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...
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 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 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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
Google Inc. is reportedly close to entering the wireless space in a big way. Much has been speculated about the search giant's plans for mobile, ranging from branded devices to advertising-supported minutes and open operating systems.But, Google is ready to pull the wraps off...
For a show that bills itself as a bleeding-edge event with a multiple personality disorder (One Show. Two Personalities.) last week's CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment conference in San Francisco was exceedingly tame.A disappointingly placid Steve Ballmer of Microsoft took center stage for the...
LITIGATION SURROUNDING RULES for auction-bound 700 MHz wireless licenses took an unexpected turn last week.Verizon Wireless filed to withdraw its appeal of the Federal Communications Commission's 700 MHz open-access rule, only to have cellphone industry trade association CTIA immediately fill the void by challenging...
So this is what they mean by "One show, two personalities."Wednesday's keynote coupled the buttoned-down executive style of Research In Motion Ltd. with the hip, edgy verve of Facebook. Dustin Moskovitz, who co-founded the popular social networking site, unveiled a new application that delivers...
After more than two years, a plan to blanket San Francisco with seamless wireless Internet access at no cost to consumers is back where it started. All that stands in the wake of the failed citywide Wi-Fi effort now is a mountain of paperwork.At...
With ringtone revenues in decline and full-track downloads struggling to find an audience, carriers and third-party vendors are working furiously to breathe life into a withering mobile music industry.Ringtones for years have been the most popular type of content on (or off) carrier decks,...
What's plaguing the mobile gaming market? Pretty much the same headaches that have been there for years.Mobile gaming continues to struggle to move beyond what publishers have dubbed the "golden nickel"-the 5% or so of mobile users who pay to download and play games...
Litigation surrounding rules for the Jan. 24-scheduled 700 MHz auction has taken a sudden turn. Verizon Wireless filed to withdraw its appeal of the Federal Communications Commission's 700 MHz open-access rule, only to have cellphone association CTIA immediately fill the void by challenging the...
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...
Big things tend to start out small, or so the saying goes.So it was that Voice over Internet Protocol provider Skype Ltd. came out of nowhere in February to petition the Federal Communications Commission to extend to the mobile-phone industry a landmark third-party connectivity...
What's Google Inc. up to in mobile? You might as well ask what Rupert Murdoch is doing in media.Because the answer is, just about everything.The Internet colossus first dipped its toe in the mobile waters in 2000 with a search service for Web-enabled phones,...
A true sign that wireless has finally made it-that is if the more than 1 billion cellphones in use around the world was not enough proof for you. The New York Racing Association signed a three-year deal with Sona Mobile Holdings to provide a...
Mobile users are increasingly turning to Google Inc., but on-the-go searches remain dwarfed by PC queries, the Internet giant said in an earnings call yesterday.Google, which saw its quarterly net income soar 46% from the same period last year, saw increased traffic during...
Digital mapping companies such as Navteq Corp. and Tele Atlas N.V. "now occupy the most important position in the global GPS navigation supply chain," according to a new report from iSuppli Corp.The ever-increasing value of mapping intellectual property holders was underscored earlier this month...
Microsoft Corp. officially joined the voice-operated search field, unveiling a free directory-assistance service for mobile and fixed-line users.The software giant launched Live Search 411, an offering that delivers local listings as well as weather updates, movie show times and airline information. Users with Internet-enabled...
