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Big-name vendors, sans Ericsson, get WiMAX fever

The WiMAX ecosystem went from skinny to fat last week as Nortel Networks Ltd. and Nokia Corp. launched their WiMAX portfolios at the WiMAX World trade show in Boston. To date, Alcatel Inc., Fujitsu Network Communications, Motorola Inc., Nortel and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd....

Great Call focuses on simplicity with ‘Jitterbug’ MVNO

DEL MAR, Calif.-Great Call Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. announced the launch of a new mobile virtual network operator called Jitterbug, named after the dance craze that originated in the 1930s and popularized by band leader Cab Calloway. The MVNO will sell phones...

Thin phones becoming ubiquitous

BOSTON-Thin is in, except in the case of mobile phones. A new report from research firm Strategy Analytics says phones have to be more than just slim to catch consumers' eyes these days. Ultra-thin phones were a unique item not all that long ago,...

Sony Ericsson: ‘We’re on a roll’: Momentum relies on innovation, supply chain

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...

Palm promises consumer smart phone … maybe for next year?

Under pressure to assure the market that it can expand its traditional, enterprise customer base, Palm Inc. made a high-profile announcement last week in New York at the DigitalLife 2006 conference that it would launch a Treo 680 model for consumers in the United...

UTStarcom up for ‘strategic alternatives’

ALAMEDA, Calif.-UTStarcom Inc. said it is exploring "strategic alternatives" and has retained Merrill Lynch & Co. as its financial adviser. The announcement could mean that UTStarcom is openly seeking to sell itself or merge with another company. "Our board of directors and management team...

Adobe acquires Actimagine technology to bolster Flash Lite product

SAN JOSE, Calif.-Adobe Systems Inc. said it acquired vector graphics technology developed by Actimagine, a company that provides software solutions for video and interactive vector graphics. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Adobe said the acquisition allows it to extend the reach of its...

Ask.com expands mobile search efforts

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 find...

Showtime leaves deck with new video content

NEW YORK-Content provider Mobile Streams said it built an off-deck WAP portal to provide content from Showtime Networks Inc. The company said it will offer video clips from various Showtime programs. The portal initially will offer video clips and wallpapers from the new series...

Microsoft to use Ingenio for sponsored mobile search

SAN FRANCISCO-Following the lead of rivals Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. announced it will add sponsored results to its new mobile search service. Through a new partnership with voice-commerce vendor Ingenio Inc., mobile Windows Live Search users will be able to make...

Telus Mobility launches pair of GPS-based services

VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Canadian operator Telus Mobility launched two handset-based Global Positioning System services developed by Networks In Motion. Telus said its new Navigator and Kid Find services are now available using the carrier's CDMA2000 1x coverage area in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. The...

Northrop Grumman: NYC contract sign of future

WASHINGTON—Northrop Grumman Corp.'s five-year, $500 million contract to build a broadband public-safety wireless network in New York City could become the new model for equipping city and state officials with state-of-the-art equipment that enables interoperable voice and data communications offered not by a single...

InPhonic teams with Best Buy for phone sales

WASHINGTON—Online phone retailer InPhonic Inc. announced it will power the online mobile phone sales of retailer Best Buy Co Inc. InPhonic said it will be the provider and fulfillment partner of cellular products and services on BestBuy.com. "We are very excited to team with...

Wireless spending on the rise, as are customer expectations

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.—Customer spending on wireless services continues to increase, according to the latest survey by J.D. Power and Associates—and consumers' expectations of their wireless carriers will continue to rise along with their spending. The firm's latest customer satisfaction survey showed that non-voice services...

Wireless enterprise market to reach $10B mark by 2010, report finds

BOSTON—Wireless enterprise data services in North America will generate more than $10 billion each year by 2010, according to a study from research firm Strategy Analytics Inc. The company said the market will serve more than 41 million users in North America by the...

SouthernLinc continues to push Sprint Nextel over iDEN roaming

WASHINGTON—In the ongoing battle over whether national carriers should have to provide automatic roaming access to smaller operators, SouthernLinc Wireless is pleading its case as an iDEN operator with only one potential national roaming partner: Sprint Nextel Corp. SouthernLinc, which offers iDEN services in...

MVNO market not as easy as one, two, three

The mobile virtual network operator space has been a-buzz lately, with a new MVNO launched, one closing shop, another sold and yet another expanding its service offering beyond handsets into laptop cards. Following is a look at five areas experts said MVNOs need to...

Leap considers alternatives for new AWS spectrum

Leap Wireless International Inc. offered insight into its plans for the spectrum it won in the FCC's advanced wireless services auction, outlining a buildout that should start next year and ultimately cover about 24 million potential customers at a cost of about $28 per...

Investors anxious on Centennial earnings drop

WALL, N.J.—U.S. and Caribbean operator Centennial Communications Corp.'s earnings were down sharply, coming in at a loss of $2.2 million compared with a gain of $14.6 million in the same period last year. The company's operating income and consolidated revenue were both up slightly...

Vodafone leans on expertise of EDS, IBM for application development, maintenance

LONDON—Wireless giant Vodafone Group plc selected two U.S. companies to manage its application development and maintenance services around the world. Vodafone chose to outsource the operations to EDS and IBM Corp. after an eight-month process and 11 competitive bidders. The companies will write code...

New VC firm taking long-term approach

"Idealistic" isn't a word commonly associated with venture capitalists. But Brian Biniak, founder of the new wireless venture-capital firm Provenance Ventures L.L.C., believes there is a business case for making the world a better place. "Some people complain about it, and I decided that...

T-Mobile USA playing favorites in battle with competition

The wireless industry already has MyCircle, Inner Circle, Mobile-to-Anyone, and Sprint-to-Home. Add to that list "myFaves," the new offer from T-Mobile USA Inc. that allows customers to make unlimited calls to a handful of wireless or wireline numbers. The move by T-Mobile USA is...

Social networking: The enterprise angle: Neighborhood America makes wireless play

User-generated content and online communities typically conjure images of teens huddled over their computers creating profiles, sharing video clips and flirting. But David Bankston's view of Internet communities includes such unlikely suspects as the U.S. Department of Defense, CH2M Hill, ABC News and the...

Grass-roots photo messaging uptake: field of dreams?

Whether it's goofy pet photos, front row at a rock concert or eyewitness to disaster, the spread of camera-equipped phones has enabled up-to-the-minute photos for social networks and citizen journalism of the most compelling sort. In fact, as camera-equipped mobile phones have penetrated the...