BROWSING: GPS

Garmin punches into cellphone market with iPhone-style navigation gadget: Analyst: Pricing will be key to success

Garmin Ltd. yesterday in New York revealed its "nuvifone" product, a personal navigation device (PND) with a touchscreen, GSM/HSDPA functionality for voice and data and native GPS.While the product had been long-rumored, the timing seemed to surprise the market.Photographs of the device immediately brought...

Analyst Angle: Driving connectivity

Editor's Note: Welcome to 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 Current Analysis' Peter Jarich and more.In...

Sony Ericsson launches two Walkmans

Promising to take consumers "beyond music" with a music-centric phone -- a tri-band HSDPA Walkman W760 -- Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications offered two Walkman handsets yesterday in a prelude to the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas.The W760 offers built-in GPS with the vendor's...

Great expectations: Glimpsing the new year

PREDICTIONS ARE SO LAST YEAR.Instead, let's talk "expectations" - a term that seems to promise a more realistic look ahead at the new year. And there are questions worth asking that dog the conventional wisdom.To keep it tangible, consider issues related to mobile handsets...

A disappointing holiday season for retailers: Amazon’s Christmas was merry, but most others saw only modest sales bumps

It looks as though most U.S. retailers won't be getting the merry green holiday they'd hoped for.Despite a last-minute sales bump last weekend, the overall holiday retail scene continued its overall plodding underperformance compared with last year, with only a few bright spots. Among...

Moving target: Mobile content ripe for change

Many of the sexiest offerings in mobile content will continue to struggle to take flight in 2008. Wireless video will slowly gain steam in the United States, thanks largely to Qualcomm Inc.'s MediaFLO service, but carriers still must find the best ways to monetize...

REVIEW: Google Maps’ GPS capabilities provide tremendous bang-for-buck: Service is no replacement for traditional GPS services

Editor's Note: Welcome to Yay or Nay, a feature for RCR Wireless News' 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 and...

Analyst Angle: Kids on the go: Why digital natives make me nervous

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, Current Analysis'...

REVIEW: Ask Mobile GPS as reliable as a nervous aunt riding in the back seat

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...

Analyst Angle: LG Voyager Arrives Just In Time for Black Friday

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...

Etc.

Alvin invasion via voicetonesWho wouldn't jump at the chance to sound like a Chipmunk without the aid of helium? 20th Century Fox is promoting its forthcoming "Alvin and The Chipmunks" movie with its "Munk Yourself" campaign. The interactive campaign allows users to create their...

Garmin drops Tele Atlas bid, extends Navteq contract

Shares of Garmin Ltd. surged after the manufacturer of personal navigation devices withdrew its $3.3 billion takeover bid for digital mapping company Tele Atlas NV.The move paves the way for TomTom, a Garmin rival that last week offered $4.25 billion for Tele Atlas...

Navigation and handsets to drive GPS chipsets

The GPS chipset market during the next few years will be driven by integration into mobile devices like personal navigation devices and cellular phones, according to a new report from high-tech market research firm In-Stat.The most promising categories includes ultra mobile devices, handheld games,...

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"Danny Bonaduce: Life Coach," jokes CBS Mobile CBS Mobile has tapped Danny Bonaduce for a new mobile video series that will air on major wireless carriers beginning next week.The first original animated program developed under the CBS Mobile brand will air new three- to...

Two paths to travel in mobile gaming space: Lesser-known publishers try ad-supported games

No wonder people can't agree on a cure for the mobile gaming industry. Some insiders don't even think it's sick.There's no question that the space-which just a couple of years ago was envisioned as the pace-setting genre of mobile content-has failed to live up...

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...

Omnilink combines GPS, cellular for tracking

Location-based services technology provider Omnilink Systems unveiled a GPS-based offering designed to allow law enforcement to track the location of suspects in real-time using both satellites and ground-based cellular networks.The service combines Omnilink's FocalPoint software and a tracking device housing both a GPS antenna...

Garmin locks on to Tele Atlas for $3.3B in superheated LBS space

Personal navigation device maker Garmin Ltd. said it will offer $3.3 billion for Tele Atlas N.V. in a move likely to spur a bidding war for the digital mapping company.Tele Atlas in July accepted a bid of $2.8 billion from TomTom NV, a Dutch...

WiMAX expected to supercharge wireless applications

WiMAX could be the technology that fuels the fusion of all sorts of mobile applications, integrating video, location-based services and a host of other offerings.And analysts generally agree that speedy access to the wireless Web will be the key."When I talk WiMAX, I always...

Mobile games not all fun and games

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...

Analyst Angle: When is enough, enough?: Feature-packed handsets are packing on the pounds

Editor's Note: Welcome to a special CTIA I.T. Show Daily edition of our weekly online feature, Analyst Angle. Every Monday at www.RCRNews.com you can find columns from the industry's leading analysts, including iGR's Iain Gillott, JupiterResearch's Julie Ask and more. Visit www.RCRNews.com/analyst for more...

Heavyweights eye digital mapping companies

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...

Car Toys customers want mix of Internet, SMS and simplicity

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.Seattle-based Car Toys operates stores in four states, selling mobile devices and service from three of the four national...

Worst of the Week: When you wish upon an MVNO

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...