Vivendi Mobile Entertainment announced that Sandrine Dufour will take over as chairwoman of the company. She will take over for Robert de Metz who recently left Vivendi. The business unit's zaOza service will continue to be led by Cedric Ponsot, CEO of Vivendi Mobile...
Television just isn't the same these days. The writers' strike in Hollywood, now in its ninth week, has given millions another reason to turn off the tube. Unless reruns and reality TV are your thing, the TV set has essentially become a content wasteland...
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands-There's always a first shot at everything; first to the moon, first to summit Mount Everest, first to end homelessness. It may not be as altruistic as the latter, but Universal Music Group International and Nokia Corp. now have the distinction of...
Editor's Note: Welcome to Reality Check, a feature for RCR Wireless News' new weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile content industry to give their insights into the marketplace. In the coming weeks...
Editor's Note: Welcome to Reality Check, a feature for RCR Wireless News' new weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile content industry to give their insights into the marketplace. In the coming weeks...
After shutting down two mobile virtual network operations in the United States, Walt Disney Co. is hoping the third time is the charm; the company is restarting its "Disney Mobile" offering, this time in Japan.The company said it will work with Japanese mobile operator...
For a show that bills itself as a bleeding-edge event with a multiple personality disorder (One Show. Two Personalities.) last week's CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment conference in San Francisco was exceedingly tame.A disappointingly placid Steve Ballmer of Microsoft took center stage for the...
SAN FRANCISCO-Direct-to-consumer is going directly, well, nowhere.Approaching mobile users directly has long been seen as the path to riches for outfits too small-or too edgy-for placement on carrier decks. But the U.S. market for off-deck mobile content is shackled by inadequate billing systems, onerous...
The direct-to-consumer mobile content space is being shackled by inadequate billing systems and an overall lack of traffic, content providers and mobile software developers said Monday.The market for off-deck mobile content was once seen as a kind of equalizer for publishers and brands too...
The bloom is off the rose. And maybe it's about time.A longtime stage for all sorts of hyperbole, the CTIA I.T. conference this year is different. If Monday's pre-show events were any barometer, those of us in San Francisco this week are in store...
Carriers definitely should have a place at the mobile advertising table. But maybe not too much of a place.Mobile network operators and their content partners increasingly are looking to advertising dollars to help support flagging mobile data services. While $15-per-month mobile video services and...
AT&T Mobility's data traffic is "growing like crazy," according to Mark Collins, the carrier's VP of consumer data. But whether users will actually pay for this stuff is still far from clear.Collins touted AT&T's "quite staggering" growth in messaging, and continued to hammer away...
Quincy Jones knows a thing or two about entertainment. The 74-year-old has seen a lot during his 60 years in the industry, but even the 27-time Grammy award winner doesn't dare guess where things are heading for an industry already on its heels."This is...
Sprint Nextel Corp. and MobiTV Inc. have put together a multi-year agreement to continue offering mobile TV services to the carrier's subscribers. The announcement coincided with MobiTV's news that it passed the 3-million-subscriber mark."After a very short time in my role as MobiTV's new...
Virgin Mobile rings the bellFlanked by Virgin Mobile Angels on Wall Street are (l to r): Peter Lurie, chief counsel; Jonathan Marchbank, COO; Howard Handler, CMO; John Thain, NY Stock Exchange president; Mrs. Dan Schulman; Tim Evans, VP handset operations; Molly Schulman (Dan Schulman's...
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 RCRNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....
After a one-year hiatus when the show visited Los Angeles, the CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment event is back in the city by the Bay for 2007. The move is minor considering the wireless trade association's larger spring show has been bouncing between the...
Lucy Hood has stepped down as CEO of Jamba and president of Fox Mobile Entertainment after 10 years with News Corp."It's been extremely exciting and rewarding for me to help build News Corporation's mobile business over the past few years," Hood said, "but I'm...
Private-equity firm Silver Lake Sumeru said it has acquired a majority stake in Australian startup Mobile Messenger.Financial details were not disclosed.Mobile Messenger's technology platform powers premium SMS and MMS campaigns in its home market as well as North America and New Zealand. The 8-year-old...
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 Wireless News to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the...
In another move indicative of the music industry's increasing frailty, two of its largest players are trying some new twists: Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group last week announced a new format they're calling the "ringle."Each ringle will contain one ringtone bundled...
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.--BiTMICRO: Woodside Investments L.P. led a $9.3 million Series F funding round into BiTMICRO Networks. The company said it...
Mobile advertising startup Quattro Wireless pocketed $12.3 million in a second round of financing from Globespan Capital Partners and Highland Capital Partners.The Waltham, Mass.-based company said it will use the cash to launch GetMobile, a self-service wireless advertising platform for advertisers and publishers. Highland...
Telecom carriers traditionally have been among the nation's biggest advertisers. Through the years, those advertisements have educated us about rate plans, weekend calling, in-network calling, call quality and the joys of texting. They've also introduced us to some pretty cool phones. The advertisements playing...
