Wirefly, the online retailer, is offering mobile handsets at prices that defy gravity.Tis the season, apparently, for free or low-cost offers on the market's leading handsets to erode the last bastions of resistance to signing up for wireless service.The Motorola Inc. Krzr, for instance,...
The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.Carrier Lehman Brothers raised its estimates on Dobson Communications on the potential the company will seek strategic alternatives in advance of the upcoming 700 MHz...
One well-worn mantra has it that long-awaited growth in data-driven revenue depends on smart phone uptake, a notion that keeps this market segment under the microscope. Thus, when NPD Group detected more than 4-percent growth in smart-phone sales in the United States between January...
The oft-repeated statement-"thin is in"-like many obvious axioms, tends to mask nuance. What exactly is this quality that appears to rule the current landscape for fashion phones? Ask a variety of industry sources for perspective on "thin"-a somewhat elusive, qualitative attribute-and, not surprisingly, the...
When two women in distinctive but identical designer dresses are seated side-by-side in a trendy restaurant, there may be mutual if mortified acknowledgement of the other's good taste, rapidly followed by a seating shuffle. In contrast, when Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s BlackJack smart phone...
While Research In Motion's lawsuit against Samsung over the similarity of the Samsung BlackJack to the RIM BlackBerry is a pretty amusing story, the fact that RIM asked for all BlackJack devices be returned to RIM for destruction is an extra special twist in...
LOS ANGELES-Research In Motion Ltd. is suing Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and the Korean handset vendor's American subsidiary over the use of the name "BlackJack" for the latter's new smart phone currently available through Cingular Wireless L.L.C., alleging that it is a trademark infringement...
Mobile production service provider Mobile Streams said it signed an exclusive worldwide mobile content deal with the famous Mexican wrestler El Hijo Del Santo. He and his late father, El Santo, have appeared in a variety of movies as well as in their own...
Under the banner, "Simpler and Slimmer," Consumer Reports' January 2007 issue weighed in on a handset category that has even the experts scratching their heads. At CTIA I.T. in September, a panel of leading wireless industry analysts proffered a variety of multi-faceted explanations for...
'Tis the season to be jolly, especially if you're a consumer checking out online deals from independent retailers. For instance, Wirefly, the online retail face of InPhonic Inc., is offering handsets at prices that defy gravity. The Motorola Inc. Krzr, for instance, only hit...
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 RCR Wireless News to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong...
ATLANTA-Cingular Wireless L.L.C. joined smaller rival T-Mobile USA Inc. in offering Research In Motion Ltd.'s latest BlackBerry, the consumer-focused Pearl. Cingular is selling the gadget for $200 with a two-year agreement. "The BlackBerry Pearl from Cingular provides a winning combination of business and entertainment-related...
ATLANTA-Palm Inc.'s new Treo 680-combining enterprise applications with multimedia to expand Palm's traditional market-will launch via Cingular Wireless L.L.C. on Friday at $200, the two companies announced today. The device is compatible with Cingular's GSM/GPRS/EDGE network. The holiday-season launch is a boon to Palm,...
We recently reported on the effective use of T-Mobile USA Inc.'s Sidekick and Research In Motion Ltd.'s Blackberry devices by Gallaudet University deaf students in a successful protest that derailed Jane K. Fernandes from becoming the next president of the educational institution.Gallaudet students, among...
hedge*hog*ging v. Interrupting conversations in an office environment by poking your head over the top of the cubeAs you know from your own jobs, there is always something going on in the wireless industry that is worthy of a few comments. Some of it...
PALO ALTO, Calif.-Mobile entertainment technology developer mSpot rolled out an upgraded platform for wireless multimedia content. The latest version of the company's wireless music and video platform includes a community feature that allows users to recommend content to friends. The offering also features a...
RICHMOND, Va.—Patent-holding company NTP Inc. said it filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Treo maker Palm Inc. that claims the company’s mobile e-mail products infringe on NTP’s patents. NTP filed the claim in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. NTP...
Boost Mobile L.L.C. is bringing its pay-as-you-go service to rural areas, after traditionally concentrating on urban strongholds. Boost, which is a division of Sprint Nextel Corp. and runs on the carrier's iDEN network, will begin to offer service in areas that were served by...
IRVINE, Calif.—Boost Mobile L.L.C. is bringing its pay-as-you-go service to rural areas, after traditionally concentrating on urban strongholds. Boost, which is a division of Sprint Nextel Corp. and runs on the carrier’s iDEN network, will begin to offer service in areas that were served...
By Julie Jargon CHICAGO—Motorola Inc. cell phone chief Ron Garriques promised investors in May that the company's new Q smart phone would follow the same trajectory as its smash hit Razr cell phone, selling 750,000 units in the first 90 days and 5 million...
Under pressure to assure the market that it can expand its traditional, enterprise customer base, Palm Inc. made a high-profile announcement last week in New York at the DigitalLife 2006 conference that it would launch a Treo 680 model for consumers in the United...
The wireless industry already has MyCircle, Inner Circle, Mobile-to-Anyone, and Sprint-to-Home. Add to that list "myFaves," the new offer from T-Mobile USA Inc. that allows customers to make unlimited calls to a handful of wireless or wireline numbers. The move by T-Mobile USA is...
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Sprint Nextel Corp. announced it will soon begin selling three of Motorola Inc.’s popular slim phones, a move those in the industry had long expected. The announcement boosts Motorola’s position in the United States and gives Sprint Nextel a potential shot in...
BELLEVUE, Wash.-With the quiet addition of its new t719 flip phone, which offers BlackBerry Connect service and an e-mail-friendly keypad, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. now supplies just over one-third of T-Mobile USA Inc.'s handset portfolio. The t719 uses the same SureType keypad-a QWERTY alternative...
