2006

Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for …

BERWYN, Pa.—Regional carrier SunCom Wireless Holdings Inc. posted mixed results for the third quarter, with revenues up, but still recording an overall loss and higher sequential churn. Deactivations due to …

TORONTO—Canadian telecom company Rogers Communications Inc. increased its wireless postpaid average revenue per user by more than 5 percent, citing data revenues for the boost. However, its net postpaid customers …

ATLANTA—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. are betting on faster download speeds and music functionality with the launch of the “Synch” handset, an HSDPA phone with music and …

EMERYVILLE, Calif.—MobiTV Inc. padded its already-thick wallet, raking in $30 million in a third round of funding and adding two new investors. Adobe Systems Inc. and Hearst Corp. became backers …

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Google Inc. is offering a download that is designed to make mobile access to its free Gmail service faster, and Sprint Nextel Corp. is making the download available …

Ordinary people like Luke Johnson sit at the intersection of social networking and the cell phone. Searching for something new that he could do involving video-sharing site YouTube.com, Johnson woke …

NEW YORK—A new report from ThinkEquity Partners L.L.C. said that AT&T Inc.’s pending acquisition of BellSouth Corp. has affected their wireless affiliate Cingular Wireless L.L.C.’s spending on its network infrastructure, …

BELLEVUE, Wash.—InfoSpace Inc. reported a net loss for the third quarter and announced plans to halt investment in its direct-to-consumer content business, including its recently launched Moviso storefront. Instead, executives …

IRVINE, Calif.—Boost Mobile L.L.C. is bringing its pay-as-you-go service to rural areas, after traditionally concentrating on urban strongholds. Boost, which is a division of Sprint Nextel Corp. and runs on …

SHENZHEN, China—Comtech Group Inc. announced it will license next-generation software technology, including technology for smart phones, from Microsoft Corp.’s IP Ventures program. Comtech provides custom design solutions for China’s technology …

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. tomorrow will become the third tier-one wireless carrier to launch a mobile music offering, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal, with a …

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—Disney Mobile is trying to lure customers to sign up for its service during the holiday season by lowering the cost of its handsets and offering a month …

LONDON—MobileMail Inc. said it signed a letter of intent to acquire Oy Tracebit AB, a mobile content and entertainment provider and publisher. Tracebit was founded in 1996 and focuses on …

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.—Motorola Inc. has reiterated its concern over a proliferation of counterfeit accessories, particularly Bluetooth headsets, purported to be made by Motorola and reaching consumers in the United States and, …

WESTCHESTER, Ill.—Consolidation among communications vendors continued as Andrew Corp. announced plans to spend $50.5 million in cash to buy the wireless division of EMS Technologies Inc. Georgia-based EMS Wireless racked …

LIBERTYVILLE, Ill.—Motorola Inc. said it plans to develop a Java Micro Edition software stack using the Apache License Version 2.0. The company said the move would help unify the fractured …

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif.—Bitfone Corp., a player in the firmware-over-the-air space, has signed on network operator Alltel Corp. to use its FusionDM device management service. Alltel joins Sprint Nextel Corp. in …

IRVINE, Calif.—AskMeNow said it plans to add ringtones and wallpapers to its mobile answer service. The company said it will offer more than 5,000 ringtones and true tones from hip …

WASHINGTON—The debate is officially on. And the clock is ticking. Six months after receiving Cyren Call Communications Inc.’s plan for a public-safety wireless broadband network the private sector would build …

SUNNYVALE, Calif.—What do LG Electronics Co. Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (Panasonic), NEC Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., SiBeam Inc., Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp. have in common? Obviously …

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa.—InterDigital Communications Corp. is crying foul over a request by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. to the International Chamber of Commerce for new arbitration relating to a patent …

SAN FRANCISCO—Mobile content measurement firm Telephia clarified a recent study that raised eyebrows among mobile video experts in the United Kingdom. The company last week released a report that said …

PARIS—Two European rivals announced they would join forces to provide a satellite-based operation that would beam data to mobile handsets, laptops and vehicles. The offering is the latest attempt by …

WARREN, N.J.—Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. announced two new services that incorporate audio and messaging. “Txt Tones” will allow users to link musical tones to text messages instead of rings. The …