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...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our Monday feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Jupiter Research's Julie Ask, Current Analysis'...
Sprint Nextel Corp. announced it has begun selling a compact, consumer-targeted femtocell base station that will work with any Sprint Nextel CDMA phone, an effort designed to allow customers to improve their own in-home wireless coverage. The Sprint Airave, which is manufactured by Samsung...
Ad-subsidized mobile games are a sure-fire catalyst for an industry sorely in need of a kick in the pants.Either that, or they're the quickest way to sabotage the space in its infancy.Hands-On Mobile last week became the first major mobile publisher to experiment with...
According to a popular if crass bumper sticker, "stuff" happens.In the case of outages or slowdowns for Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry service, stuff happens pretty rarely.But a days-long outage this spring and a day-long outage and slowdown in e-mail traffic Sept. 7-8 at...
CLEARWIRE CORP. AND ICO GLOBAL Communications Ltd. are trying something new with broadcast mobile TV. The two Craig McCaw-backed companies are collaborating on a new mobile TV trial that will use satellites to broadcast directly to mobile devices.The trial marks the first time mobile...
In another move indicative of the music industry's increasing frailty, two of its largest players are trying some new twists: Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group last week announced a new format they're calling the "ringle."Each ringle will contain one ringtone bundled...
Motorola Inc. is shifting its long-term, 3G-chip business away from Qualcomm Inc. in favor of Texas Instruments Inc., leading one analyst last week to downgrade his short-term rating on Qualcomm from "buy" to "neutral."A Motorola spokeswoman confirmed that the company would use Qualcomm "opportunistically"...
"I think I feel a change in the winds," said Mr. Gibbs to Captain Jack Sparrow.Ditto for the wireless industry.Wireless carriers and their lobbying organization, CTIA, have a steep challenge ahead of them as sentiment for the status quo in wireless comes under fire.-Locked...
San Francisco has formally walked away from a deal to build a Wi-Fi network throughout the city. The effort was already largely considered dead late last month when EarthLink Inc. rescinded its proposal-which included a teaming with Google Inc.-to cover the estimated $14 million...
Alcatel-Lucent shares tumbled almost 9% after the company announced a revised financial outlook for the remainder of 2007, marking its third warning to investors since the beginning of the year. The company now expects its full-year 2007 revenue growth to be "flat to slightly...
Motorola Inc. has shifted its 3G chip business away from Qualcomm Inc. in favor of Texas Instruments Inc. and Freescale Inc., according to analyst Mark McKechnie. "We believe Motorola's decision was purely business," McKechnie wrote in a note to investors yesterday. "Our checks reveal...
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...
TWO KEY SENATE MEMBERS last week unveiled a sweeping wireless consumer protection bill, setting the stage for a fierce battle between lawmakers and the mobile-phone industry that's likely to play out well into the 2008 election season.The legislation goes further than setting federal standards...
Despite the Federal Communications Commission's publicly stated desire to avoid anti-competitive behavior in the 700 MHz auction and its embrace of blind bidding as a safeguard against such activity, there are growing concerns that the combination of hefty reserve prices on key spectrum blocks,...
PLAYA VISTA, Calif.-A visit to the Electronic Arts Inc. campus in Playa Vista, Calif., is like walking into another land-a world where gaming trumps all, and the lap of luxury seems to beckon around every corner. Hoodies and beanies handily outnumber suits, a full-scale...
Welcome to our Friday feature, Week in Review. Every Friday, RCR Wireless News will run through the major events of the past week, outlining what happened and speculating on what to look for in the coming weeks. Check below for news about carriers, handset...
NEW YORK CITY-A strike launched yesterday by a group of taxi drivers protesting the installation of global positioning devices and wireless credit-card systems had minimal impact on New York City transportation.The New York Taxi Workers Alliance, an advocacy group that represents about 8,000 cab...
Two key Senate members today unveiled a sweeping wireless consumer protection bill, setting the stage for a fierce battle between lawmakers and the mobile-phone industry that's likely to play out well into the 2008 election season.The coming legislation goes further than setting federal standards...
MetroPCS Communications Inc. has proposed a merger with its flat-rate rival Leap Wireless International Inc.Metro said it sent Leap a letter detailing its offer, which involves a "stock-for-stock, tax-free merger that will create a fifth national wireless carrier." Each outstanding share of Leap's stock...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our Monday feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Jupiter Research's Julie Ask, iGR's Iain...
MUNICIPAL WI-FI TOOK SOME MAJOR HITS last week. Once considered by many cities and towns to be the roadmap to offer high-speed Internet access for all, wide-spread use of the unlicensed technology is now less certain. In a week that saw Google Inc. boasting...
Mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C. cut about 5% of its workforce, mostly in its field sales team, the company confirmed following media reports of the move.The cuts amount to around 100 positions, and Helio spokesman Rick Heineman described them as being part of...
The cellular backhaul market is expected to reach $23 billion by 2012, according to a new ABI Research study. Backhaul currently accounts for about $14 billion in capital expenditures, the company said. ABI also found that Eastern Europe would replace Western Europe as the...
