And welcome to a special CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2006 edition of our column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry—especially at trade shows—so this column is a chance for us at RCR to...
LOS ANGELES—Mobile Entertainment company WAAT Media and mobile games developer Charismatix formed a parent company, Twistbox Entertainment Inc., which the companies said will represent the operating unit and brand for all their general entertainment activities. Within 90 days, Charismatix will be rebranded as Twistbox...
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...
LOS ANGELES-A new partnership between TV Guide Mobile Entertainment Inc. and 4INFO Inc. aims to deliver TV listings to cellular phones. Wireless subscribers will immediately be able to search for programs by title, time or channel. The offering will work on either text messaging...
LOS ANGELES—A new partnership between TV Guide Mobile Entertainment Inc. and 4INFO Inc. aims to deliver TV listings to cellular phones. Wireless subscribers will immediately be able to search for programs by title, time or channel. The offering will work on either text messaging...
Employers who want to avoid the awkward situation of firing employees face to face may want to follow the lead of the Blue Banana body piercing studio in Cardiff, Wales, which fired one if its employees recently via text message. The company said it...
Canadian telecommunications company Telus has announced a partnership with mobile virtual network operator Amp'd Mobile Inc. in which Telus subscribers will have access to Amp'd services and content and Telus will manage most of the business operations.Meanwhile, Telus Ventures, Telus' venture investment division, announced...
Just when you thought mobile music personalization applications couldn't get any more disruptive, along come background tones. The latest-but surely not last-step in the evolution of such offerings, background tones play during entire conversations between mobile users. Subscribers can choose to assign songs for...
VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Canadian telecommunications company Telus has announced a partnership with mobile virtual network operator Amp’d Mobile Inc. in which Telus subscribers will have access to Amp’d services and content and Telus will manage most of the business operations. Meanwhile, Telus Ventures, Telus’ venture...
ANNAPOLIS, Md.—TeleCommunication Systems Inc. said it filed a lawsuit against Mobile 356 Inc. and WiderThan Americas Inc. claiming the companies infringed on its patents. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.TCS alleges the companies infringed its...
CYPRESS, Calif.—Bandai America Inc. announced plans to release a mobile-phone version of its popular Tamagotchi virtual-pet game. Tamagotchi, first introduced 10 years ago as a handheld game, requires users to care for a virtual pet by feeding it, playing with it and performing other...
The following list includes ratings changes and financial information for wireless companies announced this week by investment-banking and financial-services firms. Click here for wireless ratings from past weeks from RCR Wireless News. CarrierR.W. Baird dropped coverage on Nextel Partners Inc. following its acquisition by Sprint...
CYPRESS, Calif.—Bandai America Inc. announced plans to release a mobile-phone version of its popular Tamagotchi virtual-pet game. Tamagotchi, first introduced 10 years ago as a handheld game, requires users to care for a virtual pet by feeding it, playing with it and performing other...
LOS ANGELES—Publisher Konami Digital Entertainment Inc. said it will acquire mobile developer Blue Label Interactive Inc. in an effort to build and distribute cross-platform and other entertainment applications. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Konami hopes to increase its presence on the mobile playground...
Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCR to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
NEW YORK—Sonic Branding Solutions Inc., a mobile entertainment developer and publisher, said it acquired mobile software developer DeviceIQ Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal calls for all of DeviceIQ’s employees to transition to Sonic. In addition, Bob Pascazio, DeviceIQ’s founder...
"News of my death has been greatly exaggerated," Mark Twain is said to have written in 1897, when he remained hale and hearty. Qualcomm Inc. has taken a page from Twain and added a biblical twist, as it hails its new incarnation of BREW...
Sprint Nextel Corp. says it is testing so-called "4G" technologies for use on its expansive 2.5 GHz spectrum holdings and that it plans to choose one that has a "global reach and presence." The carrier said it was currently in talks with "other global...
NEW YORK—Sprint Nextel Corp. is reportedly in talks with Sling Media Inc. and other media companies to expand its mobile entertainment offerings and make them simpler for users to access. According to a Reuters story, Sprint Nextel is in talks with various companies, including...
WASHINGTON-Universal Studios is the latest mainstream media giant to go wireless in a big way, establishing a division dedicated to mobile content. Universal, which already has more than 60 licensing deals worldwide with mobile entertainment publishers, announced plans to launch 30 games as well...
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif.—Universal Studios is the latest mainstream media giant to go wireless in a big way, establishing a division dedicated to mobile content. Universal, which already has more than 60 licensing deals worldwide with mobile entertainment publishers, announced plans to launch 30 games...
LAS VEGAS-Mforma Group Inc. is the latest mobile-game publisher to get a makeover, dropping its name in an effort to become more consumer-friendly.The San Francisco-based developer is rebranding as Hands-On Mobile and expanding its portfolio to offer a variety of lifestyle applications in addition...
LAS VEGAS-SMS.ac Inc. is joining the stampede toward user-generated mobile content.The San Diego-based messaging company unveiled its Content Monitor software offering designed to allow users to publish and monetize their own content. Members can create blogs, video clips or music and set a price...
LAS VEGAS-SMS.ac Inc. is joining the stampede toward user-generated mobile content. The San Diego-based messaging company unveiled a software offering designed to allow users to publish and monetize their own content. Members can create blogs, video clips or music and set a price at...
