1. AT&T has signed a long-term content deal with Viacom. The new contract brings together AT&T's U-Verse and DirecTV networks, which previously had separate contracts with Viacom. The company says the combined properties make it the largest pay TV provider in the world.
Viacom owns...
A slowdown in the Chinese economy could have a big impact on some wireless companies, particularly chipmakers. Goldman Sachs analyst David Kostin listed 20 U.S. companies that he said are the most exposed to China.
Qualcomm, Broadcom, Intel, Nvidia and Texas Instruments all made the...
With the “Internet of Things” reaching into every aspect of modern life, analysts predict the number of connected devices to reach around 5 billion by the end of this year – up 30% from 2014. By the end of the decade, that number is...
As the use of LTE over unlicensed spectrum moves toward field trials expected later this year, LTE-U testing results that show mixed results as to its ability to co-exist fairly with Wi-Fi have been presented by a number of industry players. Even the basic...
As mobile subscribers bring more bandwidth-hungry devices into public venues, offices and schools, makers of Wi-Fi network equipment are helping service providers find new ways to monetize Wi-Fi.
Ruckus Wireless is giving network operators a way to partner with retailers to make location-based offers to...
Avago Technologies has agreed to buy Broadcom for $37 billion in cash and stock. Although Avago's market value is higher than Broadcom's, Broadcom is the larger company by revenue. The California chipmaker had $8.4 billion in revenue last year, 70% more than Avago's $4.9...
Chip news from Altair, Broadcom and MediaTek
AT&T gives LTE-only a boost
Israel's Altair Semiconductor said today that its FourGee-3800/6300 chipset has completed AT&T’s ADAPT chipset validation. Altair makes LTE-only chipsets, which so far have primarily been used in tablets. Tablets do not need to make...
Apple under pressure
Apple's iTunes may face some legal challenges. The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly trying to find out whether iTunes is using its marketplace muscle to get songs into its paid services instead of free-streaming services. Apple of course is working on its...
Fiber-to-the-home is part of AT&T and Verizon Communications' plan to compete with cable, but the cable companies are defending their turf with new standards that are set to speed-up data delivery. Data over cable service interface specification is migrating to a new standard, DOCSIS...
LAS VEGAS – As mobile operators look to Wi-Fi to support voice calls, data offload and even LTE, the makers of Wi-Fi chipsets are racing to deliver more speed and throughput in routers, gateways and end-user devices. Today at CES, Broadcom launched a new portfolio...
Two corporate earnings reports are indicating softer demand in the mobile and wireless sector. Juniper said late yesterday that third quarter earnings will come in below expectations, and blamed weaker orders from service providers.
"The release identified weakness from service providers, particularly in the U.S....
The Wi-Fi Alliance has enhanced Passpoint, the multivendor standard designed for seamless identification and authentication of Wi-Fi hot spots. Service providers can now distribute their specific subscriber policies, such as which networks to join and in what order of preference. In addition, users can...
The capabilities of upcoming smartphones and tablets can often be seen in the chipsets that are launching now.
Mobile chip update
Superfast Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are strong suits for chipmaker Broadcom, and now the company says it has the industry’s most powerful Wi-Fi chip for...
Building out the LTE network affects many aspects of wireless network development, including network Ethernet switching, high performance processors in cell sites, improved backhaul systems, network controllers and enterprise wireless LAN development.
With no buyer in sight for its cellular baseband unit, Broadcom (BRCM) has decided to wind down the business and lay off 2,500 people. The company made the announcement during its third quarter earnings call yesterday, noting that 250 sales and administrative employees have...
Qualcomm got a lot of attention at Small Cells World Summit 2014 with its talk about "inside out" connectivity enabled by small cells. The mobile chip giant wants operators to consider super powerful indoor small cells as a way to connect entire neighborhoods. Indoor...
Within six years, the number of connected devices that are NOT smartphones, tablets or PCs will skyrocket to 26 billion, according to Gartner. The means that the Internet of Things will include more than three times as many devices as the traditional mobile ecosystem....
Tegra K1 debuts in tablets
The Tegra K1 made headlines with its 192 cores when Nvidia launched the chip, and now the processor is showing up in real products. China's Xioami was the first to launch at Tegra K1 powered tablet, and now U.S. consumers...
Editor's Note: The ability to test network and device features and functions is an important piece of technology development and deployment. RCR Wireless News looks weekly at the test and measurement space to see what's afoot.
--Spirent Communications has launched a test system for automotive Ethernet...
Broadcom's decision to exit the cellular baseband business means the company is giving up on the opportunity to ingegrate cellular modems with its highty successful connectivity chipsets for mobile devices.
Broadcom (BRCM) is giving up on its cellular baseband business. Baseband chips have helped catapult...
Broadcom (BRCM) appears ready to let Qualcomm and its low-cost Asian competitors compete for the baseband market while it focuses on chips for other types of wireless connectivity, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and small cells. Today the California company said that it has hired...
LTE broadcast
The race to supply chipsets for Verizon's LTE Multicast demo at last weekend's Indy 500 was won by Qualcomm and Sequans. Qualcomm made the Multicast-capable chips inside the Galaxy 3 smartphones used to watch the race in real-time from multiple angles, while Sequans...
Altera FPGA solution speeds up test and measurement
Altera (ALTR) says its Stratix 10 FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays) and SoCs are delivering 2X core performance gain in their designs compared to previous generation high-performance programmable devices. Built on Intel’s 14 nanometer Tri-Gate process, the chips...
Huawei has successfully completed an LTE-A Category 6 connectivity test with download speeds reaching 300 megabits per second. The Chinese infrastructure, device and chip manufacturer worked with Qualcomm, and used the Qualcomm Gobi 9x35 LTE modem. Huawei said that during the test it was...