ZigBee Alliance Members Connect With Telecom Market

ZigBee Alliance Members Connect With Telecom Market

April 25, 2007

Alliance Members Developing New Solutions for Secure Mobile
Payments, Information Delivery, Health Care Monitoring,
Location Based Services


    SAN RAMON, Calif., April 25 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- 

    The ZigBee(R) Alliance, a global ecosystem of companies
creating wireless solutions for use in energy, residential,
commercial and industrial applications, today announced its
expansion into the telecom market with a new initiative
extending mobile telephone networks while providing new
capabilities for mobile phone users. The new ZigBee Telecom
Profile will feature secure mobile payment, information
delivery, health care monitoring, peer-to-peer small data
sharing and other location based services and features.

    The Alliance's growth into the telecom market is driven
by industry experts from leading network operators and
technology providers including Motorola, Huawei
Technologies, Samsung Electronics, ETRI, KDDI R&D
Laboratories Inc., OKI Electric Industry, Orange FT,
Telecom Italia and TSC Systems. These members are examining
ways to leverage the inherent strengths of ZigBee:  low
power, reliable mesh networking, AES128 security, low data
rate and global network acceptance.  Because ZigBee is the
global wireless language connecting dramatically different
devices, companies can develop new mobile applications
while gaining access to ZigBee-based home and commercial
building automation devices.

    "ZigBee offers cost-effective, standards-based
wireless networking solutions emphasizing mobility,
reliability and ease of use -- a perfect fit for today's
increasingly mobile phone oriented world," said Bob
Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. "By
formalizing what was already happening in the market, our
members are giving telecom companies new ways to expand
revenue, while simplifying the lives of mobile phone users
everywhere.  Any company developing proprietary telecom
solutions should get involved with ZigBee and participate
in the Alliance's thriving ecosystem now."

    The New ZigBee Mobile Device 

    ZigBee mobile devices include mobile telephones and
personal digital assistants with embedded ZigBee technology
or using a ZigBee SIM card. These devices act as a mobile
terminal and/or as a sensor control device anywhere there
is a ZigBee network or ZigBee access point. Potential
applications currently in development include:

    -- Secure Mobile Payments:  Mobile users pay for goods
and
       services by waving handset in front of scanner and
       entering a pin number
    -- Information Delivery:  Users receive news,
downloads
       (messages, ring tones, images, etc.),
advertisements
       from network operators or localized information such
as
       weather, traffic updates and movie show times based
on
       their current location or neighborhood
    -- Health Care Monitoring:  Continuously monitored
health
       data is recorded on a handset and transmitted to
the
       patient's doctor.  In an emergency situation, such
as
       the absence of patient response or alarming vital
       signs, the mobile device can be programmed to
immediately
       alert emergency services
    -- Peer-to-Peer Small Data Sharing:  Small files such
as
       ring tones, images, address book contacts and other
       information provided by telecom operators is shared
       easily between two ZigBee-enabled mobile devices
    -- Location Based Services:  Discounted rates for
calls
       from a ZigBee mobile phone users in a certain zone
       offers savings to users 

    The ZigBee Alliance is currently more than 220 Alliance
Members strong and has a presence in 24 countries spanning
six continents. OEMs and end-product manufacturers now
represent 30 percent of the global membership. ZigBee is
the only standards-based technology designed to address the
unique needs of low-cost, low-power, wireless sensor
networks for remote monitoring, home control, and building
automation and embedded network applications in the
industrial and consumer markets. Companies wanting to
participate in the development of the ZigBee Specification,
or planning on creating ZigBee products, can join the
Alliance by visiting www.zigbee.org/join/. The latest
ZigBee Specification is available for free download from
the ZigBee Web site.

    ZigBee: Wireless Control That Simply Works

    The ZigBee Alliance is an association of companies
working together to enable reliable, cost effective,
low-power, wirelessly networked, monitoring and control
products based on an open global standard. The ZigBee
Alliance membership comprises technology providers and
original equipment manufacturers worldwide. Membership is
open to all. Additional information can be found at
http://www.zigbee.org .


    For more information, please contact:

     Kevin Schader
     ZigBee Alliance
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Tommy Tse
     GolinHarris
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]