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Handsets garner limelight at 3GSM

European operator Vodafone Group plc announced a new agreement with Chinese equipment manufacturer Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. that calls for Huawei to build 3G phones that Vodafone plans to sell under its own brand. The move highlights a significant, growing trend in the worldwide...

Bush administration tackles tricky China trade issues

WASHINGTON-The Bush administration faces increased pressure to take a tougher stance on trade with China, a development that could lead to strained relations with the Asian giant and possibly complicate the near-term efforts of U.S. mobile phone vendors to compete for more billion-dollar contracts...

Tao Group releases handset software

READING, England-Software company Tao Group launched a mobile version of its intent multimedia software platform for handset vendors. Tao Group said the intent Mobile solution supports several different operating systems-including Linux and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows CE-and features a middleware suite and an application suite...

3GSM highlights continued momentum of converged services

BARCELONA, Spain-The evolution toward convergence could make for some strange bedfellows. The 3GSM World Congress was named for third-generation cellular services, but it was the alphabet soup of other technologies that garnered much of the attention at last week's show. Motorola Inc. and Nokia...

Mobile TV taking hold in Europe

Virgin Mobile Holdings plc is set to be one of the first European operators to launch mobile TV services using a dedicated mobile TV network. The company, which operates a number of mobile virtual operator services around the world, laid out plans to launch...

Virgin Mobile teaming with Microsoft to launch mobile TV offering

BARCELONA, Spain—Virgin Mobile is set to be one of the first European operators to launch mobile TV services using a dedicated mobile TV network. The carrier, which operates a number of mobile virtual operator services around the world, laid out plans to launch mobile...

Access rechristens Palm OS as ALP

BARCELONA, Spain—Japanese browser vendor Access Co. Ltd. gave details about what it plans to do with Palm OS vendor PalmSource Inc., which the company last year acquired for $324 million. The company said it would rebrand the Palm operating system as the Access Linux...

Microsoft crows over wireless e-mail

BARCELONA, Spain-Microsoft Corp. furthered its efforts in the wireless e-mail space with an announcement that Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Orange SA, T-Mobile International and Vodafone Group plc plan to offer its push e-mail service. The service works on devices running Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system.The...

Microsoft acquires mobile search vendor MotionBridge

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...

Handset vendors stick to the mass market with gadget introductions

BARCELONA, Spain-The world's handset makers rushed to show off the fruits of their labors on the opening day of the 3GSM World Congress trade show, but most of the newly unveiled gadgets were aimed at the mass market and included a relatively tame set...

Symbian cuts OS pricing due to pressure from Windows, Linux

Operating system vendor Symbian Ltd. announced it will cut its licensing fees in half in a bid to counter encroaching competition from Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile OS and Linux OS. Symbian currently charges handset makers $5 per phone (for shipments of more than 2...

AWS auction could spell windfall for government, though analysts differ on value

The Federal Communications Commission's planned auction of so-called "advanced wireless services" spectrum scheduled for June could spell a windfall for government coffers, though analysts are mixed on the amount of said windfall. The government has said it expects to generate $25 billion during the...

Vendors turn up the volume at 3GSM

BARCELONA, Spain-As the 3GSM World Congress conference kicks off, music-related announcements from the industry are humming right along. Here are some of the highlights: Motorola Inc. announced a deal to use Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Media platform in a new series of music phones. The...

Tao Group releases handset software

READING, England-Software company Tao Group launched a mobile version of its intent multimedia software platform for handset vendors. Tao Group said the intent Mobile solution supports several different operating systems-including Linux and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows CE-and features a middleware suite and an application suite...

Sony Ericsson hedges on wireless e-mail standards

LONDON-Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. released a new high-end 3G device and also laid out its plans for wireless e-mail. The company apparently has decided to forgo choosing sides in the hotly contested wireless e-mail market by supporting virtually every major wireless e-mail program...

McAfee looking after handsets with anti-virus platform

Imagine this: a company's chief financial officer uses his smart phone to download a game while waiting at an airport-but the game contains a virus that sends all the data on the phone to a Web site, and the company's financial results get posted...

Presence migrating from chat rooms to board rooms

One of the most popular features of instant messaging is expanding off the desktop and into the mobile enterprise. It's called presence, and it allows users to determine the availability of others. An employee, for instance, can use presence to determine whether a colleague...

Vendors unite for common gaming platform

DALLAS-More than a dozen major developers, publishers, handset manufacturers and technology companies are working to streamline the process for developing and delivering mobile games. Activision Inc., Digital Chocolate, Electronic Arts, Microsoft Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Texas Instruments Inc. are part of a...

Wireless enterprise to hit $22 billion this year, study predicts

BOSTON-The wireless enterprise market is expected to move to the mainstream this year, according to a new report from Strategy Analytics. The market is predicted to grow more than 20 percent this year to more than $22 billion in the North America, Western Europe...

In bid for mass market dominance, Symbian halves licensing prices

LONDON-Operating system vendor Symbian Ltd. announced it will cut its licensing fees in half in a bid to counter encroaching competition from Windows Mobile and Linux. Symbian currently charges handset makers $5 per phone (for shipments of more than 2 million units) to use...

Weather Channel launches clickable ads through Third Screen Media

ATLANTA-The Weather Channel Interactive announced plans for a mobile marketing campaign targeting wireless Web surfers.The company said it plans to use a clickable banner ad for Aruba Tourism on its mobile Internet pages that will redirect users to an interactive information page. Surfers can...

Censorship at core of debate for business practices in China

WASHINGTON-U.S. tech firms, bedazzled by Internet, wireless and other business opportunities in China's massively underserved market, find themselves facing intensive scrutiny and criticism from Congress, human-rights groups and others for adhering to the communist government's censorship policies. Chinese censorship, a growing controversy that complicates...

Wireless e-mail space intense with patents, lawsuits, competition

The flurry of legal wrangling in the wireless e-mail space continued as Visto Corp. filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against competitor Good Technology Inc. Meanwhile, Research In Motion Ltd. scored several patent wins. In its lawsuit, Visto accused Good of violating four of its patents...

Sony Ericsson goes all-in on wireless e-mail

LONDON-Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications L.P. released a new high-end 3G device and also laid out its plans for wireless e-mail. The company apparently has decided to forgo choosing sides in the hotly contested wireless e-mail market by supporting virtually every major wireless e-mail program...