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Jury clears Broadcom on Qualcomm patent infringement charge

A U.S. District Court jury on Friday found that Broadcom Corp. did not infringe on two Qualcomm Inc. patents for digital video compression used in high-definition set-top cable and satellite television boxes, as the latter had claimed. The jury also cited Qualcomm, in an...

Motorola expands relations with Texas Instruments

The art of the "announcement" appears to couple specific news with vague hints at future products. Announcements can reassure investors and analysts and seek to intimidate competitors while keeping one's own product plans under wraps.Thus Motorola Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. said they would...

Teardown analysis: peeling the onion for fun, profit

Competitive intelligence in the handset business is, in a sense, an open secret. Everyone is engaged in it to some degree, yet it is rarely discussed publicly. Industry players not only keep their own work secret, they don't want to tip their hand on...

TI sees slower growth, Qualcomm bullish on 3G

Texas Instruments Inc. last week reported modest gains in the fourth quarter-revenue up 4 percent, profit up 2 percent from the year-ago quarter-but said it will cut 500 jobs to reduce costs as it hunkers down for a period of weak demand by the...

Qualcomm rides solid quarterly earnings

Qualcomm Inc.'s shares jumped briefly after the company reported increases in both its net income and revenues during its first fiscal quarter of 2007, but its stock price quickly dropped down to a steady $38.46 per share after the news.Analysts largely hailed the company's...

TI warns on slower growth in 2007

Texas Instruments Inc. reported modest gains in the fourth quarter-revenue up 4 percent, profit up 2 percent over the year-ago quarter-but it will cut 500 jobs as it prepares to hunker down for a period of weak chip demand by the mobile phone industry....

Sprint Nextel details WiMAX strategy

Sprint Nextel Corp. has chosen the Chicago and Washington, D.C., metro areas for the first deployment of its WiMAX network, with a rollout that it expected to cover at least 100 million people by the end of 2008. The initial WiMAX markets are supposed...

Samsung announces thinner memory chip

Thinner, more power, less drain on a handset-no, it's not a supermodel whose New Year' resolution is giving up mobile communications. It's a new mobile memory chip produced by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.The South Korean conglomerate announced today that its new, 1 gigabyte, mobile...

Reuters offers free, off-deck mobile video

News junkies can now use their cell phones to access the latest video reports from Reuters following the company's launch of a free, ad-supported video service. The service is available at mobile.reuters.com and works on smart phones from Nokia Corp., Palm Inc., Research In...

Cheap phones to drag on TI’s revenues

DALLAS-A slowdown in wireless chip sales forced Texas Instruments Inc. to trim its fourth-quarter revenue outlook from between $3.46 billion and $3.75 billion to between $3.35 billion and $3.5 billion The company said semiconductor revenues are expected in the range of $3.28 billion and...

Metalink launches second-generation .11n chipset into expanding market

YAKUM, Israel-Silicon developer Metalink Ltd. unveiled its updated draft-compliant 802.11n dual-band chipset for wireless home entertainment networks.The company said its WLANPlus chip features Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output technology and operates in both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. The chipset enables multi-room networking of multiple high-definition...

Nortel’s WiMAX solution scores contracts across globe

Nortel Networks Ltd. landed a mobile WiMAX network supply deal in Taiwan, a trial in Japan, and a chip contract in Israel. The company-which launched its WiMAX portfolio in October at the WiMAX World trade show and was hawking its new offering as 4G mobile...

Qualcomm adds to IPR stable with Airgo buy

First OFDMA and now MIMO. Qualcomm Inc.'s acquisition of Airgo Networks and its Multiple-Input, Multiple-Out technology, as well as the company's previous purchase of Flarion Technologies Inc., position Qualcomm to play big in future wireless broadband.The behemoth San Diego-based chipmaker last week announced it...

Qualcomm pursues consumer electronics with Bluetooth acquisition

Qualcomm Inc. plans to profit from in-house Bluetooth intellectual property to drive down the cost, power consumption and footprint of chip-based functionality in mobile handsets and consumer electronic devices, the company said last week in the wake of its acquisition of much of RF...

Finding magic, money with VC

Wireless entrepreneurs looking to scrape up venture capital would do well to recall a college radio hit from a few years ago: it's all about chemistry.There's been no shortage of investment cash in wireless lately. More than 40 mobile players raked in a total...

Airgo uncovers new 802.11n chip

SAN DIEGO-Now that Qualcomm Inc.'s acquisition of Airgo Networks Inc. is out of the bag, the companies announced the availability of an 802.11n Draft 2.0 Wi-Fi chipset featuring Airgo's TrueMIMO Gen-N Technology.The companies said the AGN400 is Airgo's fourth-generation 802.11n-compliant chipset and noted that...

Qualcomm snares RF Micro’s Bluetooth assets

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. reported plans to acquire RF Micro Devices Inc.'s Bluetooth-related assets for $39 million in cash. Qualcomm said that the acquisition, which focuses on Greensboro, N.C.-based RF Micro Device's Bluetooth-related intellectual property and team in San Diego, would enhance its ability to...

Qualcomm wades deeper into MIMO with Airgo purchase

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. apparently couldn't resist adding Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output technology to its already huge portfolio of wireless technology. The behemoth chipmaker announced it is buying MIMO creator Airgo Networks Inc. for an undisclosed amount to extend its mobile broadband offering by integrating Airgo's 802.11a/b/g...

LSI snaps up Agere for around $4B

MILPITAS, Calif.-Chipmaker LSI Logic Corp. jumped into the wireless arena by scooping up Agere Systems Inc., a mobile phone chip producer. LSI develops chips for hard drives and DVD recorders, while Agere competes in the communications chip market against powerhouses such as Texas Instruments...

NOKIA’S WORLD: Data is the future

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands-To understand Nokia Corp.'s outlook, one must leave the United States behind. This is somewhat akin to jumping from one fish bowl to another. The view from inside the U.S. fish bowl provides only a fun-house reflection of one's own image. The...

Sequans lands Motorola $$, Alcatel deal

French chipmaker Sequans Communications further established its standing in the WiMAX ecosystem, announcing an investment from Motorola Inc. along with an agreement with Alcatel Inc. to supply the vendor with WiMAX chips for customer premise equipment in India and other emerging markets. Though Sequans...

Sony, NXP, GSM Association push mobile payments

AMSTERDAM-Sony Corp. and NXP Semiconductors announced a joint venture to develop a secure chip that uses near-field communications for financial transactions. The goal is to produce a chip that can process different protocols and operating systems for contactless payment. The two companies will include...

Jacobs: Qualcomm becoming ‘very much of a law firm’

WASHINGTON-Qualcomm Inc. Chairman Irwin Jacobs said he believes the San Diego-based CDMA technology firm is entering a new phase of heightened regulatory and antitrust scrutiny around the world.Jacobs, speaking at a conference at George Mason University Law School, said Qualcomm has overcome major challenges...

Japan’s Fair Trade Commission may investigate Qualcomm

SAN DIEGO—Japanese authorities may be the next to look into Qualcomm Inc.’s business practices. The chipmaker said it has been notified by the Japan Fair Trade Commission that the agency may investigate its licensing and chip business practices in Japan. The JFTC didn’t disclose...