Editor's Note: Welcome to Reality Check, a feature for RCR Wireless News' new weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile content industry to give their insights into the marketplace. In the coming weeks...
Nokia Corp. will offer a new CDMA handset in North America this fall, though details about possible carrier deals and pricing were not given. Such a phone, however, could run on Verizon Wireless' and Sprint Nextel Corp.'s CDMA networks and enables Nokia to address...
PHOENIX-With rival Nokia Corp. moving aggressively to build its worldwide lead through marketing, and the iPhone rattling the handset marketplace, struggling Motorola Inc. has begun to restructure its marketing, from its agency alignment to its internal organization.Marketing chief Casey Keller, in an interview with...
Shares of InfoSpace Inc. shot skyward after the company said it will sell its mobile services division to Motricity for $135 million in cash.Motricity will acquire InfoSpace's managed services infrastructure for mobile carriers, including technology and services such as mobile search, storefronts, portals and...
Verizon Wireless is betting on Firethorn Holdings L.L.C. for its mobile banking service, and the two companies said they will work with financial institutions to educate consumers about using their phones for financial transactions. Verizon Wireless said it plans to pre-load Firethorn's mobile banking...
Sprint Nextel Corp. is producing its own made-for-mobile video content.The carrier launched the Sprint Exclusive Entertainment (SEE) network, an in-house effort set to deliver more than 150 on-demand programs each week. The two-minute video clips will focus on sports, music and entertainment news and...
Verizon Wireless landed the exclusive rights to distribute Led Zeppelin's songs over-the-air, with ringtones, ringback tones, alert tones and wallpapers available immediately and full-song downloads available starting Nov. 13. Users with Vcast Music-enabled phones can text ZEP to 8901 for information on how to...
Want one of those ".mobi" suffixes for your wireless Web site? Get out your checkbook.The company behind the mobile-only top-level domain closed its first online auction earlier this month, raking in more than $850,000 as it hawked 100 mobile Web addresses to the highest...
After a one-year hiatus when the show visited Los Angeles, the CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment event is back in the city by the Bay for 2007. The move is minor considering the wireless trade association's larger spring show has been bouncing between the...
Welcome to our Friday feature, Week in Review. Every Friday, RCR Wireless News runs through the major events of the past week, outlining what happened and speculating on what to look for in the coming weeks, months and years. Check below for news about...
Online wireless retailer InPhonic Inc. said that its third-quarter results will fall significantly below previous guidance, an announcement that coincides with the company's plans to consider business options including a possible sale.The company said it chose Lazard Middle Market to help it conduct a...
Verizon Wireless is requiring customers to opt out of allowing the carrier to share their customer proprietary network information (CPNI), a new policy that could spark protest from the carrier's customers.CPNI comprises users' calling records and includes the numbers of incoming and outgoing calls...
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. reported $2.39 billion in earnings for the third quarter, an increase of 1% from the same period last year, due largely to growth in its cellphone and chip-making businesses.The world's No. 2 handset manufacturer brought in $5.2 billion in sales...
The Weather Channel launched a new weather application optimized for Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPod touch. Indeed, being that the iPhone doesn't support third-party downloads, the new offering is less an application and more of a Web site optimized to work in the unique...
The House telecom subcommittee passed bills to improve enhanced 911 service for Voice over Internet Protocol subscribers and to require a comprehensive census of broadband availability in the United States."The E-911 legislation is designed to ensure that a consumer calling 911 in an emergency...
Two House panels approved an anti-terrorist wiretap bill that lacks liability protection for telecom carriers, setting up a showdown with the Bush administration."Americans are willing to make sacrifices to meet true national security imperatives, but they should not give up their rights unnecessarily, just...
Motorola Inc. said it will expand its W-Series line of affordable handsets, adding seven new models in advance of the holiday season.Two of the new models will be available in the United States: the W175, a candybar-style phone with one-click access to text messaging;...
Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C.'s stock began trading publicly as the company completed an initial public offering with share prices at the low end of its expected range. Virgin Mobile USA had planned to price its shares between $15 and $17 apiece; the shares were...
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications earned $380 million in its most-recent quarter, reflecting the first results of its recent push on low and mid-tier priced devices. The handset manufacturer shipped 25.9 million devices, up 1 million from the previous quarter and an increase of more...
After 42 years at AT&T Inc., Stan Sigman announced his retirement as president and CEO of the company's wireless unit. The company said that Ralph de la Vega, group president for regional telecom and entertainment, will immediately take over Sigman's post at AT&T Mobility....
Lucy Hood has stepped down as CEO of Jamba and president of Fox Mobile Entertainment after 10 years with News Corp."It's been extremely exciting and rewarding for me to help build News Corporation's mobile business over the past few years," Hood said, "but I'm...
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 us at RCRNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
The Public Safety Spectrum Trust Corp. filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission seeking to become the licensee that partners with the winning bidder of the commercial-first responder broadband wireless license in next year's 700 MHz auction."The PSST is moving ahead with all...
Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd. announced it is in negotiations to sell its cellphone business to fellow Japanese electronics maker Kyocera Wireless Corp. If the deal is completed, it would further consolidate the world's hotly contested mobile phone business, as well as bolster Kyocera's market...
