August 2005

SAN FRANCISCO-Granite Ventures said it closed Granite Ventures II, a $350 million venture-capital fund that will focus on early-stage communications and software companies, including wireless firms. Granite’s total capital under …

BURBANK, Calif.-Nickelodeon is teaming with wireless entertainment publisher FunMail to offer images of popular characters from the children’s network. FunMail, which markets ringtones, animated ringers and peer-to-peer social applications, will …

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.-Destinator Technologies Inc. marked its entry into the North American market this week, opening its U.S. headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz. The expansion coincides with the company raising $9 million …

WASHINGTON-Cell-phone lawyers asked a District of Columbia Superior Court judge to suspend proceedings in six brain-cancer lawsuits, pending industry’s petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to review a federal appellate …

NEW YORK-Virgin Mobile USA Inc. announced an exclusive deal to bring content from alternative rockers the Gorillaz to wireless. The operator launched ringtones, realtones and wallpapers from the band’s platinum …

CHICAGO-U.S. Cellular Corp. became the latest carrier to court the Hispanic market, announcing a deal with the wireless arm of media company Univision to provide Latin content and Spanish language …

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.-Camera phones are more gateways to digital cameras than replacements for them, according to a study released from IDC. The survey found that 30 percent of U.S. camera-phone owners …

DENVER-While much attention at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International show last week in Denver was given to interoperability, at least one inventor was pushing something else. Though his …

As Sprint Corp. and Nextel Communications Inc. begin to merge their separate identities into one company, there will be obvious comparisons to how Cingular Wireless L.L.C. integrated AT&T Wireless Services …

BOSTON-In just a year, Nokia Corp. has managed to steal the W-CDMA show. In the second quarter of last year, the handset vendor was fifth in terms of W-CDMA handset …

LONDON-The voice over wireless local area network market is poised for huge growth, according to consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. A study by the company found that the introduction of …

DENVER-The Denver Police Department and the Consolidated Communications Network of Colorado each used the 71st annual Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International show here last week to showcase their successes …

WASHINGTON-California regulators did something they have never done before, creating an area-code overlay for Beverly Hills. Beginning Aug. 26, celebrities wanting second, third and fourth phones may find themselves with …

SANTA MONICA, Calif.-Universal Music Group will partner with SingleTouch Interactive to offer a music-focused phone with both pre-loaded and downloadable content such as ringtones and wallpapers. The handset, called MoveU …

Verizon Wireless added a handful of new markets to its growing CDMA2000 1x EV-DO coverage area and at the same time lowered the price for accessing the network. The carrier’s …

At times, it’s hard to see beyond the world of mergers, stockholder lawsuits, broadband, global terrorism and dropped calls. Last week, the World Health Organization signaled in strong terms that …

SAO PAULO, Brazil-Lucent Technologies Inc. said it signed a new infrastructure agreement with Vivo to expand its EV-DO network in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The expansion will allow …

WASHINGTON-The wireless industry is urging FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to reject a key spectrum policy of his predecessor-the interference temperature-and instead ensure existing wireless carriers they will not have to …

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.-VeriSign Inc. announced a deal with Rural Cellular Corp., which operates in the Midwest, Northeast, Northwest and Southern regions, to provide VeriSign’s wireless billing service for RCC’s GSM …

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.-Motorola Inc. said it would score an after-tax gain of $780 million in the third quarter thanks to the sale of its Nextel Communications Inc. stock following Sprint Corp.’s …

CTIA has named RCR Wireless News an official Show Daily publication for the CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment 2005 conference and exhibition Sept. 27-29 in San Francisco. For consideration in …

NEW YORK-Two U.S. subsidiaries of Japanese mobile-content conglomerate For-side.com Co. Ltd. have integrated operations in what may be a first step toward an initial public offering. Zingy Inc., which offers …

M/A-COM’s NetworkFirst Land Mobile Radio interoperability solution received official designation as a Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technology from the Department of Homeland Security’s Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act. NetworkFirst LMR …

SAN RAMON, Calif.—Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. signed an agreement with push-to-talk vendor Kodiak Networks to install Kodiak’s PTT software in its phones. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. …

SARASOTA, Fla.-Global Signal Inc. signed long-term master antenna site leases with USA Mobility Inc., opening the door for USA Mobility to lease space on sites owned or leased by Global …