BROWSING: GPS

Goodbye SERO, hello EPRP

Sprint Nextel Corp.'s under-the-table Sprint Employee Referral Option has seen its final days. SERO was a plan Sprint Nextel introduced a few years ago that offered cheaper rates through an employee referral. And it wasn't as though you had to have a blood relation...

GPS-enabled cellphones to hit 834M units by 2012

Global shipments of GPS-enabled mobile devices will grow at 40% per year for the next five years to reach 834 million units in 2012, according to a new report from Parks Associates.The forecast includes personal navigation devices, mobile handsets and smart phones, portable media...

PHOTOGUIDE: Cash is burning a hole in your pocket …: Got $200 or $300 for a dazzling device?

So you're sick of that grimy flip phone you've faithfully (pathetically) toted around for two years - an eternity by any measure, except if you happen to enjoy immense wealth. And you really don't get the math about monthly service options and their costs,...

Worst of the Week: Cutting in line

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 RCRWirelessNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....

Apple’s launch goal: 22 countries, 1 day: Impressive if successful; all eyes on Friday

FEW ARE CERTAIN whether Apple Inc.’s simultaneous, 22-country launch of its 3G iPhone this Friday is unprecedented in the industry. But many observers, cognizant of manufacturing logistics, regulatory-approval and carrier-testing hurdles, will watch closely to see how well the Cupertino, Calif.-based company pulls off this...

Devices & Strategy: Relying on Instinct: Sprint hits back with touch

Sprint Nextel Corp. has launched an expensive, frontal assault on rivals in a bid for a hit handset that will resuscitate its fortunes. While it remains early in the game - the Instinct handset has been on the market for 11 days - the...

Financial ratings wrap-up: Inmarsat, RIM, Leap and more

The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.CarrierStandard & Poor's Ratings Services revised its outlook on U.K.-based mobile satellite services provider Inmarsat Ventures Ltd. to positive from stable. It also affirmed all...

Retail Snapshot: Independent retailer sees trends toward ‘capped-rate’ plans

Editor's Note: In this monthly feature, RCR Wireless News talks to retail managers across the country to get a first-hand view of what's hot in wireless.Wireless Toyz, which originally started as an outlet for paging back in 1995, today counts more than 190 retail...

iPhone on the cheap: Apple seizes the day to pursue content revenue

APPLE INC. IS THE NAME and, now, sheer volume is the game.Before the "wow" factor for his much-hyped handset fades or is eclipsed by competitors, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has abandoned his initial business model for plunging into wireless and has gone with a...

Sprint Nextel to focuses on families, ditches free incoming with new plans

Sprint Nextel Corp. is set to roll out new rate plans beginning June 15 that the carrier said simplify the selection process for customers and provide a cheaper alternative on family plans compared with its larger rivals. The new plans also appear to do...

Apple details 3G iPhone : To launch in 22 countries on July 11

SAN FRANCISCO - You could cut the anticipation with a knife leading up to Apple Inc.'s Worldwide Developer Conference this morning. The company delivered the iPhone 3G to thunderous applause more than 75 minutes into a nearly two-hour presentation. The sold-out event brought 5,200 people...

Executive Interview: Sheldon Safir

The woes besetting Motorola Inc.'s consumer handset division have been the stuff of headlines for the past year. The company has said it remains committed to creating two independently traded businesses that would send the handset division off on its own, while keeping its...

Analyst rejects talk of near-term iPhone subsidies : Apple adds nine more markets

The buzz is inescapable. Next week, Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs is expected to announce the next iteration of the company's iPhone at Apple's annual developer conference.In the run-up to the purported announcement, several issues have been bandied about by the global media, which...

TD-SCDMA favors domestic Chinese vendors: But brand power may favor global handset firms in slow ramp

TD-SCDMA WORKS. That's the view of one analyst who participated in trials in Baoding, China, as long ago as December 2006.A very modest supply of subsidized handsets and data cards by domestic and foreign vendors should hit the market this summer for early adopters,...

Has Sprint Nextel focused too closely on being first at the expense of being best?

Perhaps no U.S. carrier has pushed the mobile data envelope like Sprint Nextel. But maybe the operator pushed a little too early.Sprint launched its first streaming video offering more than five years ago - five years! - and within months had trotted out two...

N-Gage looks for footing: Nokia encouraged by gaming platforms debut

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Following numerous delays due to technical problems, Nokia Corp.'s N-Gage gaming platform has been live for six weeks now, and the company said it's pleased with the initial response to the service as it builds up its catalog of available titles.Kay...

Etc.

Tracking FidoZoombak L.L.C. announced its GPS location application for dogs is now available at PetSmart stores nationwide. The Zoombak Advanced GPS Dog Locator uses cellular networks and GPS satellites to help owners find their dogs in real-time from their computer or cellular phone. The...

Moto’s global contraction matched by Chinese expansion: New study charts handset and chip markets for last two years

As Motorola Inc.'s growth sharply contracted between 2006 and 2007, four Chinese handset vendors were among the fastest growing in the business, although at markedly lower volumes.The finding is one of many disparate conclusions drawn in a new study from Forward Concepts that examined...

Sprint Nextel sets June 20 as release date for Instinct: Carrier’s flagship phone may run up against 3G iPhone hype

Sprint Nextel Corp. plans to begin selling its touchscreen Instinct phone through its retail outlets on June 20, a date that may put the device on store shelves at almost the exact same time as Apple Inc.'s second-generation iPhone.Speculation is that Apple intends to...

RFMD to focus on ‘front end’

RF Micro Devices Inc. said that based on a fiscal fourth-quarter loss, it would cut $75 million in research-and-development costs and 350 jobs - or about 9% of its workforce - to focus on producing its core components for handsets and base stations. The...

Wireless Web in watchdog’s crosshairs: Proliferation of mobile marketing garnering increased interest

While mobile content is expected to contribute increasingly to wireless carrier revenue growth in coming years, it is also attracting increased scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission, plaintiffs' lawyers and a pugnacious industry watchdog known for taking on corporate giants and influencing public policy...

The legal minefield of mobile social networks

You may not have noticed last week's news that Verizon Wireless is being sued by the parents of a 14-year-old girl who claims she was sexually assaulted by a man she met through a mobile social-networking service. But the case is likely a little...

Ryder rides into wireless : GPS, RFID contribute to fleet’s business success

Wireless technology helps Ryder Systems Inc. keep track of its fleet of nearly 160,000 vehicles and provide its customers with services that include trip reports to help cut down on fuel usage and track driver habits, as well as streamline a warehousing process that...

Voice-search space gathers speed: TellMe, FreeMobile411 making noise

Microsoft Corp. subsidiary TellMe said it added a GPS location feature to its voice portal to give BlackBerry users information about businesses, movies, traffic, weather, maps and driving directions. The "voice in, visual out" way of receiving information is useful to people who are...