NEW YORK—Internet search company Ask.com upgraded its mobile search offering, rolling out a free service featuring Internet sites, driving directions, maps and weather. The subsidiary of InterActive Corp. launched Ask Mobile, an ad-free, Internet-based service designed to minimize the number of keystrokes needed to...
BELLEVUE, Wash.—InfoSpace Inc. said it plans to lay off about 250 employees as part of a restructuring plan. The move follows news late last month that Cingular Wireless L.L.C. plans to develop direct licensing relationships with major record labels next year, instead of using...
Less than two years ago, carriers were blaming publishers for stifling mobile gaming by churning out a surfeit of high-profile, licensed games that made for a rotten user experience. Now it's the game makers' that are pointing fingers. Handsets are quickly evolving into mini-videogame...
BELLEVUE, Wash.—Shares of InfoSpace Inc. plunged after the company said it expects its revenues to take a hit due to a plan by an unnamed carrier partner to develop direct licensing relationships with major record labels starting next year. InfoSpace said it generated nearly...
BELLEVUE, Wash.—InfoSpace Inc. reported a profit for the second quarter, surprising analysts who expected the company to log a loss on the quarter. Net income for the quarter came in at $1 million, down from net income of $16.3 million during the same period...
U.S. carriers are demanding more of a place at the content trough, content provides say, whittling away at already onerous revenue-share deals. And publishers are feeling the squeeze. Ringtone vendors and others have long complained about operators that pocket the lion's share of content...
You can call it off-deck, off-portal or off-network, but the stampede of companies looking to sell content directly to consumers is unquestionably on. Off-deck activity has long dominated the wireless market in Europe, where a lack of garden walls has encouraged subscribers to use...
BELLEVUE, Wash.—InfoSpace Inc. quietly launched its long-awaited direct-to-consumer effort with an Internet storefront hawking mobile ringtones, graphics and games. The site, www.moviso.com, offers content at tiered subscription levels as well as a la carte. The content is available to subscribers of Cingular Wireless L.L.C.,...
Mobile game-makers spent their time at the world's largest video-game conference trying to reconcile two very different bills of health. A report issued by M:Metrics in advance of the Electronics Entertainment Expo earlier this month indicates mobile-gaming activity has been consistently flat during the...
LOS ANGELES-Like fans at a rock concert shouting to be heard above the din, game publishers are trying just about anything to rise above overcrowded carrier decks and present their wares-and their names-to consumers. Multi-layered decks have long been a problem for mobile content...
BELLEVUE, Wash.—Shares of InfoSpace Inc. dipped after the company reported first-quarter revenue of $90 million, up 4 percent from the year-ago period. The mobile communications company and content provider topped its own forecast as well as analyst projections, reporting $3 million in net profit...
LAS VEGAS-Having set itself up as the text-message connection for American Idol, Cingular Wireless L.L.C. is aiming to help other musical unknowns grab a bit of the limelight.Cingular is partnering with the popular social networking Web site MySpace.com and mobile content company InfoSpace Inc....
LAS VEGAS—Having set itself up as the text-message connection for American Idol, Cingular Wireless L.L.C. is aiming to help other musical unknowns grab a little bit of the limelight. Cingular is partnering with the popular social networking Web site MySpace.com and mobile content company...
Motricity Corp. is building on its relationship with Alltel Corp., inking a deal to deliver content and wireless Internet service to the operator's subscribers regardless of device. The agreement, which will be announced this week, expands on Motricity's pact to supply wireless Web service...
IRVINE, Calif.-Mobile search provider go2 said it delivered more than 24 million unique user sessions in 2005, marking a 51-percent increase from its 2004 usage figures. Wireless users viewed more than 210 million pages of local information from go2 last year, the company said;...
IRVINE, Calif.—Mobile search provider go2 said it delivered more than 24 million unique user sessions in 2005, marking a 51-percent increase from its 2004 usage figures.Wireless users viewed more than 210 million pages of local information from go2 last year, the company said; popular...
SAN ANTONIO, Texas—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. subscribers can use their phones to access photos, e-mail, instant messaging and address books from their Yahoo Inc. accounts.Yahoo’s latest effort to expand into wireless uses a Nokia 6682 handset that can also receive custom news, weather and sports....
BARCELONA, Spain-Software giant Microsoft Corp. announced it acquired Paris-based mobile search company MotionBridge. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in June 2000, MotionBridge powers mobile search services for operators including O2 plc, T-Mobile International, Orange SA and Sprint Nextel Corp. On Sprint...
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.-The packed mobile search playground got even more crowded as digital marketing company iCrossing Inc. unveiled a new business unit. The company launched mCrossing, which it said will use text messaging and wireless search results to deliver advertising campaigns on wireless phones. ICrossing...
BELLEVUE, Wash.-Shares of InfoSpace Inc. edged downward despite a solid fourth quarter that helped the company nearly double its annual profits.The Internet and mobile search provider reported a net fourth-quarter income of $37.9 million, or $1.14 per diluted share, up from $18.9 million, or...
BOULDER, Colo.-The Mobile Marketing Association is hoping to lay the foundation for mobile search revenues with a new document outlining potential business models, industry challenges and consumer needs. Calling mobile search "the next significant value creation opportunity for mobile operators around the world," the...
As marketing challenges and content-delivery issues continue to shackle the wireless content arena, game-makers are hoping to entice their own customers to act as sales associates. The number of U.S. mobile users who download games has actually fallen in recent months, according to figures...
Wireless is getting Googled. And, well, Yahoo'd. The Internet giants have made numerous headlines in recent weeks as they rush to become the premier destination on the wireless Web. And they're doing it in very different ways.Google Inc. fired the year's opening salvo earlier...
The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms.CarriersMorgan Stanley updated its estimates on Verizon Communications following the close of its acquisition of MCI. Fourth-quarter 2005 EPS estimate moves to 62 cents from...
