BlackBerry canceled its plan to go private and instead will carry on with a new CEO, John Chen, former CEO of Sybase. Chen says he wants BlackBerry to focus on software going forward, particularly the BlackBerry Messenger app. As for the companies who were reportedly interested in buying BlackBerry, they seem to have lost their chance. Qualcomm confirmed this week that it had been interested in some of BlackBerry’s assets, and Canadanian news sources reported that Lenovo had been interested in buying the whole company, but was blocked by the Canadian government because of national security concerns.
And new FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler named his staff members, including Ruth Milkman as chief of staff. Milkman had previously served as chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau as well as special counsel to the chairman for innovation in government. Philip Verveer will be senior counselor to the chairman. Verveer most recently served as U.S. coordinator for international communications and information policy at the U.S. Department of State, and previously served as the chief of the Cable Television Bureau, the Broadcast Bureau and the Common Carrier Bureau at the FCC.
And just as the FAA is lifting restrictions on in-flight use of wireless devices, Gogo says it will soon offer in-flight calling using Wi-Fi. The FAA is still not letting flyers connect to cellular networks for safety reasons but Wi-Fi calling might fly with regulators.
