While mobile-phone carriers and manufacturers face a key hearing-aid compatibility deadline in early 2008, Apple's Inc. wildly popular iPhone will get a pass on a major government disability access mandate that wireless companies already have spent significant resources to meet.The situation does not sit...
Some of the world's biggest companies-Google, Apple, Microsoft-increasingly are becoming more aggressive in the wireless space. And why shouldn't they? CTIA counts 250 million cellphone subscribers in the United States-a penetration rate of more than 83%.It's great to have new entrants in the market,...
The iPhone story went global this month with launches in the United Kingdom and Germany and word that Apple Inc. is exploring a partnership in China. France's Orange is set to sell the device beginning Nov. 29.Apple's international success, or lack of it, will...
Two sources that track American consumers' online research into handsets paint a dual portrait of yearning and practicality this holiday season.While the data differs between the two sources in some respects, common themes arise. There's good news generally for AT&T Mobility and Apple Inc.,...
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...
LONDON-A handful of people queued overnight in the cold and rain outside Apple's flagship store on London's Regent Street to be among the first to legally buy an iPhone outside the U.S. when it went on sale at precisely 6:02 p.m. on Friday in...
Microsoft Inc. announced it has acquired the right to buy Musiwave SA from Openwave Systems Inc., which has struggled with management changes in light of stock-option backdating woes and proxy battles with shareholders. No terms of the proposed deal were disclosed.The acquisition of Musiwave...
Google Inc. drew considerable media attention last week with an idea and 33 influential friends.Missing was its long-rumored gPhone, whose actual fate remains a closely guarded secret. Instead, Google announced a consortium of 34 companies-the Open Handset Alliance (OHA)-and a common goal of producing...
As the pace of convergence quickens, Nokia Corp. cut a deal with wireless telecom giant Vodafone Group plc to integrate mutual service offerings designed to grab eyes, ears and wallets-as competitors from within and without the wireless industry rapidly move in with similar treats.Vodafone-one...
Differentiation, finally!Google's announcement that its mobile play will consist of an open-source software platform highlights the division in industry between featuring content on the carrier's deck and the benefits and risks of taking it off-deck. The editorial staff at RCR Wireless News was just...
Google Inc. is the new E.F. Hutton-when the Internet search giant talks, everybody listens. Many observers today expected to hear about a long-rumored Google phone-it didn't happen. Nor were any specific handset models announced. But listeners probably included likely competitors to the new Open...
Who says quarterly financial calls are no fun? During last week's call by Qwest Communications, financial analysts grilled newly hired CEO Edward Mueller, which we encapsulated here for you.Analysts: "Where's our dividend? Why do you want to spend another $200 million on fiber? And...
As always, something has me a little confused.What is it this time? Well, it's the phone locking issue that has everyone from tech geeks to politicians in a tizzy. (Actually, it seems that only tech geeks and politicians are in an uproar over this...
AT&T MOBILITY WILL TELL YOU that writers expounding on the issue of unlocked phones far outnumber consumers actually interested in buying them.Preliminary data shows that, while not literally true, that statement does reflect that a relatively small number of American consumers are researching unlocked...
AT&T Mobility announced a new international service plan for the Apple Inc. iPhone, an announcement that comes on the heels of efforts by software hackers to unlock the device.Unlocking software allows iPhone users to install Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards from other operators, thereby...
Editor's Note: Welcome to On the Margins, a feature for RCR Wireless News' new weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week, the RCR Wireless News staff considers events in the wider business world and how they could affect the wireless industry. --NBC...
Editor's Note: Welcome to Yay or Nay, a feature for RCR Wireless News' new weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week we'll review a new wireless application or service from the user's point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works...
AT&T INC. ROLLED THROUGH the quarter with 2 million net customer additions, and most of them (1.2 million) were coveted retail postpaid customers-up more than 30% from retail postpaid gains during the same quarter of 2006.The nation's largest carrier also managed to cut its...
What a paradox that Apple Inc.'s iPhone has become at once the gold standard for wireless devices and, according to critics, plaintiffs' lawyers and others, all that is wrong with a mobile-phone industry that conscientiously controls what goes into the phones and onto networks.There's...
Simplicity. Invisible technology that brings consumers emotional satisfaction.A fun user interface that enables the work/play overlap.A company not from Cupertino, Calif., but from another center of innovation: MAGIC Labs at HTC Corp. in Taipei, Taiwan-a lean, hungry player that is slicing and dicing the...
One of the funniest press releases to come out of last week's CTIA I.T. & Entertainment event was from Alcatel-Lucent. "Alcatel-Lucent launches presence on Second Life virtual reality site to explore the potential uses of next-generation technologies, including 4G mobile broadband networks," the release...
Groove Mobile is going directly to consumers with a new track from indie hip-hop artist Aceyalone. Users can send a message to a short code to receive a link enabling them to access the tune via the wireless Web. The song, "Can't Hold Back,"...
Editor's Note: Welcome to a special CTIA I.T. Show Daily edition of our weekly online feature, Analyst Angle. Every Monday at www.RCRNews.com you can find columns from the industry's leading analysts, including Current Analysis' Avi Greengart, iGR's Iain Gillott and more. Visit www.RCRNews.com/analyst for...
Apple Inc.'s iTunes dominates the digital music dance floor. But following Apple's lead may not be a wise move for mobile music services.An astounding 89% of teens go to iTunes for their legal music downloads, according to a recent report from investment bank Piper...
