Welcome to Mobile Dev & Design, or MD&D for short. This is the first of what will be monthly issues targeting designers and engineers who create cellular and wireless products and systems. Any of you who also work as marketing executives, managers, or programmers or other technical professionals of any kind will find something of interest here each month. And, we have a new Web site—www.mobiledevdesign.com—devoted to wireless/cellular news and products. Check it daily for updates.

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We started discussing a new mobile magazine more than a year ago. While covering the wireless space for Electronic Design magazine, I continually felt that so much more breadth and depth of coverage was needed, even though those subjects weren’t necessarily appropriate for a broad magazine like ED. Yet I didn’t see any other publications out on the market addressing all of these hot topics.

After hours of discussion with Group Editorial Director Mark David, lots of conversations with industry personnel, and attendance at big wireless shows like Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and CTIA in Las Vegas, there appeared to be a large enough market and a massive amount of technical material that needed coverage. So here we are, thanks to your interest and Penton Media’s support.

What will MD&D cover? We’ll spotlight all the latest hardware and software technology, in addition to trends and issues related to the cellular business, both handsets and infrastructure. The emphasis will be on development, with in-depth articles on fresh new approaches that address the opportunities in the industry as well as solve problems. Of course, we will cover other wireless topics related to the mobile world. Wi-Fi, WiMAX, Bluetooth, and Ultra-Wideband (UWB) will get some attention as well. Here is what you can look forward to in the forthcoming issues:

• The ongoing 3G rollout
• The introduction of 4G technology with an emphasis on Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and even WiMAX
• The invisible cell-phone revolution, M2M
• Femtocells and their designs, issues, and solutions
• Antennas dumb and smart, as well as towers
• The software side of the business
• The open-software platform issue and its forthcoming products
• Mobile search
• Mobile advertising
• Regulations and standards
• GPS, E911, and location-based problems, opportunities, and applications
• Mobile TV—will it be MediaFLO, DVB-H, or ATSC?
• Batteries and power management, and the growing importance thereof
• Fast and faster data services
• Spectrum issues, 700 MHz, white spaces, and other spectrum plans
• Software add-ons and applications
• Test and measurement in the wireless industry
• Opinions from industry leaders in our Viewpoint column
• And much more

With this premier issue, our former Wireless System Design and RF Design magazines have been retired. Those of you who received WSD and RF Design will now get MD&D instead. We hope you enjoy the new publication.

Let me know what you like or dislike, as well as what coverage you would like to see in the future. I would be especially interested in hearing whether a series of tutorials on wireless basics and related subjects would be of interest. Finally, I personally invite you to shape the coverage with your own input in the form of contributed technical articles and Viewpoints. Contact me if you would like to write for MD&D