2006

Touting brand and pursuing differentiation is in vogue with nearly every original equipment manufacturer now chasing Nokia Corp. and Motorola Inc. over the rainbow, looking for the proverbial pot of …

NEW YORK-Nielsen Media Research reiterated its intentions to move into mobile, outlining plans to track usage of multimedia services on wireless phones. The longtime television and Internet usage monitoring firm …

CONSHOSHOCKEN, Pa.-An independent U.S. proxy advisory firm has recommended that shareholders of Sprint Nextel Corp. CDMA affiliate UbiquiTel Inc. vote in favor of the company’s proposed acquisition by Sprint Nextel. …

Cities across the United States are negotiating with wireless broadband companies to blanket themselves in Wi-Fi. How much consumers will have to pay for the service, though, is unclear. Wireless …

SAN MATEO, Calif. -Mobilitec Inc. is giving teens homework assignments. The company, which provides a platform for selling mobile content, has created a focus group of 11 teenage wireless users …

TOKYO-PacketVideo Corp. said it will work with NTT DoCoMo Inc. to bring mobile music to the Japanese market using Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Mobile Media technology. The companies are introducing Windows …

The news late last month that Qualcomm Inc. had initiated another lawsuit against Nokia Corp.-this time over GSM-related patents and before the United States’ International Trade Commission-produced mutual salvos and …

For more than a few mobile startups, MySpace has become MyObsession. The most popular of a throng of new Web sites featuring user-generated content, MySpace.com has an estimated 55 million …

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. continues to make strides on the mobile retail front, expanding its agreement with Verizon Wireless to include postpaid plans and high-end multimedia phones. The chain, which not …

WASHINGTON-The 800 MHz Transition Administrator released details and a new electronic worksheet about its Planning Funding Fast Track Option, announced last month. Public-safety agencies’ requests must meet specific criteria to …

LOS ANGELES—For Helio L.L.C. users who have multiple electronic devices sitting in drawers at home, the mobile virtual network operator is offering a one-time shot to trade in those devices …

SAN DIEGO—Leap Wireless International Inc. closed on $1.1 billion in loans that the company said would help finance the operator’s bids in the upcoming Advanced Wireless Services spectrum auction scheduled …

LOS ANGELES—Paramount Pictures is using mobile phones to try to lure subscribers to its new film “Nacho Libre.” The studio is teaming with digital marketing company Cellfish Media L.L.C. to …

TAMPA, Fla.—Syniverse Technologies Inc. purchased Hong Kong-based Interactive Technology Holdings Ltd. for $45 million, the company announced. ITHL sells prepaid, messaging, video and number portability services to carriers in the …

SINGAPORE—Nokia Corp. introduced five new handsets that will hit the market later this year, including two Nokia-made devices for the United States market. The phones feature the company’s traditional candy-bar …

BOSTON-Despite dozens of announcements about municipal Wi-Fi deployments and feverish hype regarding the growth potential of the industry, incumbent operators have little to fear long-term from the technology, according to …

WASHINGTON-Despite legal setbacks in court jurisdictional rulings, including the Supreme Court’s refusal to review a 4th Circuit headset ruling that rejected industry’s federal pre-emption arguments, headset and brain-cancer litigation have …

WASHINGTON-The state of New Jersey and the federal government are in a public fight about whether five telecommunications companies turned over customer call records to the National Security Agency and …

A handful of startups are targeting wireless subscribers who may be reluctant to divulge their phone numbers. Tossable Digits Inc., which launched service earlier this year, provides a 10-digit phone …

Disney Mobile may be causing a spate of copy-catting of its family-oriented services, but the mobile virtual network operator is far from bucking industry trends when it comes to its …

A warm and fuzzy-toned embrace of an open source, mobile Linux operating system sought by an alliance led by Motorola Inc. and Vodafone Group plc, among others, and announced last …

High Tech Computer Corp. wants its day in the sun and plans to begin selling phones under its own “HTC” brand, a departure from the anonymous, original design manufacturer role …

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group launched what it’s calling the “Bluetooth Experience Icon Program,” which the group said will help inform consumers about various Bluetooth technologies. The Bluetooth SIG said …

FRANKFURT, Germany—Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG struck a deal to combine Nokia’s Networks Business Group with Siemens’ fixed and mobile networks operations, creating a 50-50 joint venture to be called …

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y.—Text-savvy Southerners may help explain why all five “American Idol” winners hail from south of the Mason Dixon line, according to figures from The NPD Group. Cingular Wireless …