BASKING RIDGE, N.J.—Starting next week, Chocolate phone users will be able to get a software upgrade that will add speakerphone capabilities to their handset. Users will be able to visit Verizon Wireless retail outlets to get the free software upgrade. Verizon recently introduced its...
NEW YORK—Two research firms say the future looks bright for location-based services running on Global Positioning System technology. ABI Research’s latest study on the subject suggests that subscribers of GPS-enabled LBS services will reach 315 million by 2011, up from 12 million this year....
NEW YORK—Nokia Corp. announced five new GSM phones—the company insists the devices are "multimedia computers"—for the United States, but did not announce any accompanying carrier deals. Three of the devices—the N70, N73 and N91—are optimized for music. The devices include enhanced memory with 1...
Vodafone Germany launched a downloadable Java-based mapping application that features hi-resolution aerial photos and a searchable database of more than 4,000 German points of interest. Like Google Earth and other mapping applications for computers, Mobile Earth allows users to access satellite images of specific...
METHUEN, Mass.-SiGe Semiconductor raised $19.5 million in an expansion round of financing led by venture-capital and private-equity firms, the company announced. SiGe Semiconductor makes radio frequency modules that are integrated into GSM-, GPRS- and EDGE-enabled mobile handsets, Bluetooth-enabled devices, GPS and telematics systems, WiMAX...
VANCOUVER, British Columbia-Sierra Wireless Inc. says it expects to begin shipping wireless wide area network cards supporting CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Revision A networks during the first quarter of 2007. The company added that WWAN cards supporting HSDPA technology should be available later in the...
DENVER-Qwest Communications International Inc. said it plans to launch Sanyo Electronics Co. Ltd.'s Katana handset to its customers nationwide. The Katana, or model 6600, is a thin, clamshell phone that more than nods at Motorola Inc.'s Razr. "Katana," Sanyo points out, is the name...
DENVER—Qwest Communications International Inc. said it plans to launch Sanyo Electronics Co. Ltd.’s Katana handset to its customers nationwide, beginning tomorrow. The Katana, or model 6600, is a thin, clamshell phone that more than nods at Motorola Inc.’s Razr. "Katana," Sanyo points out, is...
METHUEN, Mass.—SiGe Semiconductor raised $19.5 million in an expansion round of financing led by venture-capital and private-equity firms, the company announced. SiGe Semiconductor makes radio frequency modules that are integrated into GSM-, GPRS- and EDGE-enabled mobile handsets, Bluetooth-enabled devices, GPS and telematics systems, WiMAX...
VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Sierra Wireless Inc. says it expects to begin shipping wireless wide area network cards supporting CDMA2000 1x EV-DO Revision A networks during the first quarter of 2007, along with cards for HSDPA networks later in the year. The company said its AirCard...
ASPEN, Colo.-The debates over net neutrality, protecting minors from nefarious content and digital rights management took a hiatus from their usual home in Washington, D.C., and were hashed out in picturesque Aspen, Colo. instead. The annual mountain conference of the Progress & Freedom Foundation...
Wherify Wireless Inc. will retail its Wherifone GPS Locator phones through Toys `R' Us outlets nationwide starting Oct. 1, after a long delay during which the firm twice re-engineered the product. Wherify plans to sell the phone under a mobile virtual network operator business...
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif.—Wherify Wireless Inc. will retail its Wherifone GPS Locator phones through Toys ‘R’ Us outlets nationwide starting Oct. 1, after a long delay during which the firm twice re-engineered the product. Wherify will sell the phone under a mobile virtual network operator...
Commercial telematics, in particular mobile research management, is driving location-based services today, according to ABI Research. But the next big battleground will be to add Web portals to vehicle navigation devices. Following is a roundup of trends to watch in location-based services. The technology...
Location-based services seem to encompass consumer applications that generate plenty of excitement among consumers, yet somehow, uptake of LBS applications is not exactly booming-except in cars. Cell-phone users in the United States have been slow to adopt mapping and tracking services, but drivers are...
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...
Welcome to Hedgehogging. As you know from your own jobs, there is always something happening in the wireless industry. Some of it makes us stop what we're doing to clap, boo or simply question these developments. This column is a round-up of wireless happenings...
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...
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif.—Chilean wireless operator Entel PCS said it launched a location-based safety service in Chile using products provided by Wherify Wireless Inc. The service, called Ubicom, uses Wherify’s Wherifone G560 GPRS/GPS Locator phones and its Global Location Services Center, which Wherify said would...
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 to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Sprint Nextel Corp. has added a Sanyo Electronics Co. Ltd. handset to its lineup that includes a free parental control feature that allows parents to limit incoming and outgoing calls to a list that can be programmed into the phone. The SCP-2400...
With a flurry of launches last week, the wireless industry appears to have re-discovered-and is falling head over heels in love with-The Family. Both Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA Inc. announced new family-focused services on the day that Disney Mobile began selling its highly...
Disney Mobile may be causing a spate of copy-catting of its family-oriented services, but the mobile virtual network operator is far from bucking industry trends when it comes to its newly unveiled calling plans and packages. In general, the MVNO's offerings are in line...
BASKING RIDGE, N.J.—Verizon Wireless has entered the growing list of wireless companies offering anxious parents the ability to use GPS and a cellular phone to track the comings and goings of their children. The carrier launched its Chaperone service with two levels of service:...
