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TIMES ARE A CHANGING: Fight begins to brew over who controls the customer

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,...

Public Safety Spectrum Trust tapped by FCC to partner with D-Block winner

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...

Hope prevails despite history

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,...

Sprint Nextel, Clearwire split divides analysts: Opinions vary on carrier’s direction, fallout on suppliers

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...

Lessons for mobile Web: KISS: (Keep it simple, stupid)

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 embraces open-source approach

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...

Margins Check: AOL’s ad future, the writers’ strike, China and more

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...

A changing tide? Ovi, Android loosen carriers

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 corners Musiwave for possible acquisition

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...

Mobile ads attract new guidelines: dotMobi group adds its rules to effort

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...

Freedom of choice: Google’s plans open door for innovation, confusion

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...

Android floats in space: gPhone a no-show, handsets not due til late ’08

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...

Hedgehogging: hedge*hog*ging v. Interrupting conversations in an office environment by poking your head over the top of the cube

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 adds ads to videos: Mobile-video firm signs deal with YouTube, Google for AdSense program

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...

Worst of the Week: Awesome Androids

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....

Nokia, Vodafone cut content and services deal: Companies’ alliance may buffer Apple, Google advances

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...

Margins Check: Google’s TV, the advertising Super Bowl, video calling and more

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.--Google announced...

Google leads OS alliance, demurs on device

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...

Google’s cellphone plans: Android

Google Inc. ended weeks of speculation about its mobile plans, unveiling an alliance of industry heavyweights centered on a new, open-source software platform.The Internet behemoth joined Qualcomm Inc., Motorola Inc., HTC Corp. and T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom AG to take the wraps off the...

Google heads coalition for ‘Android’ cellphone platform: VZW, Nokia, Microsoft notably absent

A group of industry heavyweights-headed by Google Inc., T-Mobile, HTC Corp., Qualcomm Inc., and Motorola Inc.-announced a new software platform for cellphones that includes an operating system, middleware, user interface and applications. The alliance said the first phones based on the "Android" platform will...

Google OS to change game

Shifting business models make for strange bedfellows-and nowhere is that so clear as Google's potential linkup with Verizon Wireless, which is said to be negotiating with the search giant to carry phones equipped with Google's mobile operating system.Consider just the past year: Verizon and...

Navigating the LBS space: Garmin ups TomTom’s bid for Tele Atlas

Like former Yankee Alex Rodriguez, Tele Atlas N.V. plans to cash in on the free-agent market.The Netherlands-based digital mapping company in July accepted a bid of $2.8 billion from TomTom NV, agreeing to recommend the offer to shareholders. But Tele Atlas last week pounced...

The Week in Review

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...

Worst of the Week: Googling Sprint Nextel’s humor-scale rating

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....