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The Week in Review

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...

Verizon Wireless warms to Martin’s open-access plans

Verizon Wireless eased its stance on FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's proposed rules for the 700 MHz spectrum auction, agreeing to stipulations that would require spectrum winners to allow any device onto their networks. According to the Wall Street Journal, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam...

Sprint Nextel Googles WiMAX partnership

Sprint Nextel Corp. unveiled a new WiMAX partnership this morning, announcing it is working with Internet giant Google Inc. on a new mobile portal for WiMAX mobile Internet customers. This is the carrier's second major WiMAX collaboration announcement in two weeks. Sprint Nextel said...

Venture capital financing wrap-up: Ubiquisys, Vela, Zipit and more

The following list includes venture capital and other investments into wireless companies announced during the past week. The value of the investment is included when available.--Ubiquisys: Accel Partners, Atlas Venture, Advent Venture Partners and Google invested $25 million into Ubiquisys Ltd. during the company's...

Margin Check: Google, Nickelodeon, PSPs 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.--Femtocell manufacturer...

BACKDRAFT: Martin’s 700 MHz draft ignites debate on public safety, open access

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION CHAIRMAN KEVIN MARTIN could face trouble securing support from the agency's two Democrats for a key component of his 700 MHz plan, but the draft rule could entice Verizon Wireless to become more serious about a possible partnership with public safety.I'm...

Open access: Questions and consequences

CONCEPTUALLY, AT LEAST, FEW THINGS could be more appealing to mobile consumers than open wireless access.Richard Whitt, Google Inc.'s telecom and media counsel, painted a picture of a veritable mobile utopia on the company's blog last week as Google and its allies lobbied the...

Diminishing returns

In a sense, the iPhone phenomenon-the feeding frenzy that gave instant icon status to a multimedia device that was conceived outside the box before a single consumer had even removed it from inside the box-arguably represented the most poignant, glorious manifestation of the convergence...

Hedgehogging

hedge*hog*ging v. Interrupting conversations in an office environment by poking your head over the top of the cube.What the heck is up with FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's 700 MHz draft? What a headache! We thought the overarching concern was getting first responders access to...

More backlash on Martin’s 700 MHz plans

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin's 700 MHz plan has triggered an angry backlash, with the agency chief suddenly finding himself squeezed by the cellular industry and others vehemently opposed to open access and those asserting the draft rule does not go nearly far...

FCC’s Martin bandies open-access license for 700 MHz auction

The mobile-phone industry reacted angrily to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin's 700 MHz draft decision to impose an open-access-like condition on more than a third of the 60 megahertz to be auctioned, asserting such a regulation amounts to Silicon Valley welfare."Crafting special rules...

Mobile Search: Emerging Opportunities for Operators and Marketers

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...

Mobie search space heats up-this time over patents

It's beginning to look like all that money being poured into mobile search may end up in the pockets of patent lawyers.Shares of Local.com Corp. skyrocketed last week after the online search company said it had received a patent for ad-supported mobile search. The...

Policy debates sprawl beyond the Beltway

Major wireless policy debates are increasingly ceasing to be Inside-the-Beltway brawls limited to high-powered lobbyists hired by well-heeled, warring industry factions. Instead, proponents of ambitiously controversial proposals-particularly those promising to extend the reach of a free and open Internet-have been able to tap into...

REVIEW: Carrier navigation apps provide serviceable directions

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...

Cockroaches, Lemmings and Pioneers

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...

Local.com boasts of new search patent

Shares of Local.com shot skyward after the online search company said it received a patent for ad-supported mobile search.The Irvine, Calif.-based outfit said the patent addresses "the method of responding to enhanced directory assistance" including voice- and text-based searches from wireless handsets. The patent...

Worst of the Week: National iPhone Appreciation Day (June 29)

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 RCR Wireless News to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the...

FON claims 7,000 routers in use as part of Fonbucks campaign

Madrid, Spain-based "social router" company FON announced it has given away 7,000 routers in its Fonbucks campaign designed to encourage people living next to a Starbucks Coffee Co. location to provide free or inexpensive Wi-Fi services. FON said it ended up giving away 5,000...

Talking to mobile content

I spent much of the past week on my phone, browsing mobile content storefronts, accessing local business listings and checking out the latest baseball scores. Surprisingly, though, my thumbs are well-rested-which is a feat, considering all the megabytes of data I accessed. What's my...

AD ALERTS: Ad-supported alerts gain supporters, though carriers remain reluctant

MEDIA COMPANIES AND RETAILERS are beginning to target wireless users with free, advertising-supported services. And carriers are slowly tolerating-if not quite embracing-such offerings.USA Today last week launched a mobile search service that delivers text alerts about news, sports scores, stock quotes and other topics...

Joe Sixpack: Strolling the wireless Web

Editor's Note: Welcome to our new Tuesday feature, Mobile Content and Culture. This weekly e-mail service will cover the most important mobile content news of the week, and will also include contributed columns by big names in the industry, application and service reviews by...

YouTube unveils mobile offering

YouTube Inc. quietly launched a stripped-down, mobile version of its popular video-sharing site.The wireless offering, available at m.youtube.com, offers a small selection of streaming videos in a handful of categories such as "Featured," "Recently Added" and "Top Rated." The service marks the conclusion of...

On-device portals: Information guides to the wireless mall

It's no secret that a stroll through the offerings on carrier decks is enough to give you carpal tunnel syndrome. A recent study of four U.S. wireless services providers by Strategy Analytics found that a simple music download from a carrier portal required anywhere...