Google Inc. is in! The Internet search engine giant said it will participate-alone-in the 700 MHz auction set to begin Jan. 24."We believe it's important to put our money where our principles are," said Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO of Google. "Consumers deserve more...
Google Inc. apparently got so fed up waiting for more GPS-enabled devices to hit the market that it has taken matters into its own hands. Google Maps for Mobile users can now have their location automatically set, with or without GPS.The search behemoth added...
Is the mobile-phone industry's increasingly reluctant embrace of open access really a concession to consumers, or an inescapable inevitability driven in part by legal developments that have forced carriers to loosen their iron-clad grip on networks and handsets and otherwise delivered a blow to...
Verizon Wireless' open platform announcement was met with a mix of optimism and skepticism by parties at the forefront of a campaign to persuade the Federal Communications Commission to mandate that mobile-phone carriers allow third-party devices and applications on their networks. "We think this...
Verizon Wireless said it will take a wrecking ball to its notorious garden walls, opening its network to third-party devices and applications. What that means for developers and consumers, though, is far from clear.The nation's No. 2 carrier-generally the most closed mobile operator in...
Editor's Note: Welcome to a special edition of our weekly 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...
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...
The holiday season can be stressful enough. But combine it with fears of high-tech/telecom domination by Microsoft Corp. or Google Inc. or Apple Inc. or the parent companies of the No. 1 and No. 2 mobile phone carriers-AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.-and it...
Nokia Corp. is taking steps to become a more competitive player in mobile advertising, with an announcement last week that it would partner with Handmark for an end-to-end mobile solution for the latter's Pocket Express application.Google Inc.'s announcement of an Open Handset Alliance on...
WITH THE EMERGENCE OF NEW PLAYERS in mobile from the information technology space and the dominating importance of applications to drive revenue in wireless, the battle over who controls the customer is expected to heat up, analysts say.Reuben Chaudhury, director of Oliver Wyman's communications,...
The Federal Communications Commission selected the Public Safety Spectrum Trust Corp. as the licensee that will team up with the winning bidder of the commercial D-Block spectrum license in the upcoming 700 MHz auction to deploy a dual-use wireless broadband network. "We are...
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,...
TERMINATING A LETTER OF INTENT-as Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. did Nov. 9-doesn't lend itself to gauging possible impacts to Sprint Nextel's ambitious, multibillion-dollar WiMAX plans. Assessing impacts to suppliers is even more perilous, according to analysts.Sprint Nextel appeared to send mixed signals...
Publishers are trying to strike a delicate balance in these early days of the mobile Web: How do you offer enough eye candy to a make a site compelling without overloading the limited processing power of most mobile phones?Online site operators face a host...
Volantis Systems is joining the open-source bandwagon.The U.K.-based mobile software developer is open sourcing its server, allowing developers to download and run its content-optimizing system free under a proprietary license. The Volantis Mobility Server is available immediately as a free binary, and the company...
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.--AOL purchased...
The wireless industry usually teems with laugh-inducing sniping and enjoyable acrimony. But last week, it was all about the love.The mobile space in the past couple of years has become an "us vs. them" showdown as entrenched carriers struggle with the rise of...
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...
Yet another set of mobile advertising guidelines will be released this week as the dotMobi Advisory Group (MAG) unveils a 44-page document for companies looking to target wireless users.The group, a nonprofit offshoot of mTLD Top Level Domain Ltd., hopes to foster growth of...
Like Daryl Hannah in "Blade Runner," Google Inc. last week showcased an attention-grabbing Android. But while the Internet giant garnered headlines and wowed fanboys with its latest move in wireless, some developers reacted with a big yawn.Google ended weeks of speculation about its mobile...
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...
The best part of Google's "Android" announcement last week? Why, the name of course. How awesome is it that a giant company like Google used the term android for its wireless phone plans? Very awesome. Though some of us on the RCR Wireless News...
CinemaElectric Inc. is quickly finding its groove in the mobile video space. With more than half of its content produced in-house, the company has inked deals with 90 carriers in more than 50 countries to bring its programming to the third screen.Last week CinemaElectric...
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....
