The Federal Communications Commission launched a rulemaking to determine whether mobile phone text messages and short codes are covered by non-discrimination provisions of the telecom act.Public interest and consumer groups asked the FCC in December to rule that the law forbids mobile-phone carriers from...
Alltel Corp. unveiled a service that will allow customers to remotely synch their mobile phones with home digital music libraries. The offering, which is powered by Celltop and uses mSpot's Remix player, provides access to non-DRM protected songs on PCs. The media player downloads...
Frontline Wireless L.L.C.'s freakish free-fall has begun to raise questions about whether the upcoming 700 MHz auction will produce a bidder willing to spend billions of dollars on spectrum and construction of a national public safety-commercial broadband network.Click here for complete 700 MHz auction...
LAS VEGAS -- Bill Gates may not be slowing down on the professional and charitable projects that he holds near and dear, but it's clear he's having fun in his final months as chairman of Microsoft Corp. Gates took plenty of light-hearted jabs at...
There is no shortage of reasons why traffic on the wireless Web hasn't matched the sky-high forecasts of a few years ago. But one of the biggest stumbling blocks may also be the most overlooked.A recent study from JupiterResearch found that nearly twothirds of...
Ringing insultThe King of Spain's recent tongue-lashing of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has become a popular ringtone in Spain. King Juan Carlos asked Chavez, "Why don't you just shut up?" at a summit earlier this month. The comment was turned into a ringtone that...
Online search provider ChaCha last week sashayed onto a very crowded mobile dance floor.The Indianapolis startup unveiled a short-code based version of its search offering, which uses paid human "guides" instead of computer-generated algorithms to deliver information. Users can send questions to 242242 (ChaCha)...
Telecom and cable companies will go into 2008 with an eye on real convergence products and personalizing content access for customers, according to Kent Steffan, VP of the content direct initiative for CSG Systems.The company provides customer service and back-office solutions for about half...
The biggest upset of this football season may have been Appalachian State University's victory over Michigan. But for the mobile-marketing industry, it came the day ESPN had more visits to the NFL content on its mobile Web site than it did to the same...
Standalone navigation devices will give way to mobile phones as the worldwide portable navigation market explodes over the next several years, according to a report from Telematics Research Group.The market research firm said 30 million dedicated navigation devices were sold last year, outpacing navigation-enabled...
The crowded mobile search space welcomed a new player as ChaCha brought its online service to wireless.The Indianapolis startup unveiled a short-code based version of its search offering, which uses paid human "guides" instead of computer-generated algorithms to deliver information. Users can send questions...
New cellphone driver-distraction laws went into effect Jan. 1 in Oregon and Washington state.According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Oregon will now prohibit teenagers from talking on cellphones while driving. A new Washington law goes even further, prohibiting all drivers from text...
Below are RCR Wireless News' 10 biggest stories of the year. These are the stories that rocked the industry in 2007, and set the groundwork for the future of wireless.
1. iCANDY
iPhone looks tempting, but users have to wait until June to see if it...
Chicago has been tagged with a lawsuit alleging the city violated state law by not posting signs on the prohibition against talking on mobile phones while driving.The suit, filed by lawyer Blake Horwitz on behalf of man who successfully challenged a ticket for an...
Editor's Note: Welcome to Reality Check, a feature for RCR Wireless News' 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 look...
Atrium Wireless Partners L.L.C. announced it acquired the wireless assets of GTC Telecom Corp. in a deal that closed early last month. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.Atrium Wireless Partners said it will add GTC Wireless' post-paid cellphone services to its existing portfolio...
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands-Nokia Corp.'s strategy hasn't wavered much in the past few years and the message for 2008 is essentially more of the same. While at one end of the spectrum, the Finnish company is eyeing more feature-rich devices and applications that connect peoples'...
Further proof that numbers are fun: According to the National Center for Health Statistics, cellphone-only users are Hispanic males between 25 and 29 years old, live with people they are not related to in a rented house under the poverty line somewhere in the...
Mountain highTrango Systems Inc. said it is supplying the Mount Washington Observatory with highspeed fixed wireless point-to-point wireless backhaul and point-to-multipoint broadband access equipment. Mount Washington Observatory is a scientific weather research station based in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Mount Washington is...
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...
For spectators at the iPhone circus, two basic questions seem prevalent. Will Apple Inc. sustain the brisk sales of its signature handset at AT&T Mobility here in the United States?And, in the circus' high-wire act, how will the iPhone fare overseas, as it rolls...
The federal government estimates that one of every eight American homes uses only mobile phones for communications.The data comes from the National Health Interview Survey, which was conducted between January and June of this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National...
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 our Monday feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Jupiter Research's Julie Ask, Current Analysis'...
