Smart Bits: Schlumberger Phone System Wins Award

Schlumberger said its Cyberflex Mobile Solution, a mobile telephone system incorporating Java-based smart card technology, won the E-Commerce Development of the Year category of the Communications Award '98.

The same product was runner-up in the Communications Innovation of the Year category in the competition sponsored by the telecommunications publisher Nexus Information Technology.

The awards focus on "developments that will genuinely help businesses to move forward," said Nexus business manager Phil Chandler. "E-commerce is at the top of every business' agenda, and the Schlumberger entry combines innovation and practicality by capitalizing on the mobile phone infrastructure."

In the Cyberflex Mobile Solution for GSM-standard telephones, users can load their SIM (subscriber identification module) cards with their own choice of services and delete and load new applications as required.

"The reason we particularly value these awards is that they recognize genuine technical innovation," said Olivier Piou, vice president and general manager of smart card products, Schlumberger Smart Cards and Terminals. "Schlumberger introduced the first Java smart card in 1996, and we pride ourselves in continually driving the market forward through research and development."