BROWSING: GPS

Museum to display GPS work of Tendler

The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History said it received for future display prototypes and patent papers documenting the work of 911 GPS cellphone pioneer Robert Tendler, recognition that comes as his patent lawsuit against OnStar Corp. heats up.The Fonefinder system designed by Tendler...

Customer care: CRM companies look to wireless for increased productivity

Wireless technology is aiding various industries in serving their customers better by gaining efficiencies as they mobilize their workforces and enable a higher level of customer service-and increasingly, businesses are demanding wireless as part of their overall customer relationship management strategy. According to Richard...

What are you doing now? How about now?

It's 9 p.m. last Wednesday, and Evan Williams has just received an e-mail from a reporter. So, naturally, the co-founder of Obvious Corp. lets his friends know."Answering yet another journalist's urgent queries about Twitter," Williams posted on the site for the trendy new service....

Report shows E911 holes remain in wireless, VoIP

A new report finds location-based wireless emergency service is not always reliable, one of several structural problems with the nation's 911 regime that lawmakers and public-safety officials said needs to be overhauled to accommodate new communications technologies and increased emergency calls. "There is a clear...

FCC’s Martin shows renewed interest in E911

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin plans to tackle the location-based E911 arena with new rules for testing the service, as well as a call for public comment on the technology itself. Martin's moves come shortly after his dismissal of an industry expert who...

Etc.: CTIA Awards

Alltel named best in show at CTIA 2007Alltel Wireless won an E-Tech award for best in show at CTIA Wireless 2007 for its Celltop application. Celltop allows Alltel customers to access, manage and organize information available on their phone via a format similar to...

FAMILY AFFAIR: Disney Mobile reflects on first year as MVNO

As it approaches its one-year anniversary, Disney Mobile L.L.C. has ambitious plans to develop new applications and move toward the use of EV-DO in delivering services. The company recently provided a glimpse of how its customers are making use of the innovative family-centric applications...

Disney Mobile offers peek into operations, aspirations

As Disney Mobile L.L.C. approaches its one-year anniversary, the company provided a glimpse of how customers are making use of the innovative, family-centric applications at the heart of its service. The mobile virtual network operator also proffered a look into its plans for the...

Maps, games lead location-based services apps

Location-based services, like so many emerging technologies in the wireless space, for years have been on the cusp of widespread use among mobile-phone users. With more global positioning system-enabled handsets coming to market and more tech companies launching LBS applications that exploit previously untapped...

Truly mobile games link GPS, Wi-Fi to cell phone

The mobile gaming world is targeting mass-market users with "one-thumb" casual offerings that are simple to understand and easy to play. But one Orlando developer is hoping to find an audience with a line of sophisticated games that use GPS technology.Your World Games Ltd....

Enterprise, entertainment evangelism: CTIA keynoters look back and beyond 2007

ORLANDO, Fla.-A packed hall heard evangelism, exhortation and ebullience from a trio of industry speakers yesterday morning, as the CTIA Wireless 2007 trade show got underway. Attendees also got a surfeit of commercialism as each keynote speaker extolled their partners and their progress. "The...

Products

FlipswapFlipswap, an outsourced cell phone trade-in solution for retailers, said it has signed integration partnerships with retail management system providers iQmetrix, Work Wireless, TeleTracker and CellSell.Flipswap's Web-based software allows retailers to formulate a guaranteed trade-in quote for old phones. The value can then be...

BlackBerry gets in the game: Gameloft, RIM to target high-end crowd with games

Teens and young adults dominate the console gaming space, but mobile publishers are hoping their parents can help take wireless gaming into the mainstream.Gameloft this week plan to announce a deal with Research in Motion Ltd. to develop, market and distribute games for BlackBerry...

Rev. A update: spreading fast: Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel in deployment race

Less than six months after CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Revision A service was first launched by Sprint Nextel Corp., both Sprint Nextel and its larger competitor Verizon Wireless have been speedily expanding their coverage areas-and appear to be neck-and-neck in terms of number of potential...

AT&T begins Cingular store rebranding in Houston

AT&T Inc. is retooling the look and feel of its wireless retail stores to reflect a multi-faceted product offering, and introduced its first super-sized, flashy AT&T Experience Store in Houston.The company called the 5,000-square-foot store "the first to demonstrate the benefits of housing AT&T's...

AT&T integrates Cingular with new ‘Experience Store’

AT&T Inc. is retooling the look and feel of its wireless retail stores to reflect a multi-faceted product offering, and introduced its first super-sized, flashy AT&T Experience Store in Houston.The company called the 5,000-square-foot store "the first to demonstrate the benefits of housing AT&T's...

Helio unveils new Samsung phone

Mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C. added a new phone to its lineup, the "Heat" from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. The slider-style phone supports Helio's full-track music download service and GPS location offerings, as well as touch-sensitive keys. The phone is selling for $150."Young...

Weekly infrastructure awards wrap-up

The following list details this week's infrastructure awards for the cellular, Wi-Fi and WiMAX industries. The contracts are broken down by transmission technology, country and vendor. The value of the contract is included when available. Wi-Fi United States: The city of Napa, Calif., has...

Helio hopes to count 250,000 customers by end of this year: Launches music service to fuel growth

Mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C. said last week that it expects to reach the 100,000-customer mark by early in the second quarter and launched a full-track music download service to compete with similar offerings from rival MVNOs and traditional operators.The company ended last...

Helio burns through $200M in 2006, expects 100,000 customers by Q2

Helio L.L.C. expects to reach the 100,000-customer mark by early in the second quarter, and its subscribers have been generating average revenue per user of more than $100 per month, the mobile virtual network operator said.The company ended 2006 with 70,000 customers, according to...

Wireless retailing like marriage: Some years are good, some aren’t

Regional wireless retailer Wireless Zone has announced an ambitious plan to expand its 275 locations to a total of 400, in 400 business days. Wireless Zone CEO Kevin Sinclai, said that if the company isn't growing, it's losing its value to its partners and...

More Web traffic, more on-deck friction: Carriers could force smaller content providers to work with ‘official’ marketing firms

Like real estate, mobile advertising is all about location. And carriers are scrambling to cash in on the most desirable territory in wireless data: the deck.Network operators are hastily choosing mobile marketing partners and developing strategies for placing banner ads, clickable links and other...

Hedgehogging

Hedge*hog*ing v. Interrupting conversations in an office environment by poking your head over the top of the cube.Further proof that technology is surpassing people's ability to comprehend it. Some rocket scientists moonlighting as thieves were arrested in New York after authorities activated the signal...

Mobile gaming goes truly mobile

While most mobile-game makers are targeting mass-market users with casual one-button offerings, boutique developer Your World Games Ltd. is hoping to find an audience with a line of sophisticated, location-aware games.The Orlando, Fla.-based startup is putting the finishing touches on its initial offering, a...