LOS ANGELES--Skepticism about the potential of mobile television is rampant within the wireless industry, according to a recent survey of executives conducted by Mercer Management Consulting. However, a panel of executives during a breakout session at last week's CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment show...
RealNetworks Inc. is buying itself a bigger space on the wireless entertainment playground with a $350 million acquisition of South Korean-based developer WiderThan Co. Ltd. The Seattle-based digital media company said it will spend $17.05 per share to acquire WiderThan, which provides ringback tones,...
LOS ANGELES--Money is flowing again and major corporations often respond to sales pitches when choosing mobile technologies--great news for the wireless industry, according to speakers during the opening keynote at last week's CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment show. Corporate spending on information technology tends...
Lucent Technologies Inc. announced it agreed to acquire Mobilitec, a privately held provider of content management software for wireless service providers. Lucent said Mobilitec's solutions will strengthen its voice, video, data and multimedia applications platforms, thus enabling more service offerings for mobile and broadband...
LOS ANGELES--MindMatics said it has been chosen by Boost Mobile to enable Boost's VIP loyalty program. MindMatics said its solution will allow Boost to capture information about its customers and then provide tailored services and products, special promotions and updates based on the information...
LOS ANGELES--Mobile messaging applications provider Air2Web said wireless marketing solutions provider Announce Mobile has chosen Air2Web's Content Gateway to power two of its mobile marketing initiatives. One initiative is HomeCell, a service that gives real-estate agents and individual sellers the ability to provide property...
LOS ANGELES--Telescope Inc. and mBlox said they have formed a partnership to offer interactive "participation TV" services to broadcasters and production companies. Telescope provides mobile and interactive TV solutions and operates a large phone voting system. mBlox is a mobile transaction network. Together the...
LOS ANGELES--Palm Inc. said it launched its Palm Developer Network, which provides resources to hardware and software developers building products based on Palm OS and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile Pocket PC. The program, which replaces Palm's existing developer program PluggedIn, provides technical, business and...
BASKING RIDGE, N.J.--Technology distributor Ingram Micro Inc. announced it will begin reselling services from Verizon Wireless, including the carrier's VZOffice voice and data products and services. "We are very pleased that Ingram Micro will offer Verizon Wireless' products and services, including our high-speed BroadbandAccess...
Sure, it's fun to crack jokes about snazzy-suit-wearing lawyers, but the reality is that eventually everyone comes to appreciate a competent attorney, and the wireless industry is no different. Hence, Edward Donohue, Catherine Blue and Thomas Carroll formed Donohue & Blue plc, a law...
WASHINGTON--The Federal Communications Commission hopes to adopt rules next month to start it down a path that will allow unlicensed devices to operate in vacant TV spectrum following the completion of the transition to digital TV in 2009. The full commission expects to vote...
New York City handed Northrop Grumman a five-year, $500 million contract to build and maintain a wireless broadband public-safety network designed to add high-speed data and video capabilities to the city's first responders and transportation personnel. The network will be built with San Bruno,...
LOS ANGELES--Starwave Mobile announced new licensing deals and a move to sell content directly to consumers. Starwave Mobile gained licensing rights from Beyonce Inc. and Sony BMG to develop and publish a mobile game around the singer. Expected to launch in 2007, Starwave Mobile...
WASHINGTON--Technology exists to solve the interoperability problem, according to the Department of Homeland Security secretary, so there is no need to establish a dedicated funding source for interoperable communications. DHS has already spent "hundreds of millions of dollars" on interoperability, said Michael Chertoff. "I...
Social-networking Internet site MySpace.com tapped mobile software developer UIEvolution to provide a user interface for its wireless offering.The news marks a big win for UIEvolution, a Bellevue, Wash.-based developer that offers technology designed to allow users to access content across devices and networks. News...
WASHINGTON--California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger planned last Friday to sign into law legislation banning motorists from operating a cell phones. The legislation allows drivers to use hands-free devices to conduct conversations while behind the wheel. California joins New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, the District of...
WASHINGTON--The Federal Communications Commission may scrap the band-manager concept as a way to manage spectrum as it examines what to do with the 700 MHz guard-band spectrum being returned by Sprint Nextel Corp. Only six spectrum-user agreements have been signed by one of the...
WASHINGTON--As the Federal Communications Commission began examining industry reaction to its June decision to raise the safe-harbor amount the wireless industry can use to pay into the universal-service fund, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin found himself defending a more radical reform effort known as reverse...
WASHINGTON--Wireless industry trade association CTIA asked the Federal Communications Commission to delay the comment cycle for its re-examination of the service and licensing rules for the 700 MHz spectrum band because the auction for advanced wireless services is still ongoing. "The timing of the...
L.M. Ericsson said it's looking for 500 engineers to accelerate its research into next-generation Internet Protocol-based networks and multimedia technology. The move coincides with Ericsson's attempts to morph into a more customer-focused organization by reorganizing itself into three business units: Networks, Global Services and...
Pantech Wireless Inc., the U.S.-based subsidiary of Korean mobile-phone manufacturer Pantech Group, launched a new camera phone that is being offered via Cingular Wireless L.L.C.The Pantech C120 is a slim, bar-style phone that includes a VGA camera, color display and speaker phone. The device...
WASHINGTON--The recent scandal at Hewlett-Packard Co.--where executives collected the phone records of board members to ascertain who had been speaking with the news media--is the impetus needed to push a bill onto the House floor requiring carriers to better protect telecommunications customer call records...
The cell-phone industry points to results of a newly released survey of 1,000 cell-phone users nationwide to buttress its argument that consumers are largely satisfied with their cell phone service and skeptical of attempts to impose new government regulations. The polling data, collected by...
WASHINGTON--Freescale Semiconductor Inc. confirmed last week it is talking with parties relating to a possible transaction characterized by a New York Times story as a bidding war between two private equity firms to acquire the chipmaker for $16 billion. The Times, citing sources involved...
