Two weeks after swallowing the rest of the Crazy Frog, News Corp. is reorganizing its mobile business.Rupert Murdoch's media giant this week will unveil Fox Mobile Group, a three-pronged operation created to leverage its immense portfolio, content-creation capabilities and distribution channels. The company also...
Federal courts on opposite sides of the country came to different conclusions in billing litigation against Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility, while the number of antitrust class-action texting lawsuits against the nation's top mobile-phone operators has skyrocketed to more than a dozen.While the various...
Carriers are beginning to use carrot-and-stick strategies to bring their third-party content partners to heel. And both the carrot and the stick are made of cash.Sprint Nextel Corp. earlier this year became the first U.S. carrier to formally tie revenue shares to business practices,...
Jamba said it will be the first digital retailer to offer music unencumbered by digital rights management (DRM) software under a deal with record label EMI.A joint venture between News Corp. and VeriSign Inc., Jamba said it will distribute an undisclosed number of DRM-free...
One way to get a sense of how much priority Hollywood networks are placing on mobile is to look at the executives on board and how many people are working on their respective teams.The big four networks-ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox-each takes a different...
The extended family of "The Simpsons" is making a big bet on mobile. The creative minds that introduced us to Bart, Homer, Marge, Lisa, Maggie and dozens more back in 1989 are now bringing fresh content to the third screen from Simpsons characters, new...
NEW YORK-There was, of course, no shortage of hype at last week's Mobile Marketing Forum in New York. But that enthusiasm was tempered by a surprising amount of restraint.EJL Wireless Research predicts mobile advertising will generate $9.5 billion worldwide by 2011, with the U.S....
NEW YORK-Jamster International bulked up its content portfolio in North America with a deal to offer ringtones, graphics and mobile games from the Walt Disney Internet Group. Disney and its third-party content licensing arm Starwave Mobile already use VeriSign Inc.'s mobile content business to...
NEW YORK—Jamster International bulked up its content portfolio in North America with a deal to offer ringtones, graphics and mobile games from the Walt Disney Internet Group. Disney and its third-party content licensing arm Starwave Mobile already use VeriSign Inc.’s mobile content business to...
VeriSign Inc. finally jettisoned the bulk of its direct-to-consumer mobile content business, selling a 51-percent stake in its Jamba subsidiary to News Corp. for $188 million. The companies announced plans to form a mobile entertainment joint venture, with Fox Mobile Entertainment retaining the Jamster...
LOS ANGELES—News Corp. and VeriSign announced plans to form a mobile entertainment joint venture in which News Corp. will have a controlling interest in VeriSign’s Jamba subsidiary. News Corp. said it plans to pay $188 million for the ability to combine Jamba with Fox...
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—Shares of VeriSign Inc. lost ground despite a rebound in the company's mobile content business during the second quarter. The network infrastructure and wireless content company said its Jamster and Jamba businesses generated a combined $74 million during the recent quarter, with...
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—Shares of VeriSign Inc. lost ground despite a rebound in the company's mobile content business during the second quarter. The network infrastructure and wireless content company said its Jamster and Jamba businesses generated a combined $74 million during the recent quarter, with...
ALBRIGHTON, United Kingdom—Mobile software developer ROK Media Ltd. said it has acquired U.K.-based content developer Fonedream. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.ROK’s offerings include a "place-shifting" device that allows users to watch their home TV broadcasts over mobile devices. The company said it...
WASHINGTON—Wireless industry trade association CTIA is hoping to spur direct-to-consumer revenues by expanding the industry’s short code program. The industry group, along with short-code administrator NeuStar Inc., announced open registration for six-digit short codes, which allow mobile users to access content or services by...
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.-VeriSign Inc.'s direct-to-consumer mobile content business continues to erode. The company reported $77 million in revenues from its Jamba and Jamster businesses during the first quarter, down 32 percent from the fourth quarter of 2005. While the decline in revenue was expected-the...
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—VeriSign Inc.’s direct-to-consumer mobile content business continues to erode. The company reported $77 million in revenues from its Jamba and Jamster businesses during the first quarter, down 32 percent from the fourth quarter of 2005. While the decline in revenue was expected—the...
Money continued to pour into the mobile marketing space last week as VeriSign Inc. inked an agreement to shell out $250 million in cash for wireless messaging and content services provider m-Qube Inc. M-Qube powers mobile storefronts and marketing campaigns for media companies and...
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—VeriSign Inc. continued its spending spree, inking an agreement to shell out $250 million in cash for mobile messaging and content services provider m-Qube Inc. M-Qube powers mobile storefronts and marketing campaigns for media companies and major brands including Sony Pictures, Warner...
Fox Mobile Entertainment is joining the ranks of wireless aggregators, unveiling a Web site that hawks music, games and images for mobile phones. But analysts say the News Corp. subsidiary may be lumbering onto a shrinking playground.Fox last week launched Mobizzo, an Internet storefront...
SAN FRANCISCO—VeriSign Inc.’s mobile content business is "looking like a disaster," according to a report released this week by American Technology Research analyst Albert Lin. Lin downgraded VeriSign to a sell rating, citing a flattening in revenues from ringtones, which account for as much...
HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—Fox Mobile Entertainment is joining the ranks of wireless aggregators, unveiling a Web site hawking music, games and images for mobile phones.The News Corp. subsidiary launched Mobizzo, an Internet storefront featuring content from Fox brands including "Family Guy," "Napoleon Dynamite" and the upcoming...
SAN FRANCISCO—Independent music aggregator Digital Rights Agency lashed out at Sprint Nextel Corp., blasting the carrier’s full-track download service for its "failure to include independent record label catalogs." DRA said it sent a letter to Sprint Nextel Chief Executive Officer Gary Forsee expressing its...
BARCELONA, Spain—Internet and mobile vendor VeriSign Inc. signed an agreement to acquire Vienna, Austria-based 3united Mobile Solutions AG, which is a privately held wireless applications service provider founded in 1999. 3united said its network connects with more than 50 wireless operators in Eastern Europe,...
