future terminals with capabilities required by applications and services we are developing now in our R and D lab.

To be successful, we must make these studies and experiments now - two years before the terminals are introduced in the market.

Obviously, we believe that this collaboration and study will provide the critical information we need to make the right decisions".

"The choice of the DragonBall MX1 enables France Telecom to test audio/video multimedia for their UMTS network", said Thierry Cammal, general manager for Europe/Middle East/Africa in Motorola's Wireless and Broadband Systems Group.

"Our DragonBall MX1 is designed to deliver rich multimedia capabilities while providing ease of use, long battery life and high performance.

Our advanced multimedia development environment, system-on-chip expertise and software tools can help France Telecom bring video streaming to their UMTS customers more quickly".

The research will be done at a France Telecom R and D laboratory in Meylan, France (near Grenoble), which is working on human interfaces, prospective terminals and smart devices, including handsets of the future, concept phones and concept applications.