Spring has arrived, Opening Day is in the rear-view, and once again we found ourselves at the annual hyperbolic chamber that is CTIA's Big Show. So in an effort to deflate the windstorm on the horizon, I have a few requests for this time...
Mobile phone design efforts over the past two years appear to have taken the handset as far as it will go, for now, if the handsets coming out of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, are any indication.The forefront of innovation today is...
Nokia Corp. said it would purchase Trolltech ASA, a Norwegian software company, for about $153 million, subject to approval by Trolltech's stockholders. Nokia appeared eager for the deal and Trolltech seemed amenable as the Finnish handset giant offered a 60% premium above Trolltech's closing...
Separate mobile Linux efforts have been cited by competitors as likely to lead to fragmentation.That's an ongoing debate, to be sure. But one Linux camp and an analyst said last week that "fragmentation" definitely means fragmenting the pool of application developers available to any...
Like Daryl Hannah in "Blade Runner," Google Inc. last week showcased an attention-grabbing Android. But while the Internet giant garnered headlines and wowed fanboys with its latest move in wireless, some developers reacted with a big yawn.Google ended weeks of speculation about its mobile...
Google Inc. drew considerable media attention last week with an idea and 33 influential friends.Missing was its long-rumored gPhone, whose actual fate remains a closely guarded secret. Instead, Google announced a consortium of 34 companies-the Open Handset Alliance (OHA)-and a common goal of producing...
Differentiation, finally!Google's announcement that its mobile play will consist of an open-source software platform highlights the division in industry between featuring content on the carrier's deck and the benefits and risks of taking it off-deck. The editorial staff at RCR Wireless News was just...
Google Inc. is the new E.F. Hutton-when the Internet search giant talks, everybody listens. Many observers today expected to hear about a long-rumored Google phone-it didn't happen. Nor were any specific handset models announced. But listeners probably included likely competitors to the new Open...
If you own the platform, you control the message.That's not some esoteric, technological mumbo-jumbo-though you'll hear plenty of that this week-but one take on Symbian Ltd.'s position as sponsor of the Smartphone Summit, which allows the company to spin the data on its fortunes.While...
Palm Inc. is down, but not out. The smartphone maker has struggled to develop a new operating system, bring relevant devices to market and seen its market share plunge-and just posted a loss of $841,000 for its first fiscal quarter, which ended Aug. 31....
The following list includes venture capital and other investments into wireless companies announced during the past week. The value of the investment is included when available.--Apprion: Anvil Investment Associates L.P. led a $12 million Series B round of funding into Apprion, which develops optimization...
Motorola Inc. last week upped its bet on Linux, christening a new version of its Java/Linux platform and claiming that the open-source operating system will be used on as much as 60% of its phones "in the next few years."The manufacturer initially announced plans...
Welcome to our Monday column, Analyst Angle. Every Monday, the industry's leading analysts give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry, from carriers to content to handsets to infrastructure.The July 4th holiday is just behind us, and I'm still reveling in...
Everyone, it seems, wants a piece of the Linux action. That includes Symbian OS champion Nokia Corp., which recently joined the Linux Foundation, and IMS Research, which just joined its brethren in issuing a report on Linux' pros and cons and the dynamics of...
Palm Inc.'s management told analysts in New York yesterday that it will exploit growth in the smartphone sector to thrive, yet ducked questions about whether the company would be acquired, according to various media reports. Analyst Maynard Um of UBS wrote in a note...
Nokia Corp. sold more than half the 71 million smartphones purchased last year and Motorola Inc. followed, with less than 9 percent of the market, according to a new study by ABI Research. Nokia racked up sales of 40 million smartphones out of the...
Nokia Corp. hopes to expand its mobile navigation business by offering free downloadable maps to users with a variety of smartphones.The handset maker announced plans to give away smart2go, a platform that delivers mapping and routing information in more than 150 counties and can...
The promise of an open-source platform for mobile phones-and, undoubtedly, competitive pressures-has led a group of competitors and allies to formally found the LiMo Foundation to spur adoption of Linux.Motorola Inc., NEC, NTT DoCoMo Inc., Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Vodafone...
In the hard light of early January, the shape of the year unfolding ahead remains somewhat amorphous. What to watch for in the handset space, the wireless industry's most tangible interface with consumers? An informal survey of leading analysts, not surprisingly, takes a multifaceted...
BEAVERTON, Ore.-Chinese handset manufacturer Datang Mobile announced it is joining the Open Source Development Labs consortium, which is focused on encouraging adoption of Linux and open source software.Datang is joining the consortium as an active member of the Mobile Linux Initiative."Linux is being deployed...
LONDON—Vodafone Group plc will narrow its terminal platforms to three standards—Symbian Series 60, Linux and Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Mobile—to be more efficient at device support, the network operator announced. The operator also announced a deal with Microsoft to develop software to cost effectively speed...
Having helped triple his company's year-on-year profits in the third quarter, Najmi Jarwala, Sony Ericsson's chief executive officer for North America, can afford to wax philosophical about his company's future. "Innovation is our differentiator," he said last week. "If we continue to innovate-and execute...
Sprint Nextel Corp. introduced a new offering for business customers, promising them end-to-end mobile security that can support devices from multiple carriers running multiple operating systems. The Sprint Mobile Security service allows customers to choose from three different types of passwords and enforces the...
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Sprint Nextel Corp. introduced a new offering for business customers, promising them end-to-end mobile security that can support devices from multiple carriers running multiple operating systems. The Sprint Mobile Security service allows customers to choose from three different types of passwords and...
